Panda Information

Panda Programming operates a TOPS-20 system, Lingling.Panda.COM, which benchmarks at about 21 times faster than a KL10 and 96 times faster than a KS10. Like its predecessors, Lingling is a microcoded machine. The microcode is standard KLH10, the micromachine is an Intel Celeron, and the microcode operating system is Ubuntu Linux. We believe that Lingling is the fastest TOPS-20 system of all time. And yes, Lingling has lights. The LITES% and SWTCH% jsi actually work in the Panda version of TOPS-20, as do the LIGHTS and SWITCH UUOs. The light panel hardware was built by Spare Time Gizmos and information on how to get one of these panels for your own machine is here. We do not give out accounts on Lingling; however, twenex.org operates a public-access TOPS-20 system running the Panda distribution. The good folks attrailing-edge.com have kindly agreed to host a downloadable copy of the June 16, 2006 snapshot of the Panda distribution. Note that this is a large (221MB) compressed tar file. A newer version may be available from us, either via scp upload from our site (downloads not possible) or by CD-ROM. Contact information for how to request a newer version from us is on the trailing-edge.com site. The TOPS-20 mailing list has been active since 1979. Membership on the list is limited to those individuals with an interest in the TOPS-20 operating system. To request that you be added, contact Lingling's postmaster.