Editing Lilith (computer)

{{Short description|1980 custom-built workstation computer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox information appliance
| name = DISER Lilith
| title = 
| aka = 
| logo = 
| image = Lilith-enter-museum.jpg
| caption = 
| developer = [[ETH Zurich]]
| manufacturer = Modula Computer Systems
| family = [[Niklaus Wirth|Wirth]]
| type = [[workstation]]
| generation = 
| release date = {{Start date and age|1980}}
| retail availability = <!-- Start date to end date -->
| lifespan = 
| price = $8000
| discontinued = Yes
| units sold = 120<ref>{{Cite AV media |author=<!-- unstated --> |date=15 June 2017 |title=ETH Zurich: Ready |medium=video |language=en |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvbhVPLS2fM  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/IvbhVPLS2fM |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|website=YouTube |time=1:25–1:35 |location=[[Zürich]], Switzerland |publisher=[[ETH Zurich]] |access-date=21 March 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
| units shipped = 120
| media = [[Floppy disk]] {{convert|5.25|in|cm|abbr=on}} 140 K
| os = [[#Operating system|Medos-2]] ([[Modula-2]])
| power = 
| soc = 
| cpu = [[Advanced Micro Devices|AMD]] [[AMD Am2900|2901]]
| memory = 256 K (131,072 [[16-bit computing|16-bit]] [[Word (computer architecture)|words]])
| storage = 15 MB [[Hard disk drive|hard disk]]
| memory card = 
| display = {{convert|12|in|cm|abbr=on}} [[monochrome]] [[Raster graphics|bitmapped]]
| graphics = 
| sound = 
| input = 
| controllers = 
| camera = 
| touchpad = 
| connectivity = 
| currentfw =
| platform = 
| service = 
| dimensions = {{convert|15.5|x|15|x|14.5|in|cm|abbr=on}}
| weight = 
| topgame = 
| compatibility = 
| predecessor = 
| successor = [[Ceres (workstation)|Ceres]]
| related = 
| marketing_target = Research
| website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} -->
}}The '''DISER Lilith''' is a custom built [[workstation]] computer based on the [[Advanced Micro Devices]] (AMD) [[AMD Am2900|2901]] [[bit slicing]] processor, created by a group led by [[Niklaus Wirth]] at [[ETH Zurich]].<ref name="Byte8-84">{{Cite magazine |last=Ohran |first=Richard |date=August 1984 |title=Lilith and Modula-2: A case study of high-level-language processor design |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] |pages=181–192 |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1984-08/page/n186/mode/1up |access-date=6 March 2021}} Reprint.</ref><ref name="Byte9-84">{{Cite magazine |last=Sand |first=Paul A. |date=September 1984 |title=The Lilith Personal Computer |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] |pages=300–311 |url=https://archive.org/details/BYTE_Vol_09-10_1984-09_Computer_Graphics/page/n309/mode/2up |access-date=6 March 2021}} Reprint.</ref> The project began in 1977, and by 1984 several hundred workstations were in use. It has a high resolution full page [[Page orientation|portrait oriented]] [[cathode-ray tube]] display, a [[Mouse (computing)|mouse]], a [[laser printer]] interface, and a [[computer networking]] interface. Its software is written fully in [[Modula-2]] and includes a [[relational database]] program named Lidas.

The Lilith processor architecture is a [[stack machine]].<ref name="Byte8-84"/> Citing from Sven Erik Knudsen's contribution to "The Art of Simplicity": "Lilith's clock speed was around 7 MHz and enabled Lilith to execute between 1 and 2 million instructions (called M-code) per second. (...) Initially, the main memory was planned to have 65,536 [[16-bit computing|16-bit]] [[Word (computer architecture)|words]] memory, but soon after its first version, it was enlarged to twice that capacity. For regular Modula-2 programs however, only the initial 65,536 words were usable for storage of variables."<ref>{{Cite book |editor1-last=Böszörményi |editor1-first=László |editor2-last=Gutknecht |editor2-first=Jürg |editor2-link=Jürg Gutknecht |editor3-last=Pomberger |editor3-first=Gustav |date=25 October 2000 |title=The School of Niklaus Wirth: The Art of Simplicity |publisher=Morgan Kaufmann |isbn=978-1558607231}} {{ISBN|1-55860-723-4}} & dpunkt, {{ISBN|3-932588-85-1}}.</ref>

==History==
The development of Lilith was influenced by the [[Xerox Alto]] from the [[Xerox PARC]] (1973) where [[Niklaus Wirth]] spent a sabbatical from 1976 to 1977. Unable to bring back one of the Alto systems to Europe, Wirth decided to build a new system from scratch between 1978 and 1980, selling it under the company name DISER (''Data Image Sound Processor and Emitter Receiver System'').<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wirth |first=Niklaus |author-link=Niklaus Wirth |date=January 1995 |url=http://www.modulaware.com/mdlt52.htm |title=A Brief History of Modula and Lilith |journal=The ModulaTor |volume=0}}</ref> In 1985, he had a second sabbatical leave to PARC, which led to the design of the [[Oberon (operating system)|Oberon System]]. [[Ceres (workstation)|Ceres]], the follow-up to Lilith, was released in 1987.

==Operating system==
{{Infobox OS
| name = Medos-2
| logo = <!-- Filename only: no wikilink, Image: or File: -->
| logo size = 
| logo caption = 
| logo alt = 
| screenshot = <!-- Filename only: no wikilink, Image: or File: -->
| caption = 
| screenshot_alt = 
| developer = Svend Erik Knudsen
| family = [[Niklaus Wirth|Wirth]]
| working state = Discontinued
| source model = <!-- "[[Open-source software|Open source]]", "[[Proprietary software|Proprietary]]", or "Source-available" -->
| released = {{Start date and age|1983}}<!-- If known, add |mm|dd -->
| discontinued = Yes
| latest release version = 
| latest release date = <!-- {{Start date and age|198y|mm|dd|df=yes}} -->
| marketing target = Research
| programmed in = [[Modula-2]]
| language = English
| update model = Compile from [[source code]]
| package manager = Modula-2 modules
| supported platforms = Lilith ([[Advanced Micro Devices|AMD]] [[AMD Am2900|2901]])
| kernel type = [[Modular programming|Modular]], [[Object-oriented operating system|object-oriented]]
| userland = 
| ui = 
| license = 
| succeeded by = [[Oberon (operating system)|Oberon]]
| website = <!-- {{URL|www.example.org}} -->
| other articles = 
}}
The Lilith [[operating system]] (OS), named Medos-2, was developed at ETH Zurich, by Svend Erik Knudsen with advice from Wirth. It is a single user, [[object-oriented operating system]] built from modules of Modula-2.<ref name="Byte9-84"/><ref>
{{cite thesis |last=Knudsen |first=Svend Erik |date=1983 |title=Medos-2: A Modula-2 Oriented Operating System for the Personal Computer Lilith |type=PhD |publisher=[[ETH Zurich]] |doi=10.3929/ethz-a-000300091}}<!-- also at http://e-collection.library.ethz.ch/eserv/eth:21975/eth-21975-02.pdf --></ref><ref>
{{Cite book |last=Knudsen |first=Svend Erik |date=25 October 2000 |chapter=Medos in Retrospect |editor1-last=Böszörményi |editor1-first=László |editor2-last=Gutknecht |editor2-first=Jürg |editor2-link=Jürg Gutknecht |editor3-last=Pomberger |editor3-first=Gustav |title=The School of Niklaus Wirth: The Art of Simplicity |pages=69–86 |publisher=Morgan Kaufmann |isbn=978-1558607231}} {{ISBN|1-55860-723-4}} & dpunkt, {{ISBN|3-932588-85-1}}.</ref>

Its design influenced the design of the OS ''[[Kronos (computer)#Operating system|Excelsior]]'', developed for the Soviet Kronos workstation (see below), by the Kronos Research Group (KRG).<ref name="Kronos-Excelsior">{{Cite web |last1=Kuznetsov |first1=D.N. |last2=Nedorya |first2=A.E. |last3=Tarasov |first3=E.V. |last4=Filippov |first4=V.E. |date=<!-- Undated --> |title=Kronos: a family of processors for high-level languages |url=http://www.kronos.ru/literature/processors |website=Kronos: History of a Project |publisher=xTech |language=ru |access-date=13 April 2021}}</ref>

==Soviet variants==
From 1986 into the early 1990s, [[Soviet Union]] technologists created and produced a line of [[printed circuit board]] systems, and workstations based on them, all named [[Kronos (computer)|Kronos]]. The workstations were based on Lilith, and made in small numbers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kronos: History of a Project |url=http://www.kronos.ru/ |date=<!-- Undated --> |publisher=xTech |language=ru |access-date=8 April 2021}}</ref>

==Mouse==
The [[computer mouse]] of the Lilith was custom-designed, and later used with the [[Smaky]] computers. It then inspired the first mice produced by [[Logitech]].

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Diser Lilith-IMG 1729.jpg|The vertical screen, keyboard and mouse of the Diser Lilith
File:Lilith-IMG 7326.jpg|Vertical tower central unit
File:Lilith-Internal-View.jpg|Internal view of the Lilith, showcasing the CPU boards
File:Lilith-Front-View.jpg|Front view of the Lilith workstation
</gallery>{{Gallery}}<!--
==See also== -->

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Diser Lilith}}
* [http://bitsavers.org/pdf/eth/lilith/ Documentation on BitSavers]
* [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/eth/lilith/LilithHandbook_Aug82.pdf Geissman, L et al. (August 1982) Lilith Handbook]
* [http://www.cfbsoftware.com/modula2/Lilith.pdf Wirth, N (1981) The Personal Computer Lilith]
* [ftp://ftp.dreesen.ch/Emulith Emulith emulator for the Lilith], [http://pascal.hansotten.com/niklaus-wirth/lilith/emulith/ homepage] and [ftp://ftp.dreesen.ch/Emulith/Emulith_Manual.pdf documentation]
* [http://cfbsoftware.com/modula2 Lilith and Modula-2]
* {{cite web
 |title=ETHistory - Lilith Workstation
 |url=https://www.ethistory.ethz.ch/rueckblicke/departemente/dinfk/forschung/weitere_seiten/lilith/index_DE/popupfriendly/
 |access-date=26 April 2025
}}
* [http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/2901/AMD-AM2901DC.html AMD AM2901DC entry on CPU World]

{{Modula, Oberon}}
{{Wirth}}

[[Category:Computer workstations]]
[[Category:Computers using bit-slice designs]]
[[Category:High-level language computer architecture]]