<s>
Project	B-Device
Athena	I-Device
was	O
a	O
joint	O
project	O
of	O
MIT	O
,	O
Digital	O
Equipment	O
Corporation	O
,	O
and	O
IBM	O
to	O
produce	O
a	O
campus-wide	O
distributed	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
environment	I-Operating_System
for	O
educational	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
works	O
as	O
software	O
(	O
currently	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
Debian	O
packages	O
)	O
that	O
makes	O
a	O
machine	O
a	O
thin	B-Device
client	I-Device
,	O
that	O
will	O
download	O
educational	O
applications	O
from	O
the	O
MIT	O
servers	O
on	O
demand	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Project	B-Device
Athena	I-Device
was	O
important	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
history	O
of	O
desktop	O
and	O
distributed	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
created	O
the	O
X	B-Operating_System
Window	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
,	O
Kerberos	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
Zephyr	B-Protocol
Notification	I-Protocol
Service	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
influenced	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
thin	B-Device
computing	I-Device
,	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
,	O
Active	B-Protocol
Directory	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
instant	B-Application
messaging	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
agreed	O
to	O
contribute	O
500	O
microcomputers	O
,	O
500	O
workstations	B-Device
,	O
software	O
,	O
five	O
employees	O
,	O
and	O
grant	O
funding	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Project	B-Device
Athena	I-Device
began	O
in	O
May	O
1983	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
implement	O
these	O
goals	O
,	O
MIT	O
decided	O
to	O
build	O
a	O
Unix-based	O
distributed	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Students	O
were	O
required	O
to	O
learn	O
FORTRAN	B-Application
and	O
Lisp	B-Language
,	O
and	O
would	O
have	O
access	O
to	O
sophisticated	O
graphical	O
workstations	B-Device
,	O
capable	O
of	O
1	O
million	O
instructions	O
per	O
second	O
and	O
with	O
1	O
megabyte	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
and	O
a	O
1	O
megapixel	O
display	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
Phase	O
II	O
"	O
began	O
in	O
September	O
1987	O
,	O
with	O
hundreds	O
of	O
IBM	B-Device
RT	I-Device
PC	I-Device
workstations	B-Device
replacing	O
the	O
VAXes	O
,	O
which	O
became	O
fileservers	B-Application
for	O
the	O
workstations	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upon	O
logging	O
into	O
a	O
workstation	B-Device
,	O
students	O
would	O
have	O
immediate	O
access	O
to	O
a	O
universal	O
set	O
of	O
files	O
and	O
programs	O
via	O
central	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
the	O
workstation	B-Device
used	O
a	O
thin	B-Device
client	I-Device
model	O
,	O
the	O
user	O
interface	O
would	O
be	O
consistent	O
despite	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
different	O
hardware	O
vendors	O
for	O
different	O
workstations	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
spawned	O
many	O
technologies	O
that	O
are	O
widely	O
used	O
today	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
X	B-Operating_System
Window	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
and	O
Kerberos	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
the	O
other	O
technologies	O
developed	O
for	O
Project	B-Device
Athena	I-Device
were	O
the	O
Zephyr	B-Protocol
Notification	I-Protocol
Service	I-Protocol
and	O
the	O
Hesiod	B-Protocol
name	O
and	O
directory	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MIT	O
had	O
722	O
workstations	B-Device
in	O
33	O
private	O
and	O
public	O
clusters	O
on	O
and	O
off	O
campus	O
,	O
including	O
student	O
living	O
groups	O
and	O
fraternities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
survey	O
found	O
that	O
92%	O
of	O
undergraduates	O
had	O
used	O
the	O
Athena	O
workstations	B-Device
at	O
least	O
once	O
,	O
and	O
25%	O
used	O
them	O
every	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developers	O
who	O
had	O
focused	O
on	O
creating	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
and	O
courseware	O
for	O
various	O
educational	O
subjects	O
now	O
worked	O
to	O
improve	O
Athena	O
's	O
stability	O
and	O
make	O
it	O
more	O
user	B-General_Concept
friendly	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Project	B-Device
Athena	I-Device
ended	O
in	O
June	O
1991	O
,	O
MIT	O
's	O
IT	O
department	O
took	O
it	O
over	O
and	O
extended	O
it	O
into	O
the	O
university	O
's	O
research	O
and	O
administrative	O
divisions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
the	O
MIT	O
campus	O
had	O
more	O
than	O
1300	O
Athena	O
workstations	B-Device
,	O
and	O
more	O
than	O
6000	O
Athena	O
users	O
logged	O
into	O
the	O
system	O
daily	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Athena	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
minimize	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
labor	O
in	O
its	O
operation	O
,	O
in	O
part	O
through	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
(	O
what	O
is	O
now	O
called	O
)	O
"	O
thin	B-Device
client	I-Device
"	O
architecture	O
and	O
standard	O
desktop	O
configurations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
most	O
dormitories	O
have	O
"	O
quick	O
login	O
"	O
kiosks	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
standup	O
workstation	B-Device
with	O
a	O
timer	O
to	O
limit	O
access	O
to	O
ten	O
minutes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
,	O
the	O
Athena	O
release	O
used	O
Berkeley	B-Operating_System
Software	I-Operating_System
Distribution	I-Operating_System
(	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
)	O
as	O
the	O
base	O
operating	O
system	O
for	O
all	O
hardware	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
public	O
clusters	O
consisted	O
of	O
Sun	B-Architecture
SPARC	I-Architecture
and	O
SGI	B-Operating_System
Indy	I-Operating_System
workstations	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Linux-Athena	O
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
version	O
9	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
Red	O
Hat	O
Enterprise	O
Linux	O
operating	O
system	O
running	O
on	O
cheaper	O
x86	B-Operating_System
or	O
x86-64	B-Device
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Athena	O
9	O
also	O
replaced	O
the	O
internally	O
developed	O
"	O
DASH	O
"	O
menu	O
system	O
and	O
Motif	B-Device
Window	I-Device
Manager	I-Device
(	O
mwm	O
)	O
with	O
a	O
more	O
modern	O
GNOME	B-Application
desktop	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Athena	O
10	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
Linux	I-Operating_System
(	O
derived	O
from	O
Debian	O
)	O
only	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
concept	O
of	O
Project	B-Device
Athena	I-Device
was	O
that	O
there	O
would	O
be	O
course-specific	O
software	O
developed	O
to	O
use	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
teaching	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Maple	B-Language
,	O
and	O
especially	O
,	O
MATLAB	B-Language
,	O
are	O
integrated	O
into	O
large	O
numbers	O
of	O
science	O
and	O
engineering	O
classes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Faculty	O
expect	O
that	O
their	O
students	O
have	O
access	O
to	O
,	O
and	O
know	O
how	O
to	O
use	O
,	O
these	O
applications	O
for	O
projects	O
,	O
and	O
homework	O
assignments	O
,	O
and	O
some	O
have	O
used	O
the	O
MATLAB	B-Language
platform	O
to	O
rebuild	O
the	O
courseware	O
that	O
they	O
had	O
originally	O
built	O
using	O
the	O
X	B-Operating_System
Window	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
only	O
apparent	O
way	O
to	O
obtain	O
one	O
was	O
to	O
build	O
it	O
internally	O
,	O
using	O
existing	O
components	O
where	O
available	O
,	O
and	O
augmenting	O
those	O
components	O
with	O
software	O
to	O
create	O
the	O
desired	O
distributed	B-Architecture
system	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Consequently	O
,	O
Athena	O
made	O
very	O
significant	O
contributions	O
to	O
the	O
technology	O
of	O
distributed	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
,	O
but	O
as	O
a	O
side-effect	O
to	O
solving	O
an	O
educational	O
problem	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
architecture	O
of	O
the	O
Distributed	B-Operating_System
Computing	I-Operating_System
Environment	I-Operating_System
(	O
DCE	O
)	O
software	O
from	O
the	O
Open	O
Software	O
Foundation	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
concepts	O
pioneered	O
by	O
Athena	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Subsequently	O
,	O
the	O
Windows	O
NT	O
network	O
operating	O
system	O
from	O
Microsoft	O
incorporates	O
Kerberos	B-Protocol
and	O
several	O
other	O
basic	O
architecture	O
design	O
features	O
first	O
implemented	O
by	O
Athena	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pixar	O
Animation	O
Studios	O
,	O
the	O
computer	O
graphics	O
and	O
animation	O
company	O
(	O
then	O
the	O
Lucasfilm	O
Computer	O
Graphics	O
Project	O
,	O
now	O
owned	O
by	O
Walt	O
Disney	O
Pictures	O
)	O
,	O
used	O
ten	O
VAX-11/750	O
superminicomputers	O
at	O
Project	B-Device
Athena	I-Device
,	O
for	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
rendering	O
of	O
The	O
Adventures	O
of	O
André	O
and	O
Wally	O
B	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Iowa	O
State	O
University	O
runs	O
an	O
implementation	O
of	O
Athena	O
named	O
"	O
Project	O
Vincent	O
"	O
,	O
named	O
after	O
John	O
Vincent	O
Atanasoff	O
,	O
the	O
inventor	O
of	O
the	B-Device
Atanasoff	I-Device
–	I-Device
Berry	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Carnegie	O
Mellon	O
University	O
began	O
a	O
similar	O
system	O
a	O
year	O
earlier	O
than	O
MIT	O
called	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Andrew	I-Operating_System
which	O
spawned	O
AFS	B-Application
,	O
Athena	O
's	O
current	O
filesystem	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
University	O
of	O
Maryland	O
,	O
College	O
Park	O
also	O
ran	O
a	O
variation	O
of	O
Athena	O
on	O
the	O
WAM	O
(	O
Workstations	B-Device
at	O
Maryland	O
)	O
and	O
Glue	O
,	O
now	O
renamed	O
'	O
 "	O
TerpConnect	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
