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Source Code for CTSS released

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the but-what-will-run-it dept.

Mainframes ROCK! writes "The source code for the Compatible Time-Sharing System, CTSS, has been released, and the here is the source code. CTSS was one of the first time-sharing operating systems and a direct ancestor of Linux. Developed at MIT in the 1960's on a specially modified IBM 7094 system.; it was developed at Project MAC at MIT. CTSS was first published, as well as operated in a time-sharing environment, in 1961; in addition, it was the system with the first computerized text formatting utility, and one of the very first to have inter-user electronic mail."

6 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Re:direct ancestor? by Three+Headed+Man · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Linux written by Linus Torvalds back in the early 90's?

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  2. Say Whaaat? Direct Ancestor? by kbahey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    a direct ancestor of Linux

    Direct ancestor? Not by a long shot. Unless you consider that any multi user, multi tasking, time sharing operating system as a direct ancestor.

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  3. Re:direct ancestor? by Zardus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ugh.. No, he didn't start from Minix. He wrote Linux from scratch, using Minix as a sort of model. Its like if you go into an elevator and take a ride, and then make your own elevator without looking through the elevator motors and the like.

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  4. Not direct by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    CTSS was one of the first time-sharing operating systems and a direct ancestor of Linux.

    What is the basis for this statement? Linux neither contains CTSS code, nor was modelled upon it, and neither were any of its ancestors. It's an indirect ancestor maybe.

  5. Re:Revolution OS by 0racle · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As others have already said, I believe that RMS mentioned the Incompatible Time Sharing system that he worked on. Since this was also started when RMS was only 8, I doubt he had much to do with this one.

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  6. Re:read what Dennis Ritchie says... by zedman · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Somehow "ancestry" seems the wrong word to describe something that inspired or led to the creation of something else.

    "Ancestry" implies genetic similarity, i.e., copying of DNA or source code, which I think is *not* the case to any significant degree for any version of UNIX and Linux. There may be fragments of UNIX code from the public domain, but nothing more.

    Perhaps "predecessor" would be a better word.