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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!news.he.net!www.nntp.primenet.com!nntp.primenet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.zeitgeist.net!sun.sirius.com!hnsngr From: hnsngr@sirius.com (Ron Hunsinger) Newsgroups: comp.unix.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: On the Naming of UNIX Things Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 07:56:36 -0800 Organization: ErsteSoft Lines: 38 Message-ID: <hnsngr-ya023180001311960756360001@news.sirius.com> References: <55vhpf$q3o@mail1.wg.waii.com> <560146$t9c@mail1.wg.waii.com> <E0L92J.4tM@world.std.com> <kbibb.847601696@shellx> <1996111206190712643@[192.159.32.2]> <569rkk$gv0@orac.mon.rnb.com> <1996111212371894551@[192.159.32.153]> NNTP-Posting-Host: ppp028-sf2.sirius.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Newsreader: Yet Another NewsWatcher 2.3.1 Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.misc:26350 comp.unix.bsd.misc:1483 alt.folklore.computers:124518 In article <1996111212371894551@[192.159.32.153]>, swb@mercury.campbell-mithun.com (Shawn Barnhart) wrote: > Are there many other OS of Unix vintage that have as many two character > commands? I can't remember the HP2000 we used in elementary school (ca > 1976) having two character commands, but I do remember using clunky > teletypes on them. Certainly when that machine was developed, there > were no more high speed video terminals in use than in the Unix > development time period. The Burroughs (now Unisys) Medium Systems MCP (Master Control Program) uses ONLY two-letter commands at the ODT (Operator Display Terminal). Thus you get things like: DS - DiScontinue program DM - DuMp memory for program DP - DumP and discontinue Most commands took parameters, like which program was to be affected. Some did not, and would ignore any you supplied. Since all commands were exactly two letters long, there was no need to separate the command from the parameters. For example, the SL command (SPO List) would produce a list of all the remote SPOs (SuPervisOry consoles). Since there usually weren't any, the usual response was "NONE". It was also an obscure enough command that not many people knew it. You could (momentarily) blow someone's mind by typing in SLEPT WITH ANY VIRGINS LATELY? or SLAIN ANY DRAGONS LATELY? and letting them figure out how the computer knew to say: NONE. -Ron Hunsinger