S34/S36/S38 AS400 was Re: GOBACK

Michael Wojcik wrote:

> In article <40a55e57.325467891@news.optonline.net>, robert.deletethis@wagn
er.net (Robert Wagner) writes:
> 
>
>
> It was called FS, for Future Systems.  FS was cancelled circa 1976.
> Legendary IBMer Lynn Wheeler was partially responsible; his research
> into the (abysmal) performance of FS was ammunition for those arguing
> against it.  His archives (at http://www.garlic.com/) have various
> details.
>
> FS was intended as the OS for either the 370 or a successor
> tentatively named the S/380.  It was partially intended as a clone-
> killer, and partially a grandiose attempt to incorporate every
> advanced OS feature anyone at IBM could dream up in the hope of
> creating an OS so "advanced" it would drown all of its competitors.
>
> 
>
>
> You're both right (and wrong).  The AS/400 ("Silverlake") project was
> the migration strategy for S/36 and S/38, and OS/400 included an
> S/38-compatibility mode for many years (it may still, for all I
> know).  OS/400 incorporated many ideas from FS, for a variety of
> reasons; one is that some of the (many) people who worked on FS went
> on to work on the S/36 and S/38 (which were successors to the S/3;
> the S/34 was a stripped-down S/38).  Another was that hardware had
> improved to the point where some of the FS concepts, such as very
> rigorous supervision of application behavior, were more feasible
> (though the original AS/400s were still painfully slow, particularly
> the little development boxes).
>
> So the AS/400 belongs to the S/38 family, but OS/400 is most closely
> related to FS, which was intended as an OS for the S/370 family
> (though never completed, much less released).

The System 34 came first, then the System 36.  The System 38 was a major
departure from that line and incorporated may of the FS concepts.  The
AS400 then followed.  IIRC the 36 was incompatible with the 34 and both
were incompatible with the 38 although the 38 had capability to run 36
work probably in some kind of hardware or software emulation.  The AS400
was a true follow on to the System 38.
>
> 
>
>
> Yes, for several years now.
>
> 
>
REST SNIPPED

In article <c8eboh$qm7$1@news.eusc.inter.net>, "Clark F. Morris, Jr." <cfmtech@istar.ca> wr
ites:
>
> The System 34 came first, then the System 36.  The System 38 was a major
> departure from that line and incorporated may of the FS concepts.  The
> AS400 then followed.  IIRC the 36 was incompatible with the 34 and both
> were incompatible with the 38 although the 38 had capability to run 36
> work probably in some kind of hardware or software emulation.  The AS400
> was a true follow on to the System 38.

Thanks for the correction.  I worked on AS/400s but not on the S/3
line; for background on S/34 through S/38 I skimmed an
alt.folklore.computers post by Beverly Erlebacher, but I misinter-
preted some of her comments - she characterized the S/34 as a
"stripped- down" S/38, but she meant a stripped-down version of the
*planned* S/38, not an actual existing model - on first reading.
(When I reread it more carefully, it agrees with what you wrote
above.)

--
Michael Wojcik                  michael.wojcik@microfocus.com

He smiled and let his gaze fall to hers, so that her ch began to
glow.  Ecstatically she waited until his mouth slowly neared her own.
She knew only one thing: rdoeniadtrgove niardgoverdgovnrdgog.