Laboratory computers: Their capabilities and how to make them work for you

A laboratory computer is a small- or medium-sized general-purpose machine which has been specially selected to do a particular job. Important economies as well as great computing power are achievable by matching not only the kind of machine, but also the particular set of components to the tasks at hand. For this reason, laboratory computers have become very popular. In addition to selecting the hardware, advantages can be achieved by tailoring the operating system and other general software to the situation. Enough operating systems for such computers have now been written to show how a specific system may be developed by modifying and incorporating features of existing systems and by modifying standard Programs supplied by computer manufacturers. In this way, special systems can be implemented using a reasonable amount of time and effort. This paper provides an introduction to laboratory computer operating systems to serve as a starting point for someone intending to create his own system. Specific systems for a LINC computer, and for the Honeywell DDP-224 and DDP-516 computers are described in some detail. These systems illustrate many features that have been found useful. The documentation needed to use the computer, the size of the user group, and some of the history of development are mentioned. Similar systems can be created to focus new machines on new tasks. Only current state-of-the-art programming is needed. The benefits of such specialization far outweigh the effort and costs.