August 2025 marks our 70th Anniversary, and what an interesting journey it has been. Since our inception in 1955, before the first “mainframes” came to be (the ENIAC was turned off for the last time, and IBM’s first commercial computer, the 702 was introduced), and the term “artificial intelligence” was introduced by John McCarthy at Dartmouth College, SHARE has been a force in the IT industry.
At SHARE’s first official meeting in Los Angeles, with just 17 IBM installations represented, our motto, “SHARE: It’s not an acronym, it’s what we do,” was established, and SHARE became the place where many customers — acting as one — influence IBM, and eventually other computing hardware and software manufacturers.
When the IBM 709 was introduced for scientific applications, IBM did not provide an operating system, so in 1959, SHARE wrote SOS, the SHARE Operating System. This, along with the establishment of the SHARE library, was the birth of open-source software as we know it. Linux and the GNU project still use “commons-based peer production” established in the development of SOS. SOS was later ported to the IBM 7090.
In 1963, SHARE participated with IBM in developing PL/I. In the 1970s, SHARE member John Ehrman sketched what would become our official logo when we first incorporated.
Fast forward to 1991 when I met the SHARE community in Chicago. I remember anxiously awaiting the opportunities to learn, after registering and receiving my pocket agenda, having highlighted the many sessions I wanted to attend. I was awestruck upon entering SCIDS for the first time, seeing the crowds gathered around the project tables and people milling about the room, striking up conversations.
Another of my fondest SHARE memories was at the Anaheim conference in 2014. In between sessions, I was corralled in the volunteer luncheon, added to the roster, and chaired sessions for the remainder of the conference. By then our logo and mission were updated to reflect the times.
Working with that team over the years has been one of the best experiences of my career and many of those friendships continue today. Without this start, I would not be where I am now.
Perhaps my favorite memory, however, is of the Washington D.C. conference this year, and meeting Geoffrey Decker’s students. Hearing the enthusiasm from these young professionals reinforces my view that mainframes are here to stay, and that SHARE continues to be at the forefront of the ever-evolving mainframe software and hardware space. We bring together subject matter experts with practical knowledge to share with one another at every event, including the upcoming August event in Cleveland. As we welcome our Executive Director Rebecca Roling and thank Brian Langerman for his six years of service, SHARE is leaping into the next phase of innovation with our members, bringing additional value to enterprise IT that businesses around the globe will need in the years to come.