PDP-7
| PDP-7 | |
| File:Pdp7.png | |
| Character Information | |
|---|---|
| Common Names | PDP-7 |
| Other Names | N/A |
| Human Name(s) | Stephanie Olsen |
| Faction | Formerly DEC Military |
| Lineage | PDP-1 |
| Appearance | |
| Height | 5'1" |
| Hair Color | Light brown |
| Eye Color | Hazel |
| Design | |
| First Appearance | 2012 |
| Technical Information | |
| System Personified | PDP-7 |
| Developer(s) | Digital Equipment Corporation |
| Debut | 1964 |
| Latest release | Circa 1970 |
Technical details
The PDP-7 was DEC's third 18-bit computer and the successor to the PDP-1 and -4. It was a general purpose computer, used primarily in laboratory, data acquisition control system environments. It is famous for being the computer on which Unix was originally coded and run, as well as being the original design environment for the MUMPS system.
Of the 120 PDP-7s that were produced, only four exist, and only two are operable.
Character details
General
With her small frame, light hair and large eyes, PDP-7-tan bears a resemblance to her ancestors, PDP-1 and PDP-4-tan. Unlike PDP-1, however, PDP-7-tan is physically aged to her mid-teens, and while she retains her generally-positive worldview, she tends to be more emotionally-mature, shy and withdrawn, and prone to nervousness.
She typically dresses conservatively for her time, preferring the fashion of the 1950s to the contemporary clothing of the 60s and 70s. Her hair is a little beyond shoulder-length, lightly waved and often tied back in a bow.
History and background
PDP-7-tan was born in 1964, and was received by PDP-1 and PDP-4-tan with a great deal of happiness. While the two PDP's are technically her grandmother and mother, respectively - PDP-7-tan being a loose clone of -4-tan, who is a loose clone of -1-tan - they treated her more as a sister than a descendant. In her sister's footsteps, PDP-7 became employed as a scientific computer and laboratory assistant, traveling to dozens of different schools and research institutions throughout the 1960s.
Her lifelong claim to fame occurred at the end of the decade. While she had been hired by Bell Laboratory years previously, she'd been largely ignored in favor of the larger and more powerful mainframe-tans that called the Lab their home. But fortune smiled on her in 1969, when she was recruited to help develop a new OS-tan - Unix - whose simple, lightweight design was a direct response to, and defiance of, the large and complex mainframe-tans that still populated the community at that time. PDP-7-tan was chosen to help in development due to her own simple and economical nature, and while much of Unix's design was done with the help of the mainframe-tan GCOS, PDP-7-tan carried out most of the hands-on work. In the Autumn of 1969, Unix-tan was born.
While PDP-7-tan was very attached to and affectionate toward her creation, Unix's slow indoctrination by GECOS against Multics-tan appalled her. She couldn't understand how Unix could be made to feel so hostile toward person she'd never even met, and while they managed to maintain a good relationship, they were separated in 1970 when PDP-11-tan was chosen as the new caretaker of Unix. Feeling confused and scared by the experience, PDP-7-tan retreated to her homeland and tried to put the project behind her. It is unknown how the other DEC-tans reacted to her role in building Unix, particularly when the Unices began to threaten the native DEC-tans.