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Note 40
When the memory limitations of BBN’s 940 time-sharing system got in the way of running big LISP programs, Dan Bobrow pushed the idea that BBN should develop its own operating system. With both Bobrow and Jerry Elkind promoting it, ARPA funding was obtained, and the TENEX system was developed. Ted Strollo managed the project and participated in various aspects of the design and implementation. Jerry Burchfiel, Dan Murphy, and Ray Tomlinson were senior members of the development team. Bobrow himself participated in the system specification.
The first published paper about TENEX (1971) divides the project goals into three categories: state-of-the-art virtual machine, good human engineering throughout, and an implementable, maintainable, and modifiable system. The combination of the PDP-10, the BBN pager, and the TENEX software provided the first practical virtual-memory computer time-sharing system. On the order of a dozen ARPA research contractors ordered a PDP-10, bought the BBN pager, and had BBN install TENEX. Thus, TENEX systems were quite prevalent among the early computers on the ARPANET, making TENEX important in early Internet history.
The first published paper about TENEX (1971) divides the project goals into three categories: state-of-the-art virtual machine, good human engineering throughout, and an implementable, maintainable, and modifiable system. The combination of the PDP-10, the BBN pager, and the TENEX software provided the first practical virtual-memory computer time-sharing system. On the order of a dozen ARPA research contractors ordered a PDP-10, bought the BBN pager, and had BBN install TENEX. Thus, TENEX systems were quite prevalent among the early computers on the ARPANET, making TENEX important in early Internet history.
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