2 definitions
for TOPS-10
From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) :
TOPS-10 /tops-ten/ n. DEC's proprietary OS for the fabled PDP-10
machines, long a favorite of hackers but now effectively extinct. A
fountain of hacker folklore; see Appendix A. See also {ITS,
{TOPS-20, {TWENEX}, VMS, operating system. TOPS-10 was
sometimes called BOTS-10 (from `bottoms-ten') as a comment on the
inappropriateness of describing it as the top of anything.
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) :
TOPS-10
/tops-ten/ DEC's proprietary OS for the fabled PDP-10
machines, long a favourite of hackers but now effectively
extinct. A fountain of hacker folklore. See also ITS,
TOPS-20, TWENEX, VMS, operating system. TOPS-10 was
sometimes called BOTS-10 (from "bottoms-ten") as a comment on
the inappropriateness of describing it as the top of anything.
[{Jargon File]