 | Archive-Name: superpar-faq
Last-modified: 12 Dec 2003
28 Dedications
2 Introduction and Table of Contents and justification
4 Comp.parallel news group history
6 parlib
8 comp.parallel group dynamics
10 Related news groups, archives and references
12
14
16
18 Supercomputing and Crayisms
20 IBM and Amdahl
22 Grand challenges and HPCC
24 Suggested (required) readings
26 Dead computer architecture society
Dedications
===========
This FAQ is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Sidney (Sid) Fernbach (CDC/LLL)
and to George Michael (LLNL, still alive), perhaps two of the men most
responsible for coining the term "supercomputer."
Along with Sid Fernbach and Jack Worlton.
They were not only responsible for helping promote and
fund supercomputing and parallel computing, but they also
took much flak. They also believed in interactive computing at a time
when the world was batch-oriented.
To Sid:
I will always chuckle when reminded that you felt that the
Cray Time Sharing System (CTSS, as distinct from the
Cambridge Time Sharing System or the Compatible Time Sharing System)
would have made a good VAX operating system along with the Trix editor.
Sid passed away on the day he was to speak at a local ACM SIGBIG meeting.
The VMS people would have had a great fit.
To George with whom I used to occasionally share an office one day a week
at Ames: thanks for the stimulating discussion and even bowing to
the new generation for computists. Your contribution is undervalued by many.
All of your friends remember you.
Additional, special mention:
Seymour Cray is unquestionably credited with making "supercomputer"
a household word (which was apparently missed by some people in the mid-1980s).
To quote Nolan Bushnell, Cray embodies:
Remember engineers drive the boat.
We are here because of Seymour and others.
And Seymour is here because of Jim Thornton.
To Dave Kuck:
Who had to put up with the world waiting so long for it to "catch up."
To Glen Culler:
Who started with a couple of obscure languages: MOLSF and COL with very
intense keyboards which was incentive to place UCSB on the ARPAnet.
To:
Our past moderators:
"Steve" Stevenson, CS Dept.,Clemson U.
our news group founder and first moderator from
comp.hypercube renaming to comp.parallel 1988-1995?.
Mike Bigrigg, CMU CS, 1996?-2001.
For unsung, thankless work.
Years ago from /usr/games/fortune:
Bradley's Bromide:
If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a
committee -- that will do them in.
Articles: comp.parallel
Administrative: eugene@cse.ucsc.edu.SNIP
Archive: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&group=comp.parallel
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