This was over 20 years ago, and the machine itself would have been about 20 years old at that point. At that time, it would have been the norm to dispose of such a machine in such a manner. It was certainly too big to grab for the collection of vintage personal computers I had at the time![1] (To be more specific, it was a disorderly pile of pieces on a dock where equipment was frequently left to be disposed of.)
Of course, I can't be certain it was the machine Gosling used. I don't know how many PDP's the university had. My recollections are also sufficiently vague that I don't remember the exact model, just that it was a PDP composed of many boards. Anyway, the bit about Gosling possibly using it was just a fancy I had while listening to the interview.
[1] Calling those personal computers vintage seems weird now. None of those computers would have been older than 15 years at that point in time, but a 1982 computer would have less in common with a 1997 computer than a 2005 computer with a 2020 one.
Many of the countries were arguably better under the regional dictator. I'm sure the people of Iraq, Libya, etc. Are so glad that "peace" and "prosperity" were exported to them.
I'm working on some projects right now related to quasi-retrocomputing stuff and Windows is the target for some of them for a few reasons. The Windows kernel still offers some some nice API's that linux either doesn't have anymore or is in the slow process of gutting. Plus whe shopping for specialized hardware, I'm often stuck with linux kernel 2.x drivers, and while I doubt the equivlent Windows drivers have been updated since then, I have more faith that they can run unchanged. Plus WSL offers me enough of what I'm missing for now. Also, admittedly I'm just more familiar with it.
Also my GPU does not play well on Linux. Games have performed much worse under Proton or even natively on Linux than they do on Windows.
Eventually I'd like to start trying some OS's outside the Unix-like and Windows family though. I've had my fill of Linux, Windows and *BSD.
Sleep deprivation had gotten to me this year (for unrelated reasons). I remember at one particular, my AC had died and I was waiting for someone to replace it and I hadn't slept in few days. By mid day it was so hot and stack with the sleep deprivation it was incredibly disorienting. I remember laying in bed hoping I could catch an hour of sleep but never fully falling asleep, just sweating and unable to think straight. The combo made it feel almost comparable to some moments from a bad trip.
Wales began his remarks stating, “I am grateful to be here today to testify about the potential for the Wikipedia model of collaboration and information sharing which may be helpful to government operations and homeland security.”
“At a time when the United States has been increasingly criticized around the world, I believe that Wikipedia is an incredible carrier of traditional American values of generosity, hard work, and freedom of speech,” Wales continued, implicitly referencing the George Bush administration’s military occupation of Iraq.
Interesting. I remember sometime last year someone on HN asked a question about predicted conflicts in the near future and Egytp and Ethiopia over this damn was one that caught my eye, as I had not heard of it before. It looks like they were correct.
I certainly hope you don't mean a literal trash heap.