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HCR Corporation
Human Computing Resources Corporation, later HCR Corporation, was a Canadian software company that worked on the Unix operating system and system software and business applications for it. Founded in 1976, it was based in Toronto.
By a description of one of its founders, HCR was a "UNIX contract R&D and technology development and marketing firm." The company was most known for its extensive knowledge of Unix, for porting Unix to new hardware platforms, for developing compilers as part of the porting work, and for consulting and product development work on Unix. It was a pioneer in the Unix industry and by one account was the second firm ever to commercially support Unix. By 1990 HCR was a prominent player in the Canadian Unix scene.
HCR was acquired by the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) in 1990. It became the subsidiary SCO Canada, Inc., which existed until 1996 when the Toronto offices were closed.
Human Computing Resources was founded in 1976 by several computer scientists at, and graduates of, the University of Toronto, with the aim of creating computer graphics and systems software. The company was privately held. Foremost among these co-founders was Ronald Baecker, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the University of Toronto and a significant figure and pioneer in the field of human–computer interaction. Baecker served as president of the new firm.
Another co-founder was Michael Tilson, who as a graduate student of Baecker's at the University of Toronto during the mid-1970s was one of the early pioneers of Unix adoption in Canada. An additional co-founder was David Tilbrook, a student of Baecker's who had developed the interactive NewsWhole pagination system for The Globe and Mail, which became an early predecessor to desktop publishing. Other Baecker students who later became well known in the Unix world included Rob Pike and Tom Duff, although neither worked at HCR.
The new company's offices were on St. Mary Street, in a mid-century modern building just off Yonge Street in the Bay Street Corridor section of Toronto.
Human Computing Resources initially focused on information technology consulting and contract programming jobs. An early customer for contract work was IBM.
But it also tried to establish a product business, with an effort underway by 1977 to try to market the NewsWhole newspaper layout product. Despite newspapers seeing demonstrations of the product and liking it, they were unwilling to commit their businesses to a product from an unproven, very small software business. In 1979 the NewsWhole product was dropped. As Tilson said in a 1986 interview, "The company quickly discovered that the software industry was not a bed of roses."
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HCR Corporation
Human Computing Resources Corporation, later HCR Corporation, was a Canadian software company that worked on the Unix operating system and system software and business applications for it. Founded in 1976, it was based in Toronto.
By a description of one of its founders, HCR was a "UNIX contract R&D and technology development and marketing firm." The company was most known for its extensive knowledge of Unix, for porting Unix to new hardware platforms, for developing compilers as part of the porting work, and for consulting and product development work on Unix. It was a pioneer in the Unix industry and by one account was the second firm ever to commercially support Unix. By 1990 HCR was a prominent player in the Canadian Unix scene.
HCR was acquired by the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) in 1990. It became the subsidiary SCO Canada, Inc., which existed until 1996 when the Toronto offices were closed.
Human Computing Resources was founded in 1976 by several computer scientists at, and graduates of, the University of Toronto, with the aim of creating computer graphics and systems software. The company was privately held. Foremost among these co-founders was Ronald Baecker, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the University of Toronto and a significant figure and pioneer in the field of human–computer interaction. Baecker served as president of the new firm.
Another co-founder was Michael Tilson, who as a graduate student of Baecker's at the University of Toronto during the mid-1970s was one of the early pioneers of Unix adoption in Canada. An additional co-founder was David Tilbrook, a student of Baecker's who had developed the interactive NewsWhole pagination system for The Globe and Mail, which became an early predecessor to desktop publishing. Other Baecker students who later became well known in the Unix world included Rob Pike and Tom Duff, although neither worked at HCR.
The new company's offices were on St. Mary Street, in a mid-century modern building just off Yonge Street in the Bay Street Corridor section of Toronto.
Human Computing Resources initially focused on information technology consulting and contract programming jobs. An early customer for contract work was IBM.
But it also tried to establish a product business, with an effort underway by 1977 to try to market the NewsWhole newspaper layout product. Despite newspapers seeing demonstrations of the product and liking it, they were unwilling to commit their businesses to a product from an unproven, very small software business. In 1979 the NewsWhole product was dropped. As Tilson said in a 1986 interview, "The company quickly discovered that the software industry was not a bed of roses."