SHARE (computing)

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title: "SHARE (computing)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ibm-user-groups", "user-groups", "free-software-culture-and-documents", "organizations-based-in-chicago", "organizations-established-in-1955", "1955-establishments-in-california"] description: "User group for IBM mainframe computing" topic_path: "general/ibm-user-groups" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHARE_(computing)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary User group for IBM mainframe computing ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox organization"]

Field	Value
name	SHARE
logo	SHARE logo (2021).png
logo_caption	SHARE logo as of 2021
formation
tax_id
registration_id
purpose	User group for IBM mainframe computers
location	Los Angeles-area
website
::

| name = SHARE | logo = SHARE logo (2021).png | logo_size = | logo_caption = SHARE logo as of 2021 | alt = | map = | map_size = | map_alt = | map_caption = | map2 = | map2_size = | map2_alt = | map2_caption = | abbreviation = | motto = | formation = | founders = | type = | tax_id = | registration_id = | status = | purpose = User group for IBM mainframe computers | headquarters = | location = Los Angeles-area | region = | methods = | fields = | membership = | membership_year = | language = | leader_title = | leader_name = | leader_title2 = | leader_name2 = | leader_title3 = | leader_name3 = | main_organ = | parent_organization = | subsidiaries = | secessions = | affiliations = | budget = | budget_year = | revenue = | revenue_year = | disbursements = | expenses = | endowment = | staff = | staff_year = | volunteers = | volunteers_year = | mission = | website = | remarks = | footnotes = SHARE Inc. is a volunteer-run user group for IBM mainframe computers that was founded in 1955 by Los Angeles-area users of the IBM 704 computer system. It evolved into a forum for exchanging technical information about programming languages, operating systems, database systems, and user experiences for enterprise users of small, medium, and large-scale IBM computers such as IBM S/360, IBM S/370, zSeries, pSeries, and xSeries. Despite the capitalization of all letters in the name, the official website says "SHARE is not an acronym; it's what we do."

Overview

A major resource of SHARE from the beginning was the SHARE library. Originally, IBM distributed what software it provided in source form Dave Pitts' IBM 7090/7094 Page – An example of distributed source: Page contains a link to IBM 7090/94 IBSYS source, including COBOL and FORTRAN compilers. and systems programmers commonly made small local additions or modifications and exchanged them with other users. The SHARE library and the process of distributed development it fostered was one of the major origins of open source software.

In 1959 SHARE released the SHARE Operating System (SOS), originally for the IBM 709 computer, later ported to the IBM 7090. SOS was one of the first instances of "commons-based peer production" now widely used in the development of free and open-source software such as Linux and the GNU project. In 1963 SHARE participated with IBM in the development of the PL/I programming language as part of the "3x3" committee.

In 1969, members of SHARE in Europe formed a European Chapter of the organisation, which was formalised in 1966 as the "Share European Association (SEAS)", later SHARE Europe (SEAS). The last meeting of 1994 was jointly held with G.U.I.D.E. At this meeting it was decided to dissolve both SHARE Europe and G.U.I.D.E. and establish the new European IBM users group GSE (Guide Share Europe).

SHARE later incorporated as a non-profit corporation based in Chicago, Illinois and is located at 330 N. Wabash Ave. The organization produces a newsletter and conducts two major educational meetings per year.

In September 1999, GUIDE International, the other major IBM mainframe users group, ceased operation. Although SHARE did not formally take over GUIDE in the United States, many of the activities and projects that were undertaken under the aegis of GUIDE moved to SHARE, and GUIDE suggested to its members that they join SHARE. In August 2000, SHARE took over the guide.org domain name.

In 2005 SHARE's membership of 20,000 represented some 2,300 enterprise IBM customers.

References

References

1. http://www.share.org/d/do/11532 {{Dead link. (February 2022)
2. Varian, Melinda. (August 1997). "VM and the VM Community: Past, Present, and Future". Princeton University.
3. (February 8, 1993). "MEMO OCO:BDAY - Today is OCO's tenth birthday".
4. Gardner, David. (August 17, 2005). "SHARE, IBM User Group, To Celebrate 50th Anniversary". TechWeb News.
5. Hurst, Harry. (March 1992). "30 Year History of SEAS / SHARE Europe".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::