Mainframe Guild Annex Bios

This article is a work in progress. …well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editors’ notes.

Mainframe Guild

BESM

• Name: BESM-san
• aka:
• Clan: IAS
• Debut: 1950's
• Height: 181 cm (~5'11")
• Weight: ??kg
• Eye Color: Green
• Hair: Black

• Quick Facts:
  • -Outcast member of the IAS family. (Soviet computer, considering IAS Machine's political beliefs....)
  • -Unlike BESK, is multilingual, including English. (widely exported throughout Eastern Europe)
  • -Very arrogant and a braggert, insists she's always been and always will be better then her sisters. (Claimed to be better then US contemporaries of the 70's)
  • -Attempted to challenge CDC6600 & SCOPE for fastest computer in the world, but lost.
  • -As fond of jokes as IAS, often regales listeners with tales of her past works.
  • -Beloved by her users, friend to many European OS's.
  • -Not afraid to work hard at any number of tasks.
  • -Second tallest of the IAS-tans.
  • -Wears her hair in a bun, wears a grey overcoat with a striped sweater and casual slacks.
  • -Almost always smiling.

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CP/CMS

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CRAY-1

• Name: Cray-1-tan
• aka: CRAY-1
• Clan: Cray (founder/matriarch)
• Debut: 1976
• Height: 213 cm (7'0")
• Weight: ?? kg
• Eye Color: Silver
• Hair: Light blue

• Quick Facts:
  • -Considered the first supercomputer-tan, and was the most powerful of the Mainframes when she debuted.
  • -Was aristocratic, emotionally abrasive and belligerent, but lacked self-sufficiency at first.
  • -Often had to rely on her hired assistant RDOS for help (a Data General Nova was used as the maintenance control unit of the early Cray-1 model) until she became self-sufficient.
  • -Acquainted with the Data General family, became friends with them out of gratitude.
  • -Rivals with most of the CDC-tans, who saw her as a traitor (except for SCOPE. Seymour Cray left CDC and created the Cray company and computers afterwards)
  • -Hates/hated the Unices, who conquered her territory and forced her to convert to her ways (original OS replaced by UNICOS, a UNIX variant).
  • -Imposed very strict, overachieving ideals on her daughter, Cray-2.
  • -An artist and sci-fi fanatic (a Cray-1 was used in producing "TRON"), admits to liking cheesier sci-fi.
  • -Has ice-based powers.
  • -Still emotionally cold and stoic, but has become much more down-to-earth and feels bad pushing her daughter too far.
  • -Wears her hair in a long wavy ponytail with a metallic headdress.
  • -Wears a futuristic-looking silver gown decorated with color-changing panels, a corset, a hoopskirt and long gloves.

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IAS

• Name: IAS-sama
• aka: "Institute for Advanced Study Machine"
• Clan: IAS (matriarch)
• Debut: 1951
• Height: 163 cm (5'4")
• Weight: ??kg
• Eye Color: Gold
• Hair: Silver

• Quick Facts:
  • -Mother of the large IAS machine family, proud of her children and their descendants. Except for BESM.
  • -Avowed enemy of her cousin, the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental machine.
  • -Has a poor sense of time and trouble keeping up with assignments, but proud of her advanced design and achievements.
  • -Speaks Hungarian and English, occasionally slipping between the two.
  • -Interested and knowledgeable in a wide range of scientific fields.
  • -Too fond of explosions for her daughter ILLIAC's taste.
  • -Likes to play games and tell limericks.
  • -Far more conservative politically then most of her colleagues.
  • -Sometimes overindulges in food and drink.
  • -Likes to drive, but forbidden to. Settles for the occasional trip with the good doctor.
  • -Renowned for her ability to mimic "normal" people, sometimes used in conjunction with her fondness for playing games.
  • -Embarrassed by being afflicted with von Neumann Bottleneck.
  • -Described as being rather imposing, average height, slightly overweight, and dresses in conservative business attire all the time.

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MACE

[[File: ]]

• Name: MACE-kun
• aka: "Mansfield and Cahlander Executive"
• Clan: CDC
• Debut: 1960's
• Height: 176 cm (~5'9.5")
• Weight: ??kg
• Eye Color: Blue
• Hair: Blond

• Quick Facts:
  • -The loose cannon of the CDC family.
  • -Intense personality; loud, boisterous, arrogant and self assured. The opposite of his twin sister SCOPE-sama.
  • -Adaptable, takes change easily and willing to help others understand whats going on, despite his arrogance.
  • -Proud of his roots as a single programmer's off hour project, considers his accomplishments superior to the others.
  • -"Working Man's OS", created at an assembly plant, not a lab. Despite this, he isn't as hands on as SCOPE-sama.
  • -Likes to wear work clothes, has bright shiny teeth, almost always grinning . Is of medium height and rather stocky.

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MCP

• Name: Burroughs MCP-san
• aka: "Master Control Program"
• Clan: Burroughs
• Debut: 1961
• Height: 178 cm (5'10")
• Weight: 81 kg (178 lb)
• Eye Color: Hazel
• Hair: Dark red

• Quick Facts:
  • -Born 1961, matured into her current self in the 1970s
  • -Friendly, but to-the-point.
  • -A very independent worker, sometimes to the point of snubbing co-workers who want to help out.
  • -Can't stand an idle moment, might be considered a bit of an a-type personality by some.
  • -Practised some type of primitive "open sourcery". (MCP source was provided to all licensees, many of whom contributed to MCP's programming)
  • -Ahead of her time (MCP implemented features only now becoming widespread)
  • -Still alive today. (MCP's latest stable release was in 2008)
  • -Tall and heavily built. (MCP ran on some or the largest Burroughs mainframes)
  • -Keeps up with the times: her dress style has changed to keep up with current trends over the last five decades.
  • -Best friends with CANDE-kun.

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Music/CP

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NOS

• Name: NOS-san
• aka: Network Operating System
• Clan: CDC
• Debut: 1970's
• Height: 166 cm (~5'5.5")
• Weight: ??kg
• Eye Color: Blue
• Hair: Brown

• Quick Facts:
  • -The second (and more successful) usurper of control from SCOPE-sama (the other being SPIROS).
  • -Arch-enemies against SCOPE and KRONOS, has attempted to massacre them.
  • -Was defeated by SCOPE and KRONOS in battle, forcing her to accept a lesser position in the family.
  • -Even more arrogant then MACE, but not quite as personable.
  • -Pretty much despised by the other CDC-tans.
  • -One of the most arrogant and violent among the Mainframes, regarded as a diabolical mastermind.
  • -Known to impersonate her rivals, frequently wears wigs as part of a disguise. Her usual outfits are flamboyant, frilly gowns.
  • -Has stitching on her body similar to SCOPE's, but less noticeable.

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NOS/VE

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NTT DIPS

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OS/360

• Name: OS/360-san
• aka: OS/360, Big OS, OS/MFT
• Clan: IBM (leader, System/360 branch)
• Debut: 1964
• Height: 179 cm (~5'10'5")
• Weight: ??kg
• Eye Color: Grey
• Hair: Dark Grey

• Quick Facts:
  • -Mildly schizophrenic, generally finds it difficult to multitask, and is notoriously clumsy.
  • -Secure in her belief in IBM's superiority over their competitors, and is prone to spouting company rhetoric. Known to be boisterous, yet easier to get along with than her older sisters.
  • -Skilled at a variety of governmental and scientific functions.
  • -Is almost immortal.
  • -Has excellent communication skills, and is popular with other mainframe OS-tans, and also good at talking with modern PC-tans.
  • -However, she is very possessive and territorial, sworn enemy of MTS-tan and all other third-party OS-tans who wish to use her equipment (IBM System/360 mainframes).
  • -Has long dark grey hair, wears a long and frilly grey blouse patterned after the System/360 mainframe, pearl jewelry, hoop earrings, and a long blue+black plaid skirt.

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RCA TSOS

• Name: RCA TSOS-san
• aka: "VS/9", "BS2000", "Time Sharing Operating System"
• Clan: RCA, IBM (transferred)
• Debut: 1966
• Height: 164 cm (~5'4.5")
• Weight: ??kg
• Eye Color: Brown
• Hair: Black

• Quick Facts:
  • -Is patient and polite.
  • -Enjoys TV and radio programs, listens to 8-track tapes and has expansive entertainment industry trivia knowledge.
  • -Time conscious, always watching the clock.
  • -Insecure of her identity, not sure where she belongs. Has moved from company to company before finally settling at IBM.
  • -Friendlier than most IBM-tans, but demonstrates passive-aggressive behavior towards them, especially OS/360-tan. Yet, she and OS/360 have a love-hate relationship towards each other.
  • -Has threatened Unisys with revenge numerous times, but hasn't shown any dislike towards OS 2200-tan for some reason.
  • -Has long black hair worn straight.
  • -Wears a red+white dress with a lightning bolt pattern. Her dress looks like a cross between a dirndl and a kimono.

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SCOPE

• Name: SCOPE-sama
• aka: "Supervisory Control Of Program Execution", "Sunnyvale's Collection Of Programming Errors"
• Clan: CDC (leader)
• Debut: 1963
• Height: 196 cm (6'5")
• Weight: ??kg
• Eye Color: Red
• Hair: multicolor- shades of blonde
• Note: Also represents COS ("Chippewa Operating System")

• Quick Facts:
  • -Shown very little love or respect by her family but has over time risen to become their leader.
  • -Became the most successful CDC-tan, despite not getting any respect from her descendants.
  • -Has an inferiority complex that wasn't entirely unjustified and feels the need to prove herself.
  • -Likes to test and mess around with experiments, and is quite good at it.
  • -Greatly satisfied by the defeat of the rival/usurper SPIROS. Also defeated NOS, another usurper and arch-rival.
  • -A great believer in "the right to rise", and prone to giving motivational speeches.
  • -Has a love/hate relationship with her own employees.
  • -Is a fast runner, great at multitasking, and good at delegating tasks to her assistants.
  • -An associate of the Cray-tans, and is good friends with Cray-1.
  • -Has visible stitches on her arms; has wild and messy hair in several different colors. Her eyes are always wide-open.
  • -Dresses simply but well; reflecting her success, but doesn't like to show off.

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SWAC

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VM/CMS

• Name: VM/CMS-san
• aka: "VM"
• Clan: IBM (VM branch)
• Debut: 1972
• Height: 161 cm (5'3")
• Weight: ??kg
• Eye Color: Light green
• Hair: Black

• Quick Facts:
  • -Daughter/younger sister(?) of CP/CMS-tan.
  • -An outgoing and exceedingly pleasant woman, is polite and accommodating to other OS-tans.
  • -Hard-working, often wears herself out with her work.
  • -Has some abilities similar to TSS/360-tan in that she can manifest virtual familiars for battle, usually just uses them to serve tea.
  • -Usually serves as a direct assistant to IBM -tans and others.
  • -Close companion of IBM AIX-tan.
  • -Quite competent at her job, but has some self esteem issues ("At one time, CMS was capable of running on a bare machine, as a true operating system (though of course nobody would do this)") leading to her dedication to serving others.
  • -Would typically use very polite speech.
  • -Keeps her hair usually tied in braids, wears casual dresses with an apron patterned after the System/370 mainframe console.
  • -Carries around a green teddy bear.

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VSE (fka "DOS/360")

[[File: ]]

• Name: VSE-san
• aka: DOS/360, "Disk Operating System/360"
• Clan: IBM (System/360 branch)
• Debut: 1966
• Height: 172 cm (5'8")
• Weight: ?? kg
• Eye Color:Blue
• Hair: Black

• Quick Facts:
  • -One of the second generation System/360 sisters, and is the other surviving one.
  • -Generally treated as an equal by OS/360, her right hand comrade.
  • -Gifted speaker, commands the loyalty of terminals, and has a devoted following as a result.
  • -Occasionally referred to as GECOS's mother, for some reason (Hacker's Jargon File states GECOS was a copy of DOS/360, which isn't true)
  • -Easy going, very steadfast and trustworthy. The most happy-go-lucky of the IBM-tans.
  • -Hard of hearing, has to be told things over and over (lacked a loader)
  • -Capable of moving extremely fast to a specific target
  • -Served as a scout to the IBM forces
  • -While on assignment, formed the DOSSE faction to unite the DOS-tans she shared a namesake with.
  • -Handwriting almost indecipherable (JCL was hard for programmers to use)
  • -Wears fancy dresses, keeps her hair in pigtails. Curiously has some resemblance to the x86 DOS-tans.

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Z/OS

See also

• Mainframe Guild
• OS-tan Annex Project