[1] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

spacewar n. a space-combat simulation game, inspired by e. e. "doc"
   smith's "lensman" books, in which two spaceships duel around a central
   sun, shooting torpedoes at each other and jumping through hyperspace.
   this game was first implemented on the pdp-1 at mit in 1962. in 1968-69,
   a descendant of the game motivated ken thompson to build, in his spare
   time on a scavenged pdp-7, the operating system that became unix.
   less than nine years after that, spacewar was commercialized as one of
   the first video games; descendants are still feeping in video arcades
   everywhere.


see also:
unix feep 

[2] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

spacewar
     
         a space-combat simulation game, inspired by
        e. e. "doc" smith's "lensman" books, in which two spaceships
        duel around a central sun, shooting torpedoes at each other
        and jumping through hyperspace.  this game was first
        implemented on the pdp-1 at mit in 1960--61.
     
        spacewar aficionados formed the core of the early hacker
        culture at mit.  nine years later, a descendant of the game
        motivated ken thompson to build, in his spare time on a
        scavenged pdp-7, the operating system that became unix.
        less than nine years after that, spacewar was commercialised
        as one of the first video games; descendants are still
        feeping in video arcades everywhere.
     
        "spacewar" or "space travel"?
     
        jargon file
     
        1994-11-07
     
     
see also:
mit ken thompson pdp-7 operating system unix feep 
jargon file 

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