Helios-NG: An open-source cluster OS that links the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga
(2021/12/06)
- Reference: 1638798379
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/12/06/heliosng/
- Source link:
What is old is new again: linking open source Unix-alikes, native cluster OSes for massively parallel computers, and 1980s platform rivalries. You get all this in a somewhat dusty project hoping to "breathe new life" into Helios, a manycore OS from the '90s.
Parallel computing is back in fashion. Just last week, The Reg covered [1]an inexpensive Arm cluster in a box ; and [2]support in the next Linux kernel for 24-core Atom chips and 64-core ARM ones.
Back in the 1980s, Intel couldn't build you a box with that many cores – but a [3]small British outfit called Inmos could . While a remote descendant of Inmos provides one of the processors in relatively [4]recent Amiga hardware , there's a much older connection.
[5]
There were three home computers that teenage British proto-geeks could aspire to owning: [6]Commodore's Amiga , [7]Atari's ST, or the British alternative, [8]Acorn's Archimedes . While the ST had an off-the-shelf OS using [9]Digital Research GEM , both Commodore and Acorn tried to build all-new OSes, and when those efforts failed, resorted to adapting pre-existing code. Acorn Arthur, later renamed [10]RISC OS , drew heavily on the [11]BBC Micro's OS, MOS.
[12]
[13]
Commodore went to an external contractor instead: [14]MetaComCo . Their programmer, [15]Tim King , adapted much of the [16]TRIPOS operating system by [17]Martin Richards to the new machine to form AmigaDOS.
King and some other team members subsequently left and started a new company, [18]Perihelion Software , which created a new OS, [19]Helios , for the Inmos Transputer. At least [20]somewhat Unix-like , Helios was intended for many-processor parallel computers, and extended TRIPOS's lightweight message-passing architecture to coordinate processes running on separate CPUs.
[21]
So when Atari launched its [22]Transputer Workstation , the [23]ATW800 or [24]ABAQ , it ran Helios. Ironically, given that MetaComCo originally [25]pitched the idea at Commodore, when a household name launched a Helios machine, it was Atari hardware – running a distant relative of AmigaDOS.
[26]NixOS and the changing face of Linux operating systems
[27]Linux PC shop System76 is building a new desktop environment in Rust
[28]Devuan debuts version 4.0 – as usual without a hint of the hated systemd
[29]SCO v. IBM settlement deal is done, but zombie case shuffles on elsewhere
[30]Happy birthday, Linux: From a bedroom project to billions of devices in 30 years
Helios didn't die with the Transputer. It was later ported to other CPU architectures, including Arm – it was the basis of [31]Acorn co-founder [32]Hermann Hauser 's early pen-driven computer, the [33]Active Book . (We recommend the promotional [34]video .)
There's quite a lot of documentation, source code, and even installation media available, both for the [35]original version and [36]later editions . Perihelion's introductory book, The Helios Parallel Operating System
Helios is [38]open source now, and there were ambitious [39]plans to revive and modernise it, though those seem to have stalled.
In an ideal world, something like this could be a great fit for hardware such as the [40]Atom 5900 series , [41]Huawei's Kunpeng 920 , or even a [42]cluster of Raspberry Pis. ®
Get our [43]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/02/turing_pi_2/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/01/linux_5_16_alder_lake/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2011/08/18/heroes_of_tech_david_may/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2010/06/21/amiga_x1000/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Ya5B0evOVYhw3OlrfsSLpAAAAVE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2015/07/24/amiga_turns_30/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2012/06/27/atari_40_anniversary/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2012/06/01/acorn_archimedes_is_25_years_old/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/1999/04/27/gem_the_gui_that_beat/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2018/10/23/risc_os_open_source/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2011/11/30/bbc_micro_model_b_30th_anniversary/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ya5B0evOVYhw3OlrfsSLpAAAAVE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ya5B0evOVYhw3OlrfsSLpAAAAVE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] http://www.bambi-amiga.co.uk/amigahistory/tripos.html
[15] https://tim-king.com/
[16] https://www.pagetable.com/?p=193
[17] https://www.pagetable.com/?p=193
[18] https://web.archive.org/web/19970712150629/http://www.perihelion.co.uk/
[19] https://www.geekdot.com/helios/
[20] http://transputer.net/hbooks/02/hn02.html
[21] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ya5B0evOVYhw3OlrfsSLpAAAAVE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[22] http://dunfield.classiccmp.org/atw800/index.htm
[23] https://randoc.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/atari-atw800/
[24] https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=3&c=33
[25] http://transputer.classiccmp.org/metacomco.htm
[26] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/03/nixos_linux_os_design/
[27] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/08/system76_developing_new_linux_desktop/
[28] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/15/devuan_4_chimaera_released/
[29] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/30/sco_tsg_vs_ibm_settlement/
[30] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/25/linux_kernel_30_years_old/
[31] https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/27/arm_35_year_anniversary/
[32] https://www.theregister.com/2016/07/06/knighthood_for_arm_founder/
[33] http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/53902/Active-Book/
[34] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_sztDMInY8
[35] http://transputer.classiccmp.org/helios.htm
[36] http://www.transputer.net/hbooks/
[37] http://www.transputer.net/hbooks/techref/hbk.pdf
[38] https://github.com/axelmuhr/Helios-NG
[39] https://www.geekdot.com/helios-ng/
[40] https://www.theregister.com/2020/02/24/intel_targets_5g_market_with_two_new_chips/
[41] https://www.theregister.com/2019/01/08/ces_intel_nvidia_huawei_ibm/
[42] https://jacquesmattheij.com/raspberry-pi-as-a-poor-mans-transputer/
[43] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Parallel computing is back in fashion. Just last week, The Reg covered [1]an inexpensive Arm cluster in a box ; and [2]support in the next Linux kernel for 24-core Atom chips and 64-core ARM ones.
Back in the 1980s, Intel couldn't build you a box with that many cores – but a [3]small British outfit called Inmos could . While a remote descendant of Inmos provides one of the processors in relatively [4]recent Amiga hardware , there's a much older connection.
[5]
There were three home computers that teenage British proto-geeks could aspire to owning: [6]Commodore's Amiga , [7]Atari's ST, or the British alternative, [8]Acorn's Archimedes . While the ST had an off-the-shelf OS using [9]Digital Research GEM , both Commodore and Acorn tried to build all-new OSes, and when those efforts failed, resorted to adapting pre-existing code. Acorn Arthur, later renamed [10]RISC OS , drew heavily on the [11]BBC Micro's OS, MOS.
[12]
[13]
Commodore went to an external contractor instead: [14]MetaComCo . Their programmer, [15]Tim King , adapted much of the [16]TRIPOS operating system by [17]Martin Richards to the new machine to form AmigaDOS.
King and some other team members subsequently left and started a new company, [18]Perihelion Software , which created a new OS, [19]Helios , for the Inmos Transputer. At least [20]somewhat Unix-like , Helios was intended for many-processor parallel computers, and extended TRIPOS's lightweight message-passing architecture to coordinate processes running on separate CPUs.
[21]
So when Atari launched its [22]Transputer Workstation , the [23]ATW800 or [24]ABAQ , it ran Helios. Ironically, given that MetaComCo originally [25]pitched the idea at Commodore, when a household name launched a Helios machine, it was Atari hardware – running a distant relative of AmigaDOS.
[26]NixOS and the changing face of Linux operating systems
[27]Linux PC shop System76 is building a new desktop environment in Rust
[28]Devuan debuts version 4.0 – as usual without a hint of the hated systemd
[29]SCO v. IBM settlement deal is done, but zombie case shuffles on elsewhere
[30]Happy birthday, Linux: From a bedroom project to billions of devices in 30 years
Helios didn't die with the Transputer. It was later ported to other CPU architectures, including Arm – it was the basis of [31]Acorn co-founder [32]Hermann Hauser 's early pen-driven computer, the [33]Active Book . (We recommend the promotional [34]video .)
There's quite a lot of documentation, source code, and even installation media available, both for the [35]original version and [36]later editions . Perihelion's introductory book, The Helios Parallel Operating System
[37]PDF
, begins gently and readably, and the first chapter or two form a good starting point.Helios is [38]open source now, and there were ambitious [39]plans to revive and modernise it, though those seem to have stalled.
In an ideal world, something like this could be a great fit for hardware such as the [40]Atom 5900 series , [41]Huawei's Kunpeng 920 , or even a [42]cluster of Raspberry Pis. ®
Get our [43]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/02/turing_pi_2/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/01/linux_5_16_alder_lake/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2011/08/18/heroes_of_tech_david_may/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2010/06/21/amiga_x1000/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Ya5B0evOVYhw3OlrfsSLpAAAAVE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2015/07/24/amiga_turns_30/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2012/06/27/atari_40_anniversary/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2012/06/01/acorn_archimedes_is_25_years_old/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/1999/04/27/gem_the_gui_that_beat/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2018/10/23/risc_os_open_source/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2011/11/30/bbc_micro_model_b_30th_anniversary/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ya5B0evOVYhw3OlrfsSLpAAAAVE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ya5B0evOVYhw3OlrfsSLpAAAAVE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] http://www.bambi-amiga.co.uk/amigahistory/tripos.html
[15] https://tim-king.com/
[16] https://www.pagetable.com/?p=193
[17] https://www.pagetable.com/?p=193
[18] https://web.archive.org/web/19970712150629/http://www.perihelion.co.uk/
[19] https://www.geekdot.com/helios/
[20] http://transputer.net/hbooks/02/hn02.html
[21] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ya5B0evOVYhw3OlrfsSLpAAAAVE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[22] http://dunfield.classiccmp.org/atw800/index.htm
[23] https://randoc.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/atari-atw800/
[24] https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=3&c=33
[25] http://transputer.classiccmp.org/metacomco.htm
[26] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/03/nixos_linux_os_design/
[27] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/08/system76_developing_new_linux_desktop/
[28] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/15/devuan_4_chimaera_released/
[29] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/30/sco_tsg_vs_ibm_settlement/
[30] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/25/linux_kernel_30_years_old/
[31] https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/27/arm_35_year_anniversary/
[32] https://www.theregister.com/2016/07/06/knighthood_for_arm_founder/
[33] http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/53902/Active-Book/
[34] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_sztDMInY8
[35] http://transputer.classiccmp.org/helios.htm
[36] http://www.transputer.net/hbooks/
[37] http://www.transputer.net/hbooks/techref/hbk.pdf
[38] https://github.com/axelmuhr/Helios-NG
[39] https://www.geekdot.com/helios-ng/
[40] https://www.theregister.com/2020/02/24/intel_targets_5g_market_with_two_new_chips/
[41] https://www.theregister.com/2019/01/08/ces_intel_nvidia_huawei_ibm/
[42] https://jacquesmattheij.com/raspberry-pi-as-a-poor-mans-transputer/
[43] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Oooo ... transputers :-)
boblongii
I remember that manual. But I also remember Occam fondly.
Paul Sidnell
Wow - a blast from the past! I worked at Inmos at the time, I was quite excited to have a play with Helios (which was literally written up the road). It was very promising but easy to crash the whole network of processors as there was no memory protection between the user code and the OS itself. This was an issue with the underlying chip at the time, I think.
Oooo ... transputers :-)
Transputers caused much dribblage when I pretended to be a comp sci student.
Had to learn parallel processing techniques and Occam ... Very confused lectures, resulting in an unforgettable question from a student to a young lecturer "... but aren't you making this up as you go along?" The lecturer admitted that the stuff was so new that he was about a day ahead of us ... at which point we all softened our attitudes towards him as we realised that he was trying to keep us on the crest of a technology wave ... even if it meant buying the worst value book in history "The Occam Programming Manual" by Inmos which had multiple pages inscribed with the phrase "this page is intentionally left blank".