History of the Incompatible Timesharing System (ITS)

Explore the fascinating history and development of the Incompatible Timesharing System (ITS) in this 33-minute conference talk. Delve into the unique operating system created at the MIT AI lab in the 1960s, which ran on large 36-bit PDP-10 computers serving multiple users at MIT. Discover how the culture surrounding ITS significantly influenced the free software movement and the GNU Project. Learn about the influential programs and technologies that were hosted on ITS, including Maclisp, Scheme, Zork, Lisp machines, Macsyma, SHRDLU, Logo, Emacs, and the MacHack VI chess program. Gain insights into this important piece of computing history presented by Lars Brinkhoff at the Vintage Computing Festival Berlin 2023.

History of the Incompatible Timesharing System