[COFF] GE-635 GECOS?

[Jeffrey Johnson via COFF]

We (DPS8M Developers) have done a lot of work recently making sure the GCOS
subsystem in Multics works well and is fully documented.

It isn’t a full GCOS installation but works similarly to running Linux in
WSL on Windows.

For more details than I can possibly post here, see:
https://multics-wiki.swenson.org/index.php/GCOS

Hopefully someone comes along and can provide the extra bits that we are
looking for to enhance the GCOS experience.

Feel free to contact us on our Slack or mailing lists if you have any
specific questions.

PS - You will likely find
https://dps8m.gitlab.io/dps8m/Family_Trees/ useful as well, as we document
the GCOS lines (GCOS-3/GCOS-8 at least - the other GCOS systems on
non-36-bit hardware like GCOS-6, GCOS-7, etc. are out of scope for us).

On Sun, Mar 29, 2026 at 2:08 AM Clem Cole via COFF <coff at tuhs.org> wrote:

> Check out
> https://www.multicians.org/ge635.html
>
> From what I can tell GCOS has been lost to time
>
> Sent from a handheld expect more typos than usual
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 29, 2026 at 1:56 AM Clem Cole <clemc at ccc.com> wrote:
>
> > I have no idea how good the 645 emulations are, but if they support the
> > mode switch, then in theory, GCOS should boot if you can find a
> > distribution tape.
> >
> > Sent from a handheld expect more typos than usual
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Mar 29, 2026 at 1:31 AM segaloco via COFF <coff at tuhs.org> wrote:
> >
> >> Does anyone have a feel for the state of GE-635 emulation and preserved
> >> GECOS specimens?  Is it possible in 2026 to spin a 60s GECOS
> >> environment in a terminal?
> >>
> >> - Matt G.
> >>
> >
>