this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2024
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I wanted to know what OS powered them. Probably a custom one by the manufacturer? Which I can imagine I could find with a bit of web searching but I'm too lazy for that.
I did the research and it's a bit interesting. It was known was GMOS (General Motors Operating System) made for IBM devices. Yes, THE General Motors that makes cars like Buicks.
I'm oversimplifying, but if DOS was Windows Command line, GMOS would be like a Linux equivalent. It's all input/output and maybe executing a very specific program like a calculator.
Not really. If DOS was Windows command line, this would be more like executing a series of jobs from the bootloader and waiting for output or errors to appear on the terminal or printer.
The only thing something like GMOS would have controlled is hardware resources and I/O. The "very specific program like a calculator" is accurate, but is loaded into memory via tape or punch cards or the like by the operator at runtime, alongside whatever other software was needed for the job batch.