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posted by martyb on Tuesday September 17 2019, @03:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the There's-nothiing-new-under-the-sun? dept.

http://www.winestockwebdesign.com/Essays/Eternal_Mainframe.html

In the computer industry, the Wheel of Reincarnation is a pattern whereby specialized hardware gets spun out from the "main" system, becomes more powerful, then gets folded back into the main system. As the linked Jargon File entry points out, several generations of this effect have been observed in graphics and floating-point coprocessors.

In this essay, I note an analogous pattern taking place, not in peripherals of a computing platform, but in the most basic kinds of "computing platform." And this pattern is being driven as much by the desire for "freedom" as by any technical consideration.

"Revolution" has many definitions. From the looks of this, I'd say "going around in circles" comes closest to applying...

-Richard M. Hartman

A funny thing happened on the way to the future. The mainframe outlasted its replacements.

[Ed. Note: This story submission was my first exposure to the linked essay. Though dated from 2013, I found the essay eminently readable as well as making insightful observations of how dramatically the concepts and capabilities of mainframes have persisted for so many years. --martyb[


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  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday September 17 2019, @04:04PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 17 2019, @04:04PM (#895222) Journal

    Now that YOU mention it, I realize that I should have mentioned that.

    Channel architecture was a significant part of what was considered a mainframe. That being yet one more big difference between traditional legacy mainframes and modern server racks in data centers.

    I almost wonder if TFA is really an attempt, in the author's own mind, to tie legacy mainframes to the sexiness of modern server farms.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
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