MVT is a version of MVS, the operating system for the IBM System/360 mainframe. This is a customized distribution built from sources, which is rebuilt especially to run on modern systems via an included customized Hercules emulator.
The APL\360 system goes beyond a mere application. It “took control of the whole machine. It implemented a complete timesharing operating system in addition to a high-level language.”
Since it runs on contemporary systems, would it be useful as a “daily driver” alternative to GNU APL or is it more interesting as an historical curiosity?
Probably quite limited as a “daily driver” because the maximum workspace size is 432000 bytes (expansive in the late 1960s/early 1970s), interacting with the host system beyond the keyboard would involve (painful) virtual tapes and EBCDIC conversions, and the license only allows for non-commercial use.
It’s somewhat better than a mere curisosity, however, as this very software was used, extensively, in actual production environments, doing real work and solving actual problems.
It’s possible I use tech on a regular basis that was built for this system. The UI sure as heck would fit in the memory. The one you submitted similarly sounded like a great way to keep employees off Solitaire and the Web until you said non-commercial use. (sighs) Back to deleting files out of Windows, Mac, or Linux installs. Haha.
What is MVT? Is this a specialized APL implementation? A collection of APL routines? Something else?
MVT is a version of MVS, the operating system for the IBM System/360 mainframe. This is a customized distribution built from sources, which is rebuilt especially to run on modern systems via an included customized Hercules emulator.
IBM APL\360 is a seminal release of the APL system, which is described in depth in APL\360: An Interactive Approach. You can find further information via the Computer History Museum APL\360 site, which hosts the source code used to build the package.
The APL\360 system goes beyond a mere application. It “took control of the whole machine. It implemented a complete timesharing operating system in addition to a high-level language.”
Since it runs on contemporary systems, would it be useful as a “daily driver” alternative to GNU APL or is it more interesting as an historical curiosity?
Probably quite limited as a “daily driver” because the maximum workspace size is 432000 bytes (expansive in the late 1960s/early 1970s), interacting with the host system beyond the keyboard would involve (painful) virtual tapes and EBCDIC conversions, and the license only allows for non-commercial use.
It’s somewhat better than a mere curisosity, however, as this very software was used, extensively, in actual production environments, doing real work and solving actual problems.
It’s possible I use tech on a regular basis that was built for this system. The UI sure as heck would fit in the memory. The one you submitted similarly sounded like a great way to keep employees off Solitaire and the Web until you said non-commercial use. (sighs) Back to deleting files out of Windows, Mac, or Linux installs. Haha.
See What is APL? (An Introduction to APL\360 and Solving Sudoku with APL\360 for examples of the system. Granted, nothing you can’t do in other APL’s, of course.
Some additional documentation: