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I've always read that Multics was a failed precurser of Unix, and was interested in seeing how it looks (as in, what features did Unix remove that Multics had, and did more modern Unixen bring them back when hardware improved).
Multics code was open sourced since then, but I haven't found any isos or imgs there, nor do I see any building instructions.
Are there ISOs of Multics available?
There are a number of ways to use Multics today.
One option is to run it locally under an emulator. The source code that's available should run (under emulation) on most Linux systems, Mac OS X, and Windows, even the RasPi. See the Multicians site for details (a cookbook is available).
Another option is to telnet (or ssh) to a public access system. I don't know of any ones running on original hardware1 (IIRC a few years back there were two on the 'net, one in Texas and one in Germany). One current system that I know of (running emulated on a Xeon server) is at ssh dps8@m.trnsz.com or telnet m.trnsz.com Login using login Guest To log out use logout For more info see the website
The Living Computer Museum in Seattle also has a Multics system but (apart from the front panel) it is entirely emulated.
1 The last Multics site on original, physical hardware went offline in 2000.
logout command.
Yes. The dps8m emulator simulates the GE-645 machines well enough to run Multics. The open-sourced code has been successfully run under the emulator. There's even a getting started guide with some bugfixes, meant specifically to be run under the emulator.
