TOPS-10 and TOPS-20

The first big computer that I ever used was the DEC-10 running TOPS-10 at the University of Pittsburgh. Back then, we received student computer accounts only when we had a class that required an account. Fortunately, as a Comp Sci major, I had a class every term that needed a computer account, at least until I started working for the computer center.

I was a prolific user of the "SEND" command, which was instant messaging on the mainframe. I created friendships over "instant messaging" many years before instant messaging would take off in our culture.

Our TOPS-10 system was not connected to the ARPAnet (predecessor to the internet). Pitt's VMS and UNIX systems (introduced to replace the DEC-10s) were able to send and receive email, they were not initially connected to the internet. My first use of a machine connected to the internet was Carnegie Mellon University's TOPS-20 systems. I gained access to those after I became a staff member in Pitt's computer center. At the time, Pitt and Carnegie Mellon let computer center staff have accounts on each other's systems. So, my first introduction to the internet was on TOPS-20.

What makes this LJ entry unique, is I am actually writing and posting it from a machine running TOPS-20. PDP Planet runs both a TOPS-10 and TOPS-20 system where people can get accounts on (http://www.pdpplanet.com/). I have been playing around with both the TOPS-10 and TOPS-20 systems. It is kind of amazing how much I have remembered and how much I have forgotten...

Please forgive any spelling errors in this post. No spell checker here...
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