[OT] multicore/cpu history

[Chris Angelico]

On Mon, Mar 26, 2018 at 9:52 AM, Steven D'Aprano
<steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info> wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Mar 2018 23:29:07 +0200, Peter J. Holzer wrote:
>
> [...]
>>> >> By the way, multiple CPU machines are different from CPUs with
>>> >> multiple cores:
>>> >>
>>> >> http://smallbusiness.chron.com/multiple-cpu-vs-multicore-33195.html
>>> >
>>> > Yeah, it was always "multiple CPUs", not "multiple cores" when I was
>>> > growing up.
>>
>> Yes, but the difference is only an implementation detail.
>
> Not really. With multiple CPUs, you have the option of running two
> distinct OSes in isolation, not merely virtual machines but actual
> distinct machines in the same box. And the CPUs don't necessarily need to
> be the same type, see for example the hybrid Apple Mac/Lisp Machine
> released in the late 1980s or early 90s.

At what point does it change from being two CPUs to being one CPU and
one auxiliary processing unit? Back in the 80s and early 90s, the
auxiliary was most likely to be a floating-point unit; today, it'd be
a graphics chip. But it could just as easily be a Lisp chip.

ChrisA