mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (der Mouse) (05/10/88)
In article <30528@linus.UUCP>, jde@mitre-bedford.ARPA (John D. Eikenberry) writes: > [stuff about wanting info on benchmarks, and names some, among them:] > Dhampstones > Dhrystones > Whetstones Presumably the Dhrystone name arose when someone with a twisted mind saw "Whetstone" as "Wetstone" with an 'h' inserted. Dhampstone is then an obvious derivative. But where did the Whetstone name come from, or rather, how did it get attached to a benchmark? Since this has little, if anything, to do with computer architecture, I'm redirecting followups to comp.misc. der Mouse uucp: mouse@mcgill-vision.uucp arpa: mouse@larry.mcrcim.mcgill.edu
eugene@pioneer.arpa (Eugene N. Miya) (05/10/88)
There are several popular (read Common) derivations. The best thing to
do is ask Brian Wichmann (at NPL). The NPL is not far from Wheatstone,
England (hey it's an island after all). The relation to the
Wheatstone Bridge or other similar puns as a benchmark (self-correcting)
might or might not be intended. (Unlike the Multics/Unix pun, this one
has not been elaborated). Brian Randell (also in the UK and who also
reads comp.arch) might also best be approached to ask Wichmann.
Hope you saw the recent Saturday Night Live skit (Common Knowledge:
hence my use of the word Common). If you have a turkey who thinks he
knows what a Whetstone is, ask him how many tests there are inside the thing.
Another gross generalization from
--eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, eugene@ames-aurora.ARPA
resident cynic soon to be aurora.arc.nasa.gov
at the Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers:
"Mailers?! HA!", "If my mail does not reach you, please accept my apology."
{uunet,hplabs,hao,ihnp4,decwrl,allegra,tektronix}!ames!aurora!eugene
"Send mail, avoid follow-ups. If enough, I'll summarize."ok@quintus.UUCP (Richard A. O'Keefe) (05/14/88)
In article <1087@mcgill-vision.UUCP>, mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (der Mouse) writes: > But where did the Whetstone name come from, or rather, how did it get > attached to a benchmark? There were two Algol 60 compilers for the ICL 1900 series, the Kidsgrove compiler, and ["debugging" system] the Whetstone compiler. ["delivery" system] To the best of my knowledge these were the names of the places in England where the two development teams worked. {Making distribution=na was definitely the wrong move for this question...} Somebody (I think at NPL) wrote a benchmark and I assume they took the performance of the Whetstone system as a unit for the Algol version. The compilers were written up; you might look in the index of CJ or SP&E.