Return to BSD News archive
Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mira.net.au!news.netspace.net.au!news.mel.connect.com.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.uwa.edu.au!disco.iinet.net.au!news1.mpcs.com!news.radio.cz!europa.clark.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news-pull.sprintlink.net!news-in-east.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!206.63.63.70!nwnews.wa.com!bluegum.wa.com!news
From: lindsay@bluegum.wa.com (Lindsay Harris)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.shell,comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.x,alt.os.linux,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,gnu.misc.discuss,comp.unix.solaris
Subject: Re: unix acronyms -collecting a list?
Date: 27 May 1997 22:42:38 GMT
Organization: Bluegum Software
Lines: 26
Message-ID: <5mfo0u$al3@watey.bluegum.wa.com>
References: <5ldtv3$jnm@eve.speakeasy.org> <337B0F6C.4C71614A@indiana.edu>
<slrn5nmfqo.dl7.hdm@stress.noc.demon.net> <EAK0sq.M8n@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
<5mf90e$pkv@mozo.cc.purdue.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: penny.bluegum.wa.com
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
X-Newsreader: knews 0.9.7
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.shell:45470 comp.os.linux.misc:177267 comp.os.linux.x:62669 alt.os.linux:21625 comp.unix.bsd.misc:3427 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:41718 gnu.misc.discuss:31504 comp.unix.solaris:107737
In article <5mf90e$pkv@mozo.cc.purdue.edu>,
abe@cc.purdue.edu (Vic Abell) writes:
> richard@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Richard Tobin) writes:
>
>>I suppose I shouldn't bring this one up, since there's probably no
>>documentary evidence, but what about dsw (the predecessor to rm -i)?
>>I seem to recall hearing that it was "delete using switches", where
>>the switches were the ones on the front panel. Its etymology was
>>described as "amusing", and a comment that the name was "ill-advised"
>>had been removed by sixth edition.
>
> Dsw stood for the Russian "goodbye" -- das v'dania. (Please pardon
> my mangling of the Cyrillic transliteration.)
"Delete From Switch Register" is the correct interpretation.
The background is that Ken Thompson created a file whose name
could not be typed in. So the original dsw command appeared.
It went through the directory, displaying each file name for a few
seconds. After the delay, it looked at the status of one switch of the
switch register (a row of switches on the front of the PDP-11),
and if on would remove the file, othewise leave it. Repeat for
each file. By the time I came across it, that functionality had
vanished and it was keyboard driven.
Lindsay