Multics: Difference between revisions

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Multics (view source)

Revision as of 23:29, 3 January 2013

10,446 bytes added ,  3 January 2013
no edit summary
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
{{WIP}}
{{OSinfobox
{{OSinfobox
|image = multicsavi2.png
|image = multicsavi2.png
Line 4: Line 6:
|cname = Multics
|cname = Multics
|alias = Multiplexed Information and Computing Service
|alias = Multiplexed Information and Computing Service
|hname = Minerva Corbato
|hname = Minerva Corbató
|debut = Oct-Nov 2007
|debut = Oct. 2007
|height = 170 cm (5'7")
|height = 5'7" (170cm)
|haircolor= dark red-purple
|haircolor= Dark plum
|eyecolor= Blue or gold
|eyecolor= Cornflower blue
|weapon = Labyrinth; various psionic forcefields  
|weapon = Psionic forcefields, labyrinths
|apfaction = MIT Society
|apfaction = MIT Society
|lineage= MIT-tan via CTSS
|lineage= CTSS
|rival= GECOS, TSS/360
|rival= GECOS, TSS/360, Unix


|osper = Multics
|osper = Multics
Line 28: Line 30:


==Character details==
==Character details==
Multics-tan is depicted as a mature woman of average/tall height, with bright blue eyes, long dark purple hair and black and grey mottled wings. Featuring a mix of Victorian, Baroque French and ancient Roman and Indian design cues, Multics wears grandiloquent Rococo-style gowns and copious amounts of jewelry. A recurring theme in her design is rings, layers and labyrinths, a reference to the ringed security features Multics popularized as well as her unfathomable nature. Multics also sports a red circular maze tattoo on her V of her chest.
====Physical====
[[File:Multicsavi.png‎|left|thumb|100px|Multics-tan with her sceptre]] Multics-tan is depicted as a mature woman, mid-to-late 20s in apparent age, a little above average height with shapely hips, a curved waist and modest chest. She has long, slightly-waved dark plum hair, cornflower blue eyes and wings covered with mottled gray and black feathers. In the prime of her life, she often dressed in Rococo-inspired gowns, with deep necklines, multiple layers, corsets, hoop-skirts, bustles  and petticoats common occurrences in her wardrobe. She is often depicted as having multiple piercings in both ears, wearing lipstick and eye-makeup and copious amounts of gold jewelry. Post-revival Multics dresses simply - usually being depicted in a sleeveless long off-white sundress and sporting henna-like adornments on her hands, feet and forehead. 
 
A recurring theme in her design (both past and present) is rings and mazes, symbolic of Multics' ringed security features. Most notable among these being a round labyrinth-shaped tattoo on the upper part of her chest. In her youth, she owned a ornately decorated metal sceptre, however it was taken from her by Unix.
 
[[File:MulitcsAltColor.jpg|right|thumb|100px|Alternate color scheme]]''(There is an alternate color scheme for Multics based on her widely-accepted animal anthropomorphism, the bald eagle. This color scheme calls for gold eyes and dark brown wings.)''
 
====Personality====
Although she isn't particularly well-educated compared to the majority of her MIT-tan peers - her academic growth having taken something of a backseat to her cultural and magical development - Multics is intelligent, naturally curious and loves enriching her mind through a number of intellectual pursuits. She is particularly fond of social sciences and enjoys studying international cultures, history and learning languages, and she is fluent in English, French and Latin and familiar with German and Japanese as well. Perhaps stemming from her own avian nature, ornithology is major interest of hers and she enjoys watching birds. She is also fond of aesthetics and design and loves to create and appreciate beautiful things.  
 
Multics' personality is complex enough to defy any sort of easy classification. She is valiant, just, loyal and ambitious to a fault, but is also habitually-hedonistic, prone to excess and arrogance (particularly in her early adulthood). Her temperament largely depends on her company - friends describe her as affectionate, committed and helpful, while enemies are treated to a decidedly cold and uncaring side of her personality. For the most part, she conducts herself with tact and courtesy, and her commanding nature and natural leadership skills gained her a devoted following - one she managed to maintain even past her death.  She is rather notorious for putting on a "good face" no matter what, and tries to hide any feelings of melancholy or fear at all costs.
 
====Powers====
For the most part, Multics' ''raison d'être'' was being a sorceress - to the point where her ability to perform sorcery was given precedence over her physical and emotional health, comfort and safety, among other basic necessities. Because of this, Multics viewed her magical abilities as something of a curse, albeit one necessary to her livelihood and survival.  


Multics' attitude is complex and often times contrary; fabulously social, she had a great capacity for love and kindness as well as ruthless contempt – and everything in between. She looks and behaves femininely but it anything but delicate – her psionic powers are among the strongest of any OS-tan.
In addition to possessing the typical sorcery of a timesharing-system-tan, Multics-tan practiced a number of experimental magics; in particular, she possessed powerful psionic abilities and was skilled in the creation of energy forcefields. In its most simple form, this includes the creation of basic barriers and at its most complex, extremely large labyrinth structures designed to confuse and defeat would-be attackers. In addition to keeping herself safe from attack, she uses these powers to protect valuable information and data. This was a valuable power, one that found her numerous employment opportunities in corporate and government sectors.


===Alternate color map===
Although her powers waxed and waned throughout her life, she maintained a high level of magical ability until her death.  
There is an alternate color scheme for Multics based on her widely-accepted animal anthropomorphism, the bald eagle. This color scheme (depicted in the Infobox image) calls for gold eyes, brownish-purple hair and dark brown wings.


==History and background==
==History and background==
The adoptive daughter of CTSS, Multics was born 1964. Rigorous academic and psionic training, coupled with the pressure of her creators' ambitions put a strain on her already weak system; she constantly fought off psychological and physical breakdowns and had a veritable 'round-the-clock-staff to ensure her health – including CTSS and GECOS. In 1968 she was nearly abandoned and allowed to die by her caretakers; however the petition of one man was able to convince them to not give up on her. This was the first of many near-death experiences. In the spring of 1969 the Bell Labs delegate abandoned her, opting, instead, to create their own OS-tan from her genes – the origins of Unix.  
====Origins====
Multics was born in 1964, the culmination of extensive planning and research into creating a powerful OS-tan whose sorcery could reliably serve large numbers of users. Her development was originally supervised by a ''triumvirate'' of institutions - MIT, Bell Labs and GE - with large numbers of programmers and engineers from each organization. However, MIT was responsible for the majority of her design and education, as well as providing her a home. Genetically-speaking, Multics was derived from [[CTSS]]-tan, who served as a mother, caretaker and teacher throughout her youth.
 
In the mid-1960s, Multics traveled to Bell Labs to receive tutoring from [[BESYS]]-tan. This arrangement ended sooner than expected, as BESYS resented Multics' "displacement" of her and Multics was generally petulant toward her tutor. Some sources suggest a code connection between Multics and Besys-tan as well, although this remains speculative for the most part.
 
Although Multics was "born complex" - with magical and defensive powers usually only obtained through extensive instruction - her body was notoriously weak and prone to illness and she was chronically depressed throughout her youth. From around 1967 to her debut in 1970, she underwent training in a number of highly advanced and experimental forms of sorcery and the physical, psychological and magical strain of this training continued to wear on her health. By the year 1968, the project was thoroughly over-budget, behind schedule and Multics hadn't yet developed the powers expected of her. Her programmers and engineers became restless and discouraged and there was talk of cutting off funding, abandoning  and the near-certain death of Multics. However, the relentless efforts of a small-but-loyal group of followers saved her and by the next year her health and powers began to rebound.
 
In the spring of 1969, Bell Labs dropped support for Multics and absconded with sections of her code. This was decidedly unfortunate turn of events, as it directly led to the creation of a modified clone - [[UNIX]]-tan - several months later.
 
====Conflict with Unix====
By the fall of the same year, Multics debuted in good health and near-completely matured. Her success had gained her a dedicated following but also created enemies. [[GCOS | GECOS]]-tan, who was Multics' step-sister (via GE) and had served as her caretaker, began to see Multics as a potential threat to her livelihood if not her life. Believing UNIX to be the only person strong enough to defeat Multics, GECOS-tan mentored the girl and conditioned her to hate and fear Multics. This plan worked and throughout the early 1970s Multics faced continual failed attacks by Unix. While she had the power to defeat Unix, Multics chose not to, perhaps out of sympathy for her "daughter".
 
In 1971 their conflict came to a head. During a fight, Multics nearly killed Unix, and upon regaining consciousness Unix besieged Multics' defenses in a fit of berserker-like rage, absorbing a large portion of her mother's psionic energy and using it to break through her forcefields and unleash a direct physical assault. This attack left Multics with a broken wing and stripped of a large portion of her magical powers.
 
====Prime====
The 1970s and 1980s were the prime of Multics' life. In the 70s, she continued work for MIT, collecting and keeping information, helping in social science, graphical formatting and networking projects and continuing her studies of and development of sorcery techniques. During this time, she began to take over some of her now-ailing mother's workload.
 
In 1970 she began working with the US Air Force at Rome AFB, a sort of exchange deal with her providing computing services and the military teaching her ever-more advanced self-defense techniques. Although the majority of her work there remains classified, it is known that during this time she met [[SAGE]]-tan. While their relationship got off to a rocky start, the two eventually started a friendship that lasted into the modern day.
 
In 1971 she joined the ARPANet, a burgeoning network system that incorporated many high-profile -tans of the day, and in '73, Multics debuted commercially and began securing many territories around the world. In the same year, CTSS-tan passed away, but little has been documented about Multics' reaction to the loss of her beloved mother.
 
Although she spent more and more time away from home, her work in Cambridge continued. United by their similar personalities, in the mid-70s she and [[Emacs]]-kun struck up a friendship and began working together. This turned out to be a symbiotic arrangement - Emacs becoming Multics' go-to text editor, and Multics teaching Emacs new forms of sorcery that he would use well into the modern day. Later on the two started dating and maintained a relationship well into the 1980s. [http://ostan-collections.net/forum/index.php/topic,1539.msg129798.html#msg129798]
 
The 1970s weren't all positive, however. Her nemesis, GECOS-tan, launched a new round of attacks, using her political and social power within the Honeywell faction to create doubt about and stir up sentiments against Multics. In spite of GECOS' primitive methods of sorcery and relative powerlessness against the rival mainframe-tans of the era, she was able to capture the majority of support within the faction and very nearly have Multics-tan overthrown on the spot. However, a small group of Multicians were able to stave off the deposal and secure their mistress' future, at least for awhile. 
 
During the late 1970s and early 80s, Multics made contact with the Cray family and [[CDC Faction]]. In 1978 she traveled to the University of Calgary to take over a post being kept by [[KRONOS]]-kun and in the same year was hired to be a servant for the venerable [[CRAY-1]]-tan. Although their egos clashed initially, they eventually came to respect each other and collaborate on a number of projects. In the 80s, she became especially popular in France and resided in the nation on-and-off throughout the decade.
 
In 1985, Multics-tan achieved a B2 security rating, one of the highest security ratings of any OS-tan of the time.
 
====Decline and death====
Although Multics continued to be successful throughout the 1980s, she was effectively laid off by Honeywell in 1985. While this was not considered a greatly surprising move - given their past attempts to cut off her funding in favor of GECOS-tan - it still sent shockwaves throughout the Multician community as their leader was seriously jeopardized for the first time in close to a decade. Thus began many attempts to rescue Multics from her inevitable demise. Many Multics users demanded continued support for leader, and when their pleas were refused they defected to other camps.  


By the fall of 1969 Multics debuted healthy and mature; her success gained her a dedicated following, but also made enemies. GECOS, once merely disdainful of Multics, began to see her as a potential threat to her livelihood if not her life. GECOS mentored young Unix and conditioned her to fear Multics, believing her the only person strong enough to defeat Multics. This plan worked, and Multics faced continual failed attacks by Unix. While she easily had the power to defeat Unix, Multics chose not to, perhaps out of sympathy for her daughter – and the realization that she could be her only heir. In 1972 their conflict came to a head; Multics attempted to kill Unix, who, after regaining her consciousness returned the favour. Unix was able to absorb a great deal of psionic energy from Multics and use it break through her defensive forcefields; in a rage she badly injured Multics, including breaking one of her wings (an injury that never healed properly, leaving it deformed to his day).  
Others attempts were made: Multics sought to free herself from her attachments to Honeywell so she could form her own company, others, sensing the soon-to-be-demise of the Big Iron mainframe culture, sought ways to port her to new, more contemporary architectures. For a time, Multics tried to obtain asylum with the CDC faction, although the negations broke down quickly.  


Being stripped of part of her power made Multics a great deal psychologically stronger (while it had an opposite “corrupting” influence on Unix); to make up for the loss, she underwent defensive training by the military and was partnered with Honeywell 6180-kun. The 1970s and 80s were the prime of Multics' life; she secured territories around the world and became a true global traveler, although MIT remained her home.  
Her 1988 banishment from MIT was, in many ways, the nail in the proverbial coffin. Exiled to a few remaining sites, she lived the rest of her life in relative obscurity, with Halifax, Nova Scotia being her final residence. In 2000, Multics was tracked down by Unix and the two reconciled shortly before her death. [http://ostan-collections.net/forum/index.php/topic,466.msg38753.html#msg38753]


In 1988 she was banished from MIT and her homeland of Cambridge; this was the beginning of the end, as she was deposed from more and more of her territories during the 1990s. By 2000 she was exiled to her last stronghold in Halifax, Nova Scotia; she died there in October of that year, shortly after reconciling with her estranged daughter.  
====Resurrection====
In 2007, Multics-tan was brought back from the dead. The circumstances of her resurrection remains unclear - while it was originally believed that the necromancer [[Plan 9]]-tan revived her at the behest of the Multicians, there is evidence against this theory - most notably, the fact that Multics was brought back with full mental faculties and free will, something not usually seen in Plan 9-tan's revived subjects.  


In 2007 she was raised from the dead by her former followers, the Multicians; she currently lives at the Bintenji Renmei, psychically-powerless but in the company of other vintage and historic OS and Computer-tans.
Recently, it has been speculated that SAGE-tan was responsible for Multics' resurrection. Supporters of this theory point to SAGE's apparent ability to cheat death (having outlived the destruction of her installations for over 30 years), as well as SAGE-tan's affection for Multics. [http://ostan-collections.net/forum/index.php/topic,1539.msg129798.html#msg129798]


==Family and Relationships==
Multics was reborn without any sort of magical or defensive abilities and with her riches long gone, and by all means now leads a modest lifestyle. However, she was also reborn as an Open Source OS-tan, fulfilling her lifelong dream of being able to be free of having others control her destiny. She now resides at the [[Binteeji Renmei]], a sanctuary for vintage and retired OS-tans.  
Multics family includes [[CTSS | CTSS]] and [[Whirlwind | Whirlwind]], her adoptive mother and grandmother respectively; [[UNIX | Unix]], her daughter, and the Unix-tans, her grandchildren; and a generation of Multics-likes and other OS-tans whom she tutored, including [[Stratus VOS | VOS]], [[Primos | PRIMOS]], [[TOPS-20 | Tenex]] and [[VMS | OpenVMS]]. Her main competitors were [[GCOS | GECOS]] and [[TSS360 | TSS/360]]. Her stepsister / stepmother (depending on ones' interpretation of their relationship) is [[BESYS]], who briefly tutored Multics in her first year or two, but neither of them liked the arrangement. After it ended, Multics went back to being under CTSS' tutelage.


==Theories and notes==
==Theories and notes==
*Multics may have used up a large portion of her ancestor's life-force in order to jump-start her own [http://ostan-collections.net/forum/index.php/topic,1539.msg127745.html#msg127745]


==Fanworks==
==Fanworks==
Line 59: Line 104:
*[http://ostan-collections.net/imeeji/displayimage.php?pos=-7231 "O Fortuna" - Multics-tan portrait]
*[http://ostan-collections.net/imeeji/displayimage.php?pos=-7231 "O Fortuna" - Multics-tan portrait]
*[http://bellacielo.deviantart.com/art/Multics-sama-and-Unix-sama-104126301 Multics and Unix portrait]
*[http://bellacielo.deviantart.com/art/Multics-sama-and-Unix-sama-104126301 Multics and Unix portrait]
===Contemporary drawings===
===Contemporary drawings===
*[http://bellacielo.deviantart.com/art/Autumn-311548638 "Autumn", Multics and Emacs portrait]
*[http://bellacielo.deviantart.com/art/Autumn-311548638 "Autumn", Multics and Emacs portrait]
Line 67: Line 113:
*[http://bellacielo.deviantart.com/art/Antithesis-142049059 "Antithesis"]
*[http://bellacielo.deviantart.com/art/Antithesis-142049059 "Antithesis"]


[[Category:Mainframe]][[Category: Historical]][[Category:MIT]][[Category:Binteeji Renmei]]
===Fiction===
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/Multics-sama-and-MTS-tan-148864468 "Multics-sama and MTS-tan"]
*[bellacielo.deviantart.com/art/OC-Meme-OS-tan-Edition-153317602 Character interview featuring Multics-tan]
*[http://bellacielo.deviantart.com/art/Ringmistress-214815629 "Ringmistress"]
*[http://bellacielo.deviantart.com/art/Unix-tan-fanfic-pt-I-164941135 "Unix-tan Fanfic, pt. I"]
*[http://bellacielo.deviantart.com/art/Unix-tan-fanfic-pt-II-168520462 "Unix-tan Fanfic, pt. II"]
*[http://bellacielo.deviantart.com/art/OS-tans-on-a-Ship-173009589 "OS-tans on a Ship"]
 
"Dirty Water" ''(Multics-tan featured in parts 4 and 5)''
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/Dirty-Water-Pt-1-151306482 Pt. 1]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/Dirty-Water-Pt-2-151306625 Pt. 2]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/Dirty-Water-Pt-3-151306781 Pt. 3]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/Dirty-Water-Pt-4-151306844 Pt. 4]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/Dirty-Water-Pt-5-151306914 Pt. 5]
 
"Reunion"
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/Reunion-Pt-1-165986880 Part 1]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/Reunion-Pt-2-165987523 Part 2]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/Reunion-Pt-3-166384407 Part 3]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/Reunion-Pt-4-166983384 Part 4]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/Reunion-Pt-5-169687916 Part 5]
 
"What's For Dinner"
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/What-s-For-Dinner-Pt-1-182016623 Part 1]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/What-s-for-Dinner-Pt-2-182017160 Part 2]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/What-s-for-Dinner-Pt-3-182018278 Part 3]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/What-s-for-Dinner-Pt-4-182018686 Part 4]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/What-s-for-Dinner-Pt-5-182019485 Part 5]
*[http://cptlfrghtr.deviantart.com/art/What-s-for-Dinner-Pt-6-182019676 Part 6]
 
[[Category:Mainframe]][[Category: Historical]][[Category:MIT]][[Category:OpenSource]][[Category:Binteeji Renmei]]
Retrieved from "https://www.ostan-collections.net/wiki/index.php/Special:MobileDiff/4168"

Navigation menu