Lilith (computer)

The DISER Lilith is a custom built workstation computer based on the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) 2901 bit slicing processor, created by a group led by Niklaus Wirth at ETH Zurich.^[2][3] The project began in 1977, and by 1984 several hundred workstations were in use. It has a high resolution full page portrait oriented cathode-ray tube display, a 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.

DISER Lilith

Developer	ETH Zurich
Manufacturer	Modula Computer Systems
Product family	Wirth
Type	workstation
Release date	1980; 45 years ago (1980)
Introductory price	$8000
Discontinued	Yes
Units sold	120[1]
Units shipped	120
Media	Floppy disk 5.25 in (13.3 cm) 140 K
Operating system	Medos-2 (Modula-2)
CPU	AMD 2901
Memory	256 K (131,072 16-bit words)
Storage	15 MB hard disk
Display	12 in (30 cm) monochrome bitmapped
Dimensions	15.5 in × 15 in × 14.5 in (39 cm × 38 cm × 37 cm)
Marketing target	Research
Successor	Ceres

The Lilith processor architecture is a stack machine.^[2] 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 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."^[4]

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).^[5] In 1985, he had a second sabbatical leave to PARC, which led to the design of the Oberon System. Ceres, the follow-up to Lilith, was released in 1987.

Operating system

Medos-2

Developer	Svend Erik Knudsen
Written in	Modula-2
OS family	Wirth
Working state	Discontinued
Initial release	1983; 42 years ago (1983)
Marketing target	Research
Available in	English
Update method	Compile from source code
Package manager	Modula-2 modules
Platforms	Lilith (AMD 2901)
Kernel type	Modular, object-oriented
Succeeded by	Oberon

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.^[3][6][7]

Its design influenced the design of the OS Excelsior, developed for the Soviet Kronos workstation (see below), by the Kronos Research Group (KRG).^[8]

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. The workstations were based on Lilith, and made in small numbers.^[9]

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

• 
  The vertical screen, keyboard and mouse of the Diser Lilith
• 
  Vertical tower central unit
• 
  Internal view of the Lilith, showcasing the CPU boards
• 
  Front view of the Lilith workstation