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∂AIL Professor John Chowning↓c/o IRCAM↓30 rue St.-Merrie↓75004 Paris↓FRANCE∞

Dear John:

	As Ed Feigenbaum has told you, the Computer Science Department
is in a desperate position with regard to space in Margaret Jacks
Hall and is eager to get the space presently allocated to computer
music in that building.  This should have been apparent before,
but some were saying it would be bad and others were saying it
wouldn't, so I didn't take any position until the situation
clarified.

	The situation has now clarified and it is indeed bad.
In particular, as presently allocated, research associates will
have to share offices, and I think this is an untenable situation,
if we want to retain research associates for long terms, and this
is essential to the AI Lab.  When Margaret Jacks Hall was first
planned, I was told that the AI Lab would have the same amount
of space there that we had in Powers, and no-one told me different.
Also no-one told me when computer music was allocated space in
the building that the statement about not squeezing the AI Lab
was no longer operative.  Anyway the above is my excuse for not
biting the bullet previously.

	Anyway I agree with Feigenbaum; we have got to have the
space.  This leaves you with the problem of how to get your
computing done, and I am strongly motivated to help solve it.
It seems to me that while computer music has contributed financially
to the Lab, the contribution to hardware and software has not
been sufficient to amount to a whole computer facility.  Nevertheless,
there is enough hardware that the AI Lab can release to make a
viable facility, even if it is insufficient to do everything you
now do.

	What music now owns is the Foonly channel, a disk controller and
one disk.  What I propose to do is to keep the Foonly channel for the KL
and trade for it the KA, the Suppes memory and new Ampex totalling 256K,
the Petit channel and the old terminal multiplexer.  You can also have the
tape drives and any PDP-6 equipment you can use.  Relatively soon you
could also get the Data Disc and maybe the III displays and the Analex
printer.  Martin Frost says he could put together a system that would run
on this equipment, but I think he would need help.  Qualitatively it would
be the system the Lab had before the KL came in 1975.  We could help get
it going, but you would have to find and pay someone to maintain it.
Naturally if you could afford it, you might be well advised to junk the
old equipment and get a shiny new Decsystem 20, but, so far as I know, you
can't afford to do that.  The solution also depends on there being no
trouble from the Government.
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	This solution leaves you without a disk drive for user packs;
maybe you could use tape.  It also leaves you temporarily without
terminals, and you would have to acquire some el cheapos.

	Some temporary music use of the KL not involving a space commitment
might continue.  For example, Leland might continue to use the
III's and the XGP, since he doesn't use office space now.

	Ethically, I find myself in the following position.  I regret
letting you and Andy leave for Europe without having warned you that
this was coming up, even though I hadn't given it much thought.  On
the other hand, the justification for substantial music use of the
ARPA purchased equipment was that the incremental contribution of the
musicians to the Lab was sufficient to justify their use of it.  As
you know, not everyone at the Lab took that position.  Now the space
situation is such that a divorce is in the best interests of the
computer science research, and this is a decisive consideration for
me.

	There is the alternative of continuing the music use of
a combined system with a remote connection to where music might
be located.  E.g. Serra house or a wing of Cedar might be obtained.
This is somewhat less attractive to me than a divorce, but it would
leave you with a smaller equipment maintenance problem.  It involves
substantial technical problems in getting adequate bandwith between
two locations, and you would have to solve these problems.

	I have seen the list of equipment that you consider necessary for
continuing with your present capabilities after a divorce.  The list might be
haggled with, but I think it is substantially correct.  My proposal, which
essentially involves no-one buying any equipment leaves you at a lower
standard of living than you now enjoy.  The list was not accompanied by a
written memo, so I don't know the context in which it was presented.
However, one could conjecture that you thought that either the AI Lab or
the University was obligated to provide for that standard of living as a
condition of divorce.  I don't know about the University, but I don't
consider that the AI Lab has any such obligation.  Most likely, if you want
the money, you will have to raise it.  My one thought is that the
University might lend it to you on the basis of your Yamaha expectations.

	It seems to me that Andy should come back and work on
reviving a viable system, because I don't think the Lab, which
has the problem of moving the KL will be able to do it entirely.
The simplest solution is to leave the KA here when the KL moves.
You would then have plenty of air conditioning and power and
wouldn't have to worry about reconnecting many cables.
If you want to get some help from the University, then you should
come back too - at least for a while.  My impression is that
you have received enough good publicity recently, so that the
University is likely to be motivated to give some help.

	Stanford is scheduled to get the building on April 20,
and there is some pressure to move the AI Lab promptly, because
the Department's new computer has a very shakey distant host
connection to the SUMEX Imp and will share the AI Lab TIP when
we move.  Probably we won't be able to move till June in spite
of this pressure, but if both systems are to be working separately
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even by then, action is urgent.

	For these reasons, I think you should take action quickly.

.reg

P.S. According to Jeff Rubin the Petit channel was modified to
work with the mappiplexor and has lost its memory buss interface.
Therefore it would require considerable work, and he recommends
getting another Foonly channel.

cc: Lester Earnest, Edward Feigenbaum, John Grey, Gerald Lieberman,
James Rosse, Loren Rush, Leland Smith, William F. Miller