BiiN system

["Robert C. Leif, Ph.D." <rleif@MAIL.CTS.COM>]

To: David Wheeler
From: Bob Leif

You wrote
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" David Wheeler <wheeler@APHRODITE.CSED.IDA.ORG>
Subject: Re: Why couldn't an operating system be written in ada

The BiiN system had an OS written in Ada, as well as a number of
other interesting capabilities (fault-tolerance, capability-based
security, etc.).  However, developing the OS, hardware, and other things
was incredibly costly, and the sales didn't ramp up fast enough
to overcome the $$ invested.

Real OS's are time-consuming to create."
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If I remember correctly, Siemens and Intel were involved and the operating
system was created for an Intel chip (432 ?) that was designed for Ada. I
also believe it had  very odd input-output architecture. The questions are
what happened to the BiiN source code? And if available, what would happen
if it were hosted on a modern CPU?

Bob Leif
Robert C. Leif, Ph.D., PMIAC,
Vice President & Research Director
Ada_Med, A Division of Newport Instruments
Tel. & Fax (619) 582-0437