Why not Multics? (was Re: BSD tty security, part 3: How to Fix It)

[Ian G Batten]

In article <3096 at cirrusl.UUCP> Rahul Dhesi <dhesi at cirrus.COM> writes:
> So why are we all using UNIX and its derivatives?  Why isn't Multics a
> commercial success even though it seems to have a unique place in
> history?

The anecdote that I heard was that this was a typical interaction with
an HIS salesman:

Customer: Now about Multics, should I look at it?
HIS SM:   Multics is a fine product to which we are totally committed.
	  Now about the GCOS box you were going to buy.

It was always said that the Multics and GCOS people in Phoenix barely
spoke to each other, and GCOS had the ear of the management.  It always
needed hacked hardware (ie DPS8/M rather than DPS8).  In the seventies I
believe the market for batch --- for which Multics is not best suited
--- was larger than that for large scale timeshare (for which it is
still the finest thing seen).

> More specifically, where can we buy Multics to run on our favorite
> hardware?  Why can't we buy it?

I know that someone (who I suppose should be named by those who know the
current position rather than me) tried to buy Multics from Honeywell. I
never heard quite what the outcome was, or what he was planning to do
about hardware.  The death knell was when the DPS8 successor (DPS88?
DPS9?  I forget) didn't have a /M derivitive.

I heard theories as to how much magic would be needed to make it run on a
modified 386 platform, but there would be an awful lot of FIXED BIN(25)
declarations to change.

Sad day when I stopped using Multics.  Sad day.

ian