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◈ALB Atlas

Multics Dead

Multics
KindOperating system
Appeared1969
Ended2000
StatusDead
CreatorMIT, GE & Bell Labs
FamilyMultics
PlatformGE-645 → Honeywell 6180

The most influential dead operating system — rings, dynamic linking, and ACLs invented here; Unix began as two refugees' answer to its collapse in scope.

Succeeded by Research Unix
Ran on GE-645
Descendants Research Unix
Influenced Domain/OS

Multics — MIT, Bell Labs, and GE's timesharing cathedral — began 1964 and shipped 1969: single-level store, dynamic linking, ring protection, ACLs, and a file system designed to be 'the computing utility.' Bell Labs left in 1969; Ken Thompson stayed and built the opposite.\n\nMultics ran commercially at Honeywell until October 30, 2000, when the last site (Canadian DND) shut down. Its ideas are everywhere; its own line is extinct.