University of Saskatchewan Computer Museum

University of Saskatchewan Computer Museum We exist to acquire, preserve, display, interpret, and celebrate computing history, on behalf of the University of Saskatchewan.

09/03/2026

Throwback Thursday: 40 Years Ago - Computer Center Renos

This article came from the September 1986 DCS Newsletter

Renovations to Arts Center

We have used the opportunity presented by the DECsystem 2060 leaving the campus to reorganize the computer room and to do some renovations to this center.

All computer equipment in this centre – – principally SKYWAY, SKYRUS, and SASK – – has been repositioned to allow planned-for equipment to be added easily. A wall has been added between the computer room proper and the tape library–OMR operator area. This has improved the working environment for the operation staff by significantly reducing noise and enabling better environmental control in both areas. Also, a door has been installed to allow direct entry into the I/O room from the hallway. This will eliminate the need to go through the terminal room, Arts 64, removing interruptions and distractions for classes using this room.

Dean Jones
Director

08/27/2026

BONUS Throwback Thursday: 35 Years Ago - A minor hobby programming project.

Since I didn’t do a Throwback Thursday last week here is a bonus one for this week. It’s a post made just over 35 years ago from some guy on the comp.os.minix newsgroup talking about a hobby project he was making for 80306 computers. Too bad it never got big and professional like GNU, was not “protable” [sic] and would never support anything other than AT-386 machines.

—- cut here —-

From: [email protected] (Linus Benedict Torvalds)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: What would you like to see most in minix?
Date: 25 Aug 91 20:57:08 GMT

Hello everybody out there using minix -

I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things).

I've currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work. This implies that I'll get something practical within a few months, and I'd like to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions are welcome, but I won't promise I'll implement them 🙂

Linus ([email protected])

PS. Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs. It is NOT protable, and it probably never will support anything other than AT-386s, as that's all I have 😞.
---[sic]

Throwback Thursday: 35 Years Ago - Network SizeThe August 1991 DCS newsletter summarized data collected during the June ...
08/27/2026

Throwback Thursday: 35 Years Ago - Network Size

The August 1991 DCS newsletter summarized data collected during the June 4th, 1991 Usask network census day.

The main story was the large increase in the number of desktop devices. The mainframe multi-user and server systems remained unchanged at 13 Unix and 16 VMS systems. But the overall number of devices increased from 783 in 1990 to 1,159 in 1991, primarily either desktop devices or network infrastructure to support those devices.

For example, desktop Unix workstations increased from 67 to 131. VMS workstations went from 16 to 24. X-Terminals went from 2 to 8. PCs went from 395 to 622. Macintoshes went from 4 to 21.

The Macintosh figure seems low, but remember this survey only counted devices with Ethernet cards directly connected to the campus network. At the time most Macintoshes were using LocalTalk networks which used Kinetics Fastpath gateways to connect to the campus network. There were 50 of these gateways on campus, each supporting about 15 Macintoshes. So the total number of Macintoshes with indirect access to the campus network was actually larger than the number of PCs.

This partially explains why the number of “Bridges and Gateways” (which included the Kinetics Fastpath gateways) increased from 60 to 78.

There were also many desktop computers without Ethernet which used programs like Kermit to emulate VT-102 terminals over serial lines. These connected to computers on the network through terminal servers, which increased from 210 in 1990 to 246 in 1991.

This clearly shows how desktop computers were becoming an important part of the campus computing infrastructure. At this time they were still using Kermit or Telnet to connect to the larger multi-user systems, but they needed the network infrastructure to do that. Eventually, as these desktop systems became more powerful they would start replacing the larger “mainframe” systems and talking to each other directly over that network infrastructure.

08/13/2026

Throwback Thursday: 35 Years Ago - Birth of the World Wide Web

On August 2, 1991 a person at Oxford asked a question in the “alt.hypertext” usenet newsgroup about tagging links in hypertext. At 14:56:20 GMT on August 6, 1991 he received this reply. Later that day a more formal announcement was made. This public announcement resulted in the modern web everyone uses today.

Article:
From: [email protected] (Tim Berners-Lee)
Subject: Re: Qualifiers on Hypertext links...
Date: 6 Aug 91 14:56:20 GMT
Organization: CERN

In article [email protected] writes:
>
> I am looking for information/discussion on the following aspects of
> hypertext:
>
> 1. Qualifiers on links.
> Is it useful to be able to tag links... (e.g. "is-a", "includes",
> "illustrates", "contradicts"...)

The WorldWideWeb (WWW) project aims to allow links to be made to any information anywhere. The system has code for managing a graph of nodes and links. Each link has a "relationship type" which is a string. There are some standard ones (e.g., standard hypertext jump, "includes" for structured documents, "is-a" for object-oriented descriptions) and users can define their own.

The system is based on a client-server architecture. The browser-editor runs on a local machine and requests information from servers anywhere on the network. Browsers exist for the NeXT (giving full objective-C index, text-format and graphic browsing, and full editing), and for line-mode terminals (dumb terminals, VT100s, etc). A screen-oriented (curses) browser is also available.

The servers provide files, or access to databases or existing documentation systems. For example, we run servers for the CERN phone book, the high-energy physics preprints database, all the news groups, and the internet RFCs.

A summary of the project is available by anonymous FTP from info.cern.ch (128.141.201.2) as /pub/www/doc/www-summary.txt.

The software itself is available by anonymous FTP from the same machine in the directory /pub/www (see the README file there).

We are very interested in comments, suggestions, and cooperation.

Tim Berners-Lee
[email protected]

Throwback Thursday: 40 Years Ago, new VAX computer The August 1986 newsletter front cover photo showed the new VAX 8650 ...
08/06/2026

Throwback Thursday: 40 Years Ago, new VAX computer

The August 1986 newsletter front cover photo showed the new VAX 8650 sitting in the entrance of the Arts Building on its way to be installed in the Arts Computer Centre. This new machine would be called SKYRUS and would be combined with the existing VAX 8600, SKYWAY, to more than double the academic computing capacity. The resulting VAXcluster was called SKYBLU.

How powerful was it? SKYRUS had a whopping 48 megabytes of memory compared to SKYWAY’s 32 megabytes, giving 80 megabytes total for the VAXcluster. An active interactive user would use about 1–2 megabytes. So this VAXcluster would comfortably handle 50–60 simultaneous users, and perhaps up to 80 with noticeable slowdowns at peak times. Most CPU-intensive programs were scheduled to run overnight as batch jobs when the system was less busy to avoid overloading the system.

Four additional disk drives were added. The article didn’t specify, but they were likely RA81s at 456 MB each. The cluster also added one TU78 tape drive capable of using 1600/6250 bpi tapes. This supplemented the existing 800/1600 bpi TU77 tape drives. These higher-capacity drives allowed nightly backups to complete more quickly.

Overall, the new VAXcluster more than doubled the capacity of the previous system, just in time for fall classes.

07/30/2026

Throwback Thursday: 45 Years Ago - The best $50,000 ever spent.

45 years ago on July 27, 1981, a new company called "Microsoft, Inc." — incorporated just a month earlier on June 25, 1981 — paid $50,000 to Seattle Computer Products for a "Quick and Dirty Operating System" called 86-DOS. 16 days later, rebranded as PC-DOS 1.0, it launched as the operating system for IBM's new Model 5150 PC. The machine that launched the modern personal computer industry.

IBM expected to sell 241,000 units over five years. They sold that in about 2 years, and roughly 3.3 million of the original Model 5150 from 1981 to 1987.

86-DOS was written in six weeks from April to June 1980 by Tim Paterson at SCP to test their new 8086 board. They originally wanted to use Digital Research's CP/M-86, but it wasn't ready, so they wrote their own.

IBM started "Project Chess" in July 1980 to build its first PC from off-the-shelf parts. They also approached Digital Research to license CP/M-86, but the deal stalled over an NDA and licensing terms.

IBM was already working with Microsoft on BASIC and other languages. Microsoft offered to provide an operating system too. After IBM agreed, Microsoft licensed 86-DOS from SCP and hired Tim Paterson to adapt it for the IBM PC. Then, just before launch, Microsoft bought 86-DOS outright.

If IBM had known about Seattle Computer Products it probably would have worked with them directly.

If Digital Research had CP/M-86 ready for SCP’s board, or had handled its meetings with IBM better, we could all be running CP/M today.

But instead chance and good timing put Microsoft in the right place to become the dominant software company it is today.

07/16/2026

Throwback Thursday: 40 Years Ago - Computer Security

In the July 1986 DCS Newsletter the “Letter from the Director” was already tackling an issue we still have today: balancing easy access to campus computers with keeping data secure.

As desktop workstations and campus networks grew, the department realized security was everyone’s job. Policies were developed, like no passwords given or changed over the phone. People had to present ID in person or wait for paper mail. Frustrating then, but necessary.

The letter also noted existing policies “were neither extensive nor stringent enough” so new security policies were planned, along with training to build “security consciousness” on campus. That work eventually led to the IT security policies and training still in use today, like the Computer Use Policy and Data Use Policy.

Different technology but the same message. 5 1/4 inch diskettes are long gone, but protecting accounts and data is still the priority.

07/09/2026

Throwback Thursday: 40 Years Ago (July 1986) - Document Transfers

In July 1986, U of S Computing Services ran a "Micro to Mainframe Text Transfer" service. If you’d written your paper in WordStar or Multimate on an IBM PC, you’d walk your 5.25" floppy to the Computer Centre and staff would convert it to WORD-11 on the campus VAX. WordPerfect users weren’t left out either — you just had to "Save As WordStar" first, and then they could convert it from there.

It sounds simple now, but moving files between programs back then was genuinely difficult. WordStar, Multimate, WordPerfect, and WORD-11 all used completely different formatting codes, and there was no universal "Save As." Plus, printer drivers lived inside each program, not in the operating system. So what looked perfect on your PC printer could print as a mess on the VAX laser unless someone manually translated the bold, underline, and tabs.

That’s why Computing Services did it for you, and why they asked for advance notice. "No rush jobs." It was free, but it took time and people.

Today we drag, drop, and email. In 1986, "file transfer" meant a walk across campus with a disk and hoping the formatting survived.

07/02/2026

Throwback Thursday: 35 Years Ago - Computing Changes

The July 1991 DCS newsletter theme was Change: not only changes to computers, but also the changes these computers were causing in society. The issue also covered major changes to computer operating systems.

The article “Macintosh System 7.0 Group Update Kit” explained how networked campus Macs could connect to a “System 7.0 Server” file share. It included documentation, a HyperCard compatibility checker, and a System 7.0 CD-ROM image with the installer. System 7.0 had launched in May 1991. The article was notable not only for System 7.0’s new features — virtual memory, file sharing, and QuickTime — but also for showing how a major OS upgrade could be distributed over a campus network.

The article “MS-DOS 5.0 Announced” described the features in MS-DOS 5.0, released in June 1991. Highlights included the DOS Shell user interface, use of high and upper memory on 80286 and 80386 PCs, a task swapper to jump between programs, a full-screen editor, file-recovery tools like UNDELETE and UNFORMAT, and online help.

The article “OS/2 2.0” looked ahead to OS/2 2.0, which was in beta in July 1991 and shipped in April 1992. It summarized OS/2’s history and limitations to that point, and outlined new features in 2.0: full multitasking for MS-DOS and Windows 3.0 programs with up to 640K of base memory per session, use of extended and expanded memory, and native 32-bit applications for larger, more complex programs.

Together, the three articles show how computing was moving beyond single-tasking floppy-boot systems. Graphical user interfaces, multitasking, and networking were becoming standard, and hard drives and network cards were now expected.

06/25/2026

Throwback Thursday: 30 Years Ago - U of S distributes munitions to campus

The May/June 1996 DCS newsletter cover article was “PGP (Pretty Good Privacy)”. This was a public key encryption system developed by Phil Zimmermann in the USA (although the newsletter incorrectly named “Phil Katzman”, probably conflating him with “Phil Katz” who created PKZIP). The article noted PGP was now available on Duke (Ultrix), Skyfox (VAX/VMS), plus versions for MS-DOS and Macintosh.

PGP used public key cryptography: to send a file, you’d encrypt it with your friend’s public key and only their private key could decrypt it. These keys ranged from 512-bit low commercial grade, to 768-bit high commercial grade, to 1024-bit military grade.

That strength was the problem. In the USA, any encryption over 40-bit was classified as “munitions” under ITAR Category XIII(b) and banned from export. US law treated export to Canada of PGP software as an “illegal munitions export” - the same legal category as gr***de launchers. A federal US crime.

The FBI started investigating Phil Zimmermann in 1993 after he posted PGP source code online in 1991. Their technical problem: he posted it on US servers, so he hadn’t physically “exported” anything. As the case dragged on, Zimmermann wrote and in June 1995 published the book “PGP Source Code and Internals” by Philip R. Zimmermann, MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-74017-6. Its 667 pages contained the full PGP 2.6.2 source code.

Because it was a book, not software, it was protected as free speech and legal to export. It was illegal to mail a floppy disk with the code, but legal to mail a 667-page book with identical code. That killed the case. Charges were dropped Jan 11, 1996. Export rules weren’t relaxed until Jan 12, 2000.

So that is how the University of Saskatchewan ended up distributing and promoting use of American munitions on campus.

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