Project Athena facts for kids

Athena, a graphical control element library

Project Athena was a special project at the MIT university. It worked with two big computer companies, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and IBM. The goal was to create a huge computer system for students and teachers across the whole campus. This system would help everyone learn and work better with computers.

Project Athena started in 1983 and continued its main work until 1991. Even today, in 2025, Athena is still used at MIT! It's like a special software system (now based on Debian Linux) that lets computers connect to MIT's main servers. This means students can get all the learning programs they need right when they want them.

This project was very important for how computers are used today. It helped create big technologies like the X Window System (which helps computers show graphics), Kerberos (for secure logins), and the Zephyr Notification Service (for instant messages). It also influenced ideas like thin computing (where a simple computer connects to a powerful server), LDAP (for finding information in networks), Active Directory (used in many computer networks), and instant messaging.

What Was Project Athena?
How Project Athena Started
How Athena Grew and Changed
Athena's Impact on Learning
Educational Software on Athena
Athena's Contributions to Computer Systems
Athena's Use Outside MIT
See also

What Was Project Athena?

Project Athena was a big effort that cost a lot of money and involved many smart people. Leaders at MIT, like Michael Dertouzos and Joel Moses, helped guide the project.

The companies, DEC and IBM, gave a lot of equipment to MIT. DEC provided many computers, including microcomputers and minicomputers. IBM also gave hundreds of microcomputers and powerful workstations. Both companies also sent their own employees to help with the project. This teamwork made it possible to build such a large computer system.

How Project Athena Started

The idea for Project Athena began in 1979. A professor named Michael Dertouzos suggested that MIT should connect its main computers so students could use them more easily. At that time, only computer science students used computers a lot.

In 1982, the MIT School of Engineering talked to DEC about getting computer equipment. The university president, Paul E. Gray, wanted the project to help all students, not just engineers. So, IBM also agreed to donate equipment to MIT.

Project Athena officially began in May 1983. It had several important goals:

To create computer tools for learning that could be used in many different classes.
To learn more about how computers could help with education.
To build a computer system that could work with different types of computer hardware.
To encourage people at MIT to share ideas, computer code, and experiences.

The project wanted to bring computer power to subjects like foreign languages, economics, and politics. MIT decided to build a system based on Unix, a powerful computer operating system. This system would be "distributed," meaning computers would work together across the network.

Unlike some other universities, MIT built special computer labs for students. Students did not have to own their own computers. The goal was to put networked computers in every student dormitory. Students were also taught programming languages like Fortran and Lisp.

How Athena Grew and Changed

At first, Project Athena used computers from both IBM and DEC. Even though these computers were different, Athena's designers wanted the software to work the same on all of them. This was important so MIT wouldn't depend on just one company.

Over time, the computers used in Athena changed. In 1987, newer IBM workstations replaced some of the older DEC computers. These IBM machines then became fileservers, storing files for other computers. When students logged into a workstation, they could instantly access all their files and programs from central servers.

Because Athena used a "thin client" model, the way users saw and used the computers stayed the same, even with different hardware. This made it easier for a small team to manage hundreds of computers.

Project Athena created many technologies that are still used widely today. These include the X Window System, which is a core part of many computer graphics systems, and Kerberos, which provides strong security for computer networks. Other important tools developed were the Zephyr Notification Service for real-time messages and Hesiod for finding network information.

By November 1988, MIT had 722 Athena workstations in 33 different locations. These included public labs and student living areas. A survey found that most students had used Athena at least once, and many used it every day.

The project continued until June 1991. After that, MIT's main IT department took over Athena. They expanded its use to other parts of the university, including research and administrative offices.

In 1993, the older IBM workstations were replaced with newer computers from Sun, IBM, and DEC. By April 1999, MIT had over 1300 Athena workstations, and more than 6000 people used the system daily. Today, Athena is still used in computer labs across the MIT campus. You can even install Athena on your own personal computer or laptop.

Athena's Impact on Learning

Athena is still an important part of education at MIT in 2025. It provides a reliable computer platform for students and teachers.

Athena was designed to be easy to manage. It used the "thin client" idea, which means the main work happens on central servers, not on each individual computer. This makes it simpler to set up, update, and fix problems with the computers. These benefits are still very helpful today.

Over the years, access to Athena has grown a lot. In 1991, most Athena computers were in public labs. Now, students can access Athena in their dormitories, fraternities and sororities, and other living groups. All dorms have Athena computer labs. Many dorms also have "quick login" kiosks, which are stand-up computers for short uses.

Originally, Athena used a system called Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). Later, it started using Linux. Athena 9, for example, used Red Hat Enterprise Linux and a modern desktop called GNOME. Athena 10, the current version, is based on Ubuntu Linux.

Educational Software on Athena

Project Athena's first idea was to create special software for different classes. While that happened, computers are now mostly used for common programs like email, word processing, and graphics.

A big way Athena helps education is by letting students use powerful third-party software in their classes. Programs like Maple and MATLAB are used in many science and engineering classes. Teachers expect students to use these programs for homework and projects.

More specialized software is also available on Athena. For example, architecture students use rendering software, chemistry students use molecular modeling programs, and chemical engineering students use professional industry software. These tools are important for many MIT classes.

Athena's Contributions to Computer Systems

Project Athena was not mainly a research project. Its main goal was to create a great computing environment for education. To do this, MIT had to build its own system, using existing parts and adding new software. This effort led to many important discoveries in computer technology.

Athena showed that solving real problems can lead to amazing new technologies. Because it focused on a clear need for education, Athena developed solutions that were very useful. As a result, Athena made big contributions to how distributed computing systems work.

Some of the advanced ideas and features that Athena helped create include:

The Client–server model, where computers (clients) get services from other computers (servers).
Thin client desktops, which are simple computers that rely on servers.
A system-wide security system using Kerberos for secure logins.
A naming service (Hesiod) to find resources on the network.
The X Window System, widely used for graphics on Unix computers.
Tools to easily build user interfaces.
Instant messaging through the Zephyr service.
A system-wide directory for finding information.
An integrated system for maintaining computers (Moira Service Management System).
An online help system (OLH).
A public bulletin board system (Discuss).

Many ideas from Athena's "on-line consultant" system are now found in modern help desk software.

Because Athena offered unique benefits, its use spread beyond MIT. MIT made the software available for free to anyone interested. Digital Equipment Corporation even created a product called DECAthena, which other universities and companies used. By early 1992, 20 universities and 30 companies were using or testing DECAthena.

The way Athena was designed also influenced other major computer systems. The architecture of the Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) was based on Athena's ideas. Later, Microsoft's Windows NT operating system used Kerberos and other design features first seen in Athena.

Athena's Use Outside MIT

Project Athena's ideas and software were used by many other organizations:

Pixar Animation Studios, the company famous for animated movies, used Athena's VAX-11/750 computers for some of the early rendering work on their short film The Adventures of André and Wally B.
Iowa State University has its own version of Athena called "Project Vincent."
North Carolina State University uses a version of Athena called "Eos/Unity."
Carnegie Mellon University started a similar project called Project Andrew which created AFS, which Athena now uses for its files.
University of Maryland, College Park also used a version of Athena called WAM (Workstations at Maryland) and Glue, now known as "TerpConnect."