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Searching for the Oldest Running Application

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the mine-is-older-than-yours dept.

A columnist from InternetWeek has completed a search for the oldest running commercial software application. His results are interesting (note that he's mostly skipping over mainframe applications, just looking at PC-based apps).

6 of 433 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Mainframe by EdgeShadow · · Score: 5, Informative

    Don't mean to be nitpicky, but if you'd bothered to read the whole article you'd have noticed that he mentioned a mainframe program called DATAMOD that dates back to October 1971, which is over 30 years ago. As the main focus of his article was PC applications, however, his article did not give much information on mainframe apps.

  2. Re:Scorched Earth myself by FortKnox · · Score: 3, Informative

    Dude... its time to upgrade! Scorched 3D complete with an OpenGL renderer!

    --
    Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
  3. It's SyncSort by Animats · · Score: 5, Informative
    The oldest commercial application, i.e. one sold as a software product, is SyncSort. SyncSort was one of the very first commercial third-party software applications. It was also the first to be patented. SyncSort, Inc. was formed in 1969.

    SyncSort was the first useful sort program to break the O(N log N) barrier (yes, this is possible, CS101 kiddies). This was a huge win for mainframe shops with their big tape-to-tape sort jobs. That's what all those spinning tape reels were doing on early computers. SyncSort cut days off some batch jobs.

    You can buy current versions of SyncSort. The old versions for IBM mainframes are still available, and you can get it as an Active-X control for Windows. So that's a 34-year old product, little changed in decades and still doing a useful job today.

    I did maintenance programming on a competitive product, UNIVAC Exec II Sort/Merge, around 1969. SyncSort was faster. They really did have a better, and patented, algorithm.

    1. Re:It's SyncSort by Quixote · · Score: 4, Informative
      > SyncSort was the first useful sort program to break the O(N log N) barrier (yes, this is possible, CS101 kiddies).

      Just because it uses radix sort it doesn't mean it isn't O(N log N). The radix itself is O(log N); you have to look at each entry at least once.

      Remember, we're talking theoretical issues here (since you brought up the O(.) notation).

  4. Because sometimes there is a better way by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 3, Informative

    The situation I always like to bring up is libraries. A perfectly aceptable method for doing research that worked for year and years was card catalogues and physically searching through journals. You can still do it, there is no reason why it doesn't work. However, it is MUCH more efficient to have a computer do the search for you, and better still if the whole journal is electronic so you can do full text searches, and just download the article straight to your computer.

    Our university has done this. The physical card catalogue has been completely eliminated, all searches are electronic now. Also, while there are still floors of physical journals, many of the popular ones are available in PDF format for download.

    It is amazing how much more efficient it makes research. It's even better because I can tie it in to databases of things that aren't even contained in this particular library.

    Some times people get so caught up in the fact that the way they do something "works just fine" that they miss the fact that there is a much more efficient way to do it.

  5. The LEO, redux by sysjkb · · Score: 3, Informative

    Apropos of the Leo mentioned in a previous slashdot story.

    I saved this post from alt.folklore.computers in 1998. Terribly impressive. I'm not sure his age estimate is neccessarily accurate -- the final incarnation of the Leo ceased to be manufactured in the latter half of the 60s, so it may be a bit younger.

    On the other hand, I wouldn't put it past some organization having been forced to make something like the orange leo y2k compliant.

    Yours Truly,
    Jeffrey Boulier

    From: Deryk Barker (dbarker@camosun.bc.nospam.ca)
    Subject: Re: Multics
    Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers, alt.os.multics
    Date: 1998/11/09

    Peter H. Coffin (hellsop@execpc.com) wrote:
    : Barry Margolin wrote:
    :
    : > For that matter, how many portable OSes have been implemented by *anyone*?
    :
    : The most current OS/400 (v4r3) will still run programs compiled on the
    : System 38 tranparently. That's 10-15 year old object code over at least
    : one complete architecture change. The machine also has a history of
    : being able to run in System 36 mode, over that same architecture change.
    :
    : I'm not sure if that counts as a ported OS or not, and I do work for
    : IBM, so I'll stop now...

    Peanuts.

    When my wife was working for Honeywell, in the 1980s, one of the
    customers she had dealings with was British Telecom.

    BT, at one location, had what they called the "orange Leos".

    Now, for those who don't know this, the LEO was the world's first-ever
    commercially-oriented machine (1951). Even more amazingly, the Lyons
    Electronic Office was designed and built by the J Lyons company,
    best-known as manufacturers of cakes and for their nationwide chain of
    corner tea shops.

    Anyway, an "orange Leo" was an ICL 2900 mainframe (they came in orange
    cabinets), emulating an ICL 1900 mainframe, emulating a GEC System 4
    mainframe emulating a LEO.

    30+ year old executable code over 3 architecture changes....