The Data General RDOS (''Real-time Disk Operating System'') is a
real-time operating system released in 1970. The software was bundled with the company's popular
Nova and
Eclipse minicomputers.
Overview
RDOS is capable of
multitasking, with the ability to run up to 32 tasks (similar to the current term
threads) simultaneously on each of two
grounds (
foreground and background) within a 64
KB memory space. Later versions of RDOS are compatible with Data General's
16-bit
16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors.
A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...
Eclipse minicomputer line.
A cut-down version of RDOS, without real-time background and foreground capability but still capable of running multiple threads and multi-user
Data General Business Basic
Data General Business Basic was a BASIC interpreter (based on a version from MAI Basic Four) marketed by Data General for their Nova minicomputer in the 1970s, and later ported to the Data General Eclipse MV and AViiON computers. Most bus ...
, is called Data General Diskette Operating System
(DG-DOS or now—somewhat confusingly—simply DOS); another related operating system is RTOS, a Real-Time Operating System for diskless environments. RDOS on
microNOVA-based "Micro Products" micro-minicomputers is sometimes called DG/RDOS.
RDOS was superseded in the early 1980s by Data General's
AOS family of operating systems, including AOS/VS and MP/AOS (MP/OS on smaller systems).
Commands
The following list of
commands are supported by the RDOS/DOS CLI.
*
ALGOL
*
APPEND
*
ASM
*
BASIC
Basic or BASIC may refer to:
Science and technology
* BASIC, a computer programming language
* Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base
* Basic access authentication, in HTTP
Entertainment
* Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film
...
* BATCH
* BOOT
* BPUNCH
* BUILD
* CCONT
* CDIR
* CHAIN
* CHATR
* CHLAT
* CLEAR
* CLG
* COPY
* CPART
* CRAND
* CREATE
* DEB
*
DELETE
* DIR
* DISK
* DUMP
* EDIT
* ENDLOG
* ENPAT
* EQUIV
* EXFG
* FDUMP
* FGND
* FILCOM
* FLOAD
*
FORT
*
FORTRAN
* FPRINT
* GDIR
* GMEM
* GSYS
* GTOD
* INIT
* LDIR
* LFE
*
LINK
* LIST
* LOAD
* LOG
* MAC
* MCABOOT
* MDIR
* MEDIT
* MESSAGE
* MKABS
* MKSAVE
* MOVE
* NSPEED
* OEDIT
* OVLDR
* PATCH
* POP
*
PRINT
* PUNCH
* RDOSSORT
* RELEASE
*
RENAME
* REPLACE
* REV
* RLDR
* SAVE
* SDAY
* SEDIT
* SMEM
* SPDIS
* SPEBL
* SPEED
* SPKILL
* STOD
* SYSGEN
* TPRINT
* TUOFF
* TUON
*
TYPE
* VFU
* XFER
Antitrust lawsuit
In the late 1970s, Data General was sued (under the Sherman and Clayton antitrust acts) by competitors for their practice of bundling RDOS with the Data General Nova or Eclipse minicomputer.
When Data General introduced the
Data General Nova, a company called Digidyne wanted to use its RDOS
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...
on its own
hardware clone. Data General refused to
license their software and claimed their "bundling rights". In 1985, courts including the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against Data General in a case called ''Digidyne v. Data General''. The
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
declined to hear Data General's appeal, although
Justices White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
and
Blackmun would have heard it. The precedent set by the lower courts eventually forced Data General to license the operating system because restricting the software to only Data General's hardware was an illegal tying arrangement.
In 1999, Data General was taken over by
EMC Corporation.
References
External links
RDOS documentation at the Computer History MuseumRDOS 7.50 User Parameters definitionSimuLogics' ReNOVAte - Emulator to run NOVA/Eclipse Software on DOS / WindowsNT / UN*X / VMS
{{Data General
Data General
Disk operating systems
Real-time operating systems