Talk:Data General/Archives/2013

PDP-8

The second para of the history section says that many PDP-8s still operate today. Is this still true? It might be safer to change this from "where many still operate today, decades later" to "where many continued to operate for decades".-gadfium 21:10, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

I don't know personally, but I believe there are still some PDP-8's still in existence in lab applications. These machines are easier to use with FORTRAN than later similar machines. Erzahler (talk) 00:54, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

"infamous" ?

IMHO the wise-crack (and use the term deliberately) about "the now infamous PowerPC" is inapropriate and should be removed.

It seems to me that a strong opionated statement like that should be supported if it is to be included, and as such support is beyond the scope of the article, the phrase "now infamous" should just go away.

This sort of thing casts doubt on the overall reliability of what otherwise seems to be a very good article.

[BTW: IMHO, recent negetive events connected with this this processor architecture probably reflect more on the business relationships between the firms involved with it than on the actual hardware. AFAIK PPCs generally have worked pretty well and continue to do so (even if intial production batches shipped late, or whatever), which a good thing for many of us, as they have found their way into enough embedded applications that many of us probably use one or more every day without knowing it. "Many of us" may include the author of the article.]

- ef

I agree, and have removed the description.-gadfium 00:01, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

Multi-processing

2006-08-02_01:03

Should this read: "supported multi-processor usage" instead of "supported multi-processing"? (Asked by Donald Axel)

Quote:

To compensate, the AViiON machines supported multi-processing, later evolving into NUMA-based systems, allowing the machines to scale upwards in performance by adding additional processors.

I don't see anything wrong with the way the article is worded, although I'm not at all an expert on the subject. Our article on Multiprocessing seems relevant. Could you explain in more detail why a wording change would be beneficial?

i think i see what this question is driving at, though i also wonder if the proposed remedy works.

the term "multi-processing" can refer to a number of things, including the use of multiple physical processors and methods of running multiple processes irrespective of the number of processors. it's ambiguous.

"multi-processor usage" is awkward and doesn't necessarily clear things up. "multi-processor configurations" might be more effective. (...assuming, of course, that i've understood the question correctly. have i ?) - ef

Ericfluger 22:48, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

"were multiprocessors" would probably be the most economical locution. I don't really consider it ambiguous in that context, although one could also say something like "multiple processor configurations" or something like that, although it starts getting to be an awkward way to express what is pretty well-accepted and understood terminology. The more serious problem with the paragraph is the assertion that AViiONs were MP because the 88K was slow. This isn't really true. In fact, the 88K was one of the faster processors around when it first appeared. AViiONs were MP because all high-end servers were MP regardless of the architecture. (Over time, Motorola walked away from the 88K and it fell behind, but that's not the reason that AViiONs were MP.)

Ghaff 12:42, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

I like (and recommend) that last suggestion. I will check up on article later --d-axel (talk) 13:17, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Virtual Memory

I'd like to question the use of the term "virtual memory", with regards to the 16-bit Eclipses. While the majority of knowledgeable people agree that "virtual memory", on most systems, refers to any type of hardware address translation, that's not the case in the context of Data General. When DG talked about "virtual memory" they specifically meant the ability to use paging space on the hard drive to allow the machine to appear that it had more memory than it actually did. The 16-bit Eclipses could only run AOS (Advanced Operating System) and did not have this ability. If I remember correctly, each process only had a 128k address space. The 32-bit Eclipses could run AOS/VS, where the "VS" stood for "virtual storage". On AOS/VS, I could have a process that used 8MB of memory, even if the machine itself only had 4MB.

--Dadoo3002 02:30, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:DGlogo.gif

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Fair use rationale for Image:DGlogo.gif

Image:DGlogo.gif is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 05:25, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

In Popular Culture

• In the TV show Weird Science, Season 1 Episode 13 "Sex Ed", the character Wyatt used a Data General laptop. --TIB (talk) 18:24, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

MV Series

Whilst the machines mentioned (MV/20000, MV/40000 etc.) may have been projects - I don't remember the latter and I worked there until 1989 - they were very high-end and would not have shipped in significant numbers. To have them in the article is rather misleading. Also, the statement "MV20000 (later MV25000)" is probably untrue. Was there ever an MV/60000? I'm sure the original author meant the MV/2000, MV/4000 etc which sold in volume for many years and were very popular machines with customers. The edits I made I think are valid. Have a look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_General_Eclipse_MV/8000. Please discuss. 60.242.156.51 (talk) 11:41, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

I agree, if we don't try to make a complete list then it's more important to list the machines which sold in larger numbers. There was an MV/60000HA; see this collection of brochures. I don't think there was an MV/25000, but there was an MV/2500, The MV/1000 might be worth including.[1] If the first link I gave is a suitable source for the range, or a better source is available, then it would be nice to make it comprehensive.-gadfium 18:48, 15 February 2011 (UTC)