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From: raveling@vaxb.isi.edu (Paul Raveling)
Newsgroups: comp.os.research
Subject: Re: Earliest use of Threads
Message-ID: <5458@saturn.ucsc.edu>
Date: 4 Nov 88 22:34:35 GMT
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[ Historial interest.  Unless something great comes up this will be the last ]
[ on "Earliest use of Threads"  --DL                                         ]

In article <5338@saturn.ucsc.edu> fouts@lemming. (Marty Fouts) writes:
>
>I offer, only half humorously, TSO running under OS/360, as the first
>example of "multiple THREADS of control executing within a single
>address space"
>
>Consider that TSO ran as a partition and invoked its own round robin
>scheduler to schedule its quantum among its various terminal users,
>all of which were (sort of) within the same address space.  If TSO
>doesn't qualify, IBM implementations of APL workspaces might. . .

	Another nomination is the "console system" that ultimately
	was named "URSA" at UCLA.  The initial version began running
	around the end of 1966 on a 360/40 at UCLA CF.  It also
	did its own scheduling for what the current jargon would
	call light weight processes, and was in service for UCLA
	users well before TSO's advent.
	
	Each "console process" had a lavish allocation of 4K of
	core for data storage.  The first consoles (now we'd say
	terminals) the system supported were IBM 2260's, attached
	to a 2848 controller that was physically about the size of
	a VAX 11/780 and used acoustic delay lines for local storage.

	As hardware technology advanced, URSA added support for
	CCI terminals, whose individual controllers would make
	excellent boat anchors.  URSA migrated through 360/75's
	and finally reached a model 91 in 1968.  Hopefully there's
	a "RIP" epitaph for it somewhere, even though the rest
	of the late '60's IBM-world software technology seems to be
	carrying on pretty much as it was then.


---------------------
Paul Raveling
Raveling@vaxb.isi.edu