Incompatible Timesharing System
Incompatible Timesharing System (ITS) is a time-sharing operating system developed principally by the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, with help from Project MAC. The name is the jocular complement of the MIT Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS).
Developer | MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Project MAC |
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Written in | Assembly language |
Working state | Active |
Initial release | July 1967 |
Repository | github |
Available in | English |
Platforms | Digital PDP-6, PDP-10 |
Default user interface | Command-line interface (DDT) |
License | GPL |
ITS, and the software developed on it, were technically and culturally influential far beyond their core user community. Remote "guest" or "tourist" access was easily available via the early ARPAnet, allowing many interested parties to informally try out features of the operating system and application programs. The wide-open ITS philosophy and collaborative online community were a major influence on the hacker culture, as described in Steven Levy's book Hackers, and were the direct forerunners of the free and open-source software, open-design, and Wiki movements.