imported>Justjourney: Adding local short description: "German UNIX-based computer manufacturer", overriding Wikidata description "German manufacturer of UNIX-based computers in the 1980s and 1990s"

2025-06-09T17:19:57Z

Adding local short description: "German UNIX-based computer manufacturer", overriding Wikidata description "German manufacturer of UNIX-based computers in the 1980s and 1990s"

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{{Short description|German UNIX-based computer manufacturer}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020|cs1-dates=y}}
{{Use list-defined references|date=January 2022}}
{{anchor|Cadmus}}
'''Periphere Computer Systeme''' ('''PCS''') was founded in [[Munich]] by the brothers Georg and Eberhard Färber in 1969.<ref name="PCS_2016"/><ref name="Färber_2016"/> In the 1980s and 1990s it was a manufacturer of a line of [[UNIX]]-based workstations called "{{Interlanguage link multi|Cadmus (computer)|de|3=Cadmus Workstations|lt=Cadmus}}".<ref name="PCS_2016"/> Their flavor of [[System V]] was called {{Interlanguage link multi|MUNIX|de}};<ref name="PCS_2016"/><ref name="PI_1983_Munix"/> it was the first port of [[System V]] performed in Germany. They also developed a networking protocol that was based on the [[Newcastle Connection]] ("UNIXes of the World Unite!")<ref name="Newcastle_1982"/><ref name="Callaghan_2000"/> and dubbed MUNIX/net, at the time competing with [[Sun Microsystems]]' [[Network File System|NFS]].

In addition to UNIX computers, PCS also manufactured industrial terminals.

In 1985, PCS founded a US daughter company named ''Cadmus Computer Systems'' to distribute the workstations in the US.<ref name="PCS_2016"/> <ref> {{cite web |url= https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2024/isde-ised/Id54-5-1986-eng.pdf |title= A Directory of Companies and Organizations Providing CAD/CAM Products and Services in Canada |publisher=Government of Canada Publications |page=6 |quote= Avec Cadmus, a subsidiary of Cadmus Computer Systems Inc. of Lowell Massachusetts. President: John Leng |access-date= February 15, 2025 }} </ref>

Eventually, PCS was bought out by [[Mannesmann-Kienzle]], which in turn was bought out by [[Ken Olsen]] to become part of DEC, [[Digital Equipment Corporation]]. The main driver for the buyouts was a client/server [[Enterprise resource planning|ERP]] product developed by a dynamic young team at Mannesmann Kienzle Software, competing with [[SAP AG|SAP]] [[SAP R/3|R/3]]. Ken Olson had planned to diversify the corporation, but was ousted by shareholders who did not share his vision of no longer relying on the more and more commoditized computer systems sale and rather jump on the ERP bandwagon early on. One of the reasons for naming DECs last line of CPUs (AlphaAXP) was that they were intended to be sold as the Alpha and the Omega (codename for the ERP system).

As a result, [[Digital-Kienzle]], including its PCS subsidiary, entered into a staff buy-out of the company, in part sponsored by some of the German states. The timing of this decision pulled the financial bottom out of the whole setup in terms of the ERP system that was just getting a decent foothold in the market. As a result, there is not much left to be said or heard about said ERP system. In the late 1980s, whenever Mannesmann-Kienzle's representatives were speaking at conferences prior to SAP's presenters, SAP during Q&A usually had to state that they were planning to be in their development of R/3 where the "Omega"-team already had arrived at.

One of the more prominent figures of the former PCS might be [[Jürgen Gulbins]], who authored several books on Unix and related tools, as well as [[Jordan Hubbard]], who spent several years at PCS (in the X11 group) before departing for Ireland, where he co-founded the [[FreeBSD]] project.

==See also==
* [[Super-root (Unix)|Super-root]] (a feature of MUNIX)
* [[Karlsruhe Accurate Arithmetic]] (for Cadmus computer)<ref name="Cadmus_1986"/>
* [[Pascal-SC]] (for Cadmus computer)<ref name="Cadmus_1986"/>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="PCS_2016">{{cite web |title=The History of PCS |publisher=[[PCS Systemtechnik GmbH]] |url=https://www.pcs.com/en/company/history/the-history-of-pcs/ |access-date=2016-08-17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817071032/https://www.pcs.com/en/company/history/the-history-of-pcs/ |archive-date=2016-08-17}}</ref>
<ref name="Färber_2016">{{cite web |title=Prof. Dr.-Ing. Georg Färber - Wissenschaftliche Arbeit |publisher=[[Technische Universität München]] (TUM) |work=emeriti-of-excellence |url=http://www.emeriti-of-excellence.tum.de/tumemeritiofexcellencea-z/georg-faerber/ |language=de |access-date=2016-08-16 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816183709/http://www.emeriti-of-excellence.tum.de/tumemeritiofexcellencea-z/georg-faerber/ |archive-date=2016-08-16}}</ref>
<ref name="PI_1983_Munix">{{cite web |author=PI |title=Source-Lizenz trägt Früchte: Munix ist Unix aus München |publisher=[[computerwoche]] |date=1983-01-14 |language=de |url=http://www.computerwoche.de/a/source-lizenz-traegt-fruechte-munix-ist-unix-aus-muenchen,1177403 |access-date=2016-08-17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817071657/http://www.computerwoche.de/a/source-lizenz-traegt-fruechte-munix-ist-unix-aus-muenchen,1177403 |archive-date=2016-08-17}}</ref>
<ref name="Newcastle_1982">{{cite journal |title=The Newcastle Connection |author-last1=Brownbridge |author-first1=David R. |author-last2=Marshall |author-first2=Lindsay F. |author-last3=Randell |author-first3=Brian |author-link3=Brian Randell |journal=Software: Practice and Experience |volume=12 |date=1982 |doi=10.1002/spe.4380121206 |pages=1147–1162 |url=http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/publications/articles/papers/399.pdf |access-date=2016-08-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816184205/http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/research/pubs/articles/papers/399.pdf |archive-date=2016-08-16}}</ref>
<ref name="Callaghan_2000">{{cite book |author-last=Callaghan |author-first=Brent |title=NFS Illustrated |publisher=[[Addison Wesley]] |date=2000 |isbn=0-201-32570-5}}</ref>
<ref name="Cadmus_1986">{{cite journal |title=Cadmus jetzt mit Kulisch-Arithmetik - Uni Karlsruhe gibt Pascal-Compiler nach München |trans-title=Cadmus now comes with Kulisch arithmetic - University Karlsruhe delivers Pascal compiler to Munich |author=PI |date=1986-08-29 |journal=[[Computerwoche]] |publisher=[[IDG Business Media GmbH]] |language=de |location=Munich / Karlsruhe, Germany |url=http://www.computerwoche.de/a/uni-karlsruhe-gibt-pascal-compiler-nach-muenchen-cadmus-jetzt-mit-kulisch-arithmetik,1165749 |access-date=2016-05-30 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530220339/http://www.computerwoche.de/a/uni-karlsruhe-gibt-pascal-compiler-nach-muenchen-cadmus-jetzt-mit-kulisch-arithmetik,1165749 |archive-date=2016-05-30}}</ref>
}}

[[Category:Defunct computer companies of Germany]]

Periphere Computer Systeme - Revision history

imported>Justjourney: Adding local short description: "German UNIX-based computer manufacturer", overriding Wikidata description "German manufacturer of UNIX-based computers in the 1980s and 1990s"