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Groups > alt.folklore.computers > #233681 > unrolled thread

Don Norman: The Truth About Unix

Started byLawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
First post2026-01-27 20:15 +0000
Last post2026-04-15 22:10 +0000
Articles 20 on this page of 268 — 29 participants

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Contents

  Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-27 20:15 +0000
    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-27 15:58 -0500
      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix jayjwa <jayjwa@atr2.ath.cx.invalid> - 2026-01-27 21:00 -0500
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-01-28 03:24 +0000
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-27 21:41 -0700
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-28 04:45 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-28 05:26 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-28 08:00 -0700
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-28 23:47 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 00:47 +0000
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2026-01-28 12:07 +0000
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-01-28 13:37 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-01-28 15:21 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Adam Sampson <ats@offog.org> - 2026-01-28 19:54 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-28 23:45 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 00:56 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-28 20:29 -0700
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-01-29 16:09 +0000
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-29 19:32 +0000
                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-29 20:40 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-01-28 15:55 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-01-28 18:31 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-28 14:10 -0500
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2026-01-28 16:26 -0500
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 00:59 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-28 22:26 +0000
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-29 06:54 -0500
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-01-29 14:50 +0000
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-01-30 13:04 -0800
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-01-31 15:10 +0000
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-01-31 11:59 +0000
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-01-31 16:39 +0000
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-31 20:56 +0000
                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-02-02 10:36 -0800
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-01-29 14:39 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-01-29 16:01 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix "Kerr-Mudd, John" <admin@127.0.0.1> - 2026-01-30 17:19 +0000
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-28 08:11 -0700
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-28 14:15 -0500
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-28 22:25 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 00:52 +0000
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-28 04:19 +0000
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-28 06:55 -0500
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-01-28 12:01 +0000
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-01-28 15:51 +0000
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-01-28 16:14 -0800
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-29 06:30 +0000
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-01-29 15:34 +0000
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-29 19:32 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-29 12:49 -0700
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 20:01 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-29 22:56 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-30 00:58 +0000
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2026-01-30 23:49 +0000
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-31 04:55 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-29 23:48 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-30 07:35 -0700
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-30 11:29 -0500
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-30 19:18 +0000
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-01-30 12:22 -0800
                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-30 22:26 +0000
                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-31 05:04 +0000
                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-31 04:58 +0000
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-31 06:59 -0500
                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-31 18:10 +0000
                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-31 19:39 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix jayjwa <jayjwa@atr2.ath.cx.invalid> - 2026-01-30 13:57 -0500
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-30 21:11 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2026-01-30 18:59 -0500
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Beej Jorgensen <beej@beej.us> - 2026-02-02 02:22 +0000
      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Daniel <me@sc1f1dan.com> - 2026-01-27 21:32 -0800
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-28 06:11 +0000
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-28 07:07 -0500
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-29 06:30 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 15:28 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-01-29 17:14 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix "Kerr-Mudd, John" <admin@127.0.0.1> - 2026-01-30 17:32 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-30 13:03 -0700
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-30 21:18 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-01-31 11:30 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix drb@ihatespam.msu.edu (Dennis Boone) - 2026-01-31 19:22 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-31 21:08 +0000
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-31 22:52 +0000
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-01 01:37 +0000
                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-02-01 05:44 +0000
                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-01 06:15 +0000
                            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-02-01 06:23 +0000
                              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-01 06:50 +0000
                                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-02-01 06:58 +0000
                                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-02-01 17:56 +0000
                                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-02-01 07:38 +0000
                            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-02-01 07:24 +0000
                              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-02-01 08:28 -0500
                                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-02-01 19:48 +0000
                                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-02-02 11:44 -0500
                                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-02-02 19:49 +0000
                                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Beej Jorgensen <beej@beej.us> - 2026-02-03 19:40 +0000
                                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-02-04 00:58 +0000
                                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Beej Jorgensen <beej@beej.us> - 2026-02-05 05:52 +0000
                                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Andreas Eder <a_eder_muc@web.de> - 2026-02-04 11:08 +0100
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-02-01 08:18 -0500
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-02-01 08:16 -0500
              ed (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) Geoff Clare <geoff@clare.See-My-Signature.invalid> - 2026-02-02 15:31 +0000
                Re: ed (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-02-02 17:36 +0000
                  Re: ed (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-02-02 20:19 +0000
                    Re: ed (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-02-02 20:46 +0000
                      Re: ed (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-02-02 21:01 +0000
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix jayjwa <jayjwa@atr2.ath.cx.invalid> - 2026-01-28 14:07 -0500
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Adam Sampson <ats@offog.org> - 2026-01-28 19:40 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-28 17:30 -0500
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-01-28 20:19 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-28 13:50 -0700
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-01-28 22:13 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-29 06:30 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 15:24 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-29 06:30 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-29 07:59 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-29 19:32 +0000
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-29 20:48 +0000
                      less is *not* really more or less like more? (was: Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-01-30 09:51 +0000
                        Re: less is *not* really more or less like more? (was: Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-30 19:18 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-01-30 15:14 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-01-30 15:50 +0000
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-30 18:46 +0000
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-01-30 20:56 +0000
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-01-31 13:10 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-30 21:15 +0000
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-01-31 13:14 +0000
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-31 20:57 +0000
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix drb@ihatespam.msu.edu (Dennis Boone) - 2026-01-28 21:50 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-28 22:24 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 01:19 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-28 17:32 -0500
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 01:42 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-01-29 14:34 +0000
              pg (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) Geoff Clare <geoff@clare.See-My-Signature.invalid> - 2026-02-02 15:39 +0000
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-28 17:27 -0500
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 01:17 +0000
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-01-29 14:06 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-29 12:42 -0700
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-01-30 11:01 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-30 07:44 -0700
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-01-30 15:48 +0000
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-01-30 12:55 -0800
                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-01-31 16:47 +0000
                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-02-05 10:35 -0800
                            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-02-09 13:10 +0000
                              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-02-16 15:49 -0800
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-30 21:18 +0000
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-31 07:40 -0700
                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-01-31 17:58 +0000
                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix drb@ihatespam.msu.edu (Dennis Boone) - 2026-01-31 19:44 +0000
                            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-02-01 15:09 +0000
                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-02-01 08:12 -0500
                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-31 21:05 +0000
                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-31 22:52 +0000
                            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-01 01:35 +0000
                              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-02-01 06:32 +0000
                                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-01 06:49 +0000
                              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-02-02 09:47 -0800
                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-02-01 00:40 -0700
                            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-01 08:59 +0000
                            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-02-01 15:06 +0000
                              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-02-01 12:54 -0700
                                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-01 19:57 +0000
                                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-02-01 14:21 -0700
                                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-01 21:31 +0000
                                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-02-02 17:33 +0000
                                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-02-02 18:10 +0000
                                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Anthk <anthk@disroot.org> - 2026-04-15 06:48 +0000
                                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-04-15 15:52 +0000
                                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-04-15 22:12 +0000
                                      Glibc LFS on 32 bit (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) Geoff Clare <geoff@clare.See-My-Signature.invalid> - 2026-04-17 14:20 +0100
                                        Re: Glibc LFS on 32 bit (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) Bob Eager <throwaway0008@eager.cx> - 2026-04-17 13:48 +0000
                                        Re: Glibc LFS on 32 bit (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-04-17 22:44 +0000
                                          Re: Glibc LFS on 32 bit (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) Geoff Clare <geoff@clare.See-My-Signature.invalid> - 2026-04-20 13:26 +0100
                                            Re: Glibc LFS on 32 bit (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-04-20 13:19 +0000
                                            Re: Glibc LFS on 32 bit (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-04-20 21:32 +0000
                                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-02-02 18:08 +0000
                                  Re: PC/IX, was Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2026-02-03 02:29 +0000
                                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-03 03:24 +0000
                                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-02-03 10:56 +0000
                                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-03 21:19 +0000
                                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-02-03 21:55 +0000
                                        "POSIX" ACLs (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) Geoff Clare <geoff@clare.See-My-Signature.invalid> - 2026-02-04 13:47 +0000
                                          Re: "POSIX" ACLs (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-02-04 15:41 +0000
                                            Re: "POSIX" ACLs (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) Geoff Clare <geoff@clare.See-My-Signature.invalid> - 2026-02-05 13:33 +0000
                                              Re: "POSIX" ACLs (was: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix) cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-02-05 16:13 +0000
                                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-02-04 18:16 +0000
                                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-04 20:39 +0000
                                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Anthk <anthk@disroot.org> - 2026-04-15 06:48 +0000
                                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-02-03 15:02 +0000
                                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-02-03 15:22 -0700
                                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-03 22:32 +0000
                                        fucking lies [was Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix] Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2026-02-04 15:29 -0500
                                          Re: fucking lies [was Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix] cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-02-04 21:47 +0000
                                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-02-04 15:41 +0000
                                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com> - 2026-02-04 23:43 +0000
                                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-02-05 02:07 +0000
                                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-05 09:05 +0000
                                            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-02-05 14:55 +0000
                                              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-02-05 10:42 -0700
                                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Anthk <anthk@disroot.org> - 2026-04-15 06:48 +0000
                                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Bob Eager <throwaway0008@eager.cx> - 2026-04-15 09:27 +0000
                                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-04-15 07:40 -0700
                                    torn ACLs [was Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix] Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2026-04-15 14:58 -0400
                                      Re: torn ACLs [was Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix] scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-04-15 20:27 +0000
                                        Re: torn ACLs [was Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix] Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2026-04-16 20:32 -0400
                              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-02-01 19:55 +0000
                                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-02-02 18:05 +0000
                                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Bill Findlay <findlaybill@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2026-02-04 15:07 +0000
                                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-02-04 09:01 -0700
                                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-02-04 19:34 +0000
                                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Bill Findlay <findlaybill@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2026-02-04 19:37 +0000
                                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-02-04 20:41 +0000
                                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-02-04 19:20 +0000
                                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Bill Findlay <findlaybill@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2026-02-04 19:36 +0000
                                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-02-04 21:46 +0000
                                          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Bill Findlay <findlaybill@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2026-02-05 15:12 +0000
                        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-02-01 08:12 -0500
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-01-31 18:19 +0000
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-29 20:57 +0000
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-01-30 10:03 +0000
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-28 08:06 -0700
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-28 14:38 -0500
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-01-28 20:34 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-28 17:36 -0500
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 00:36 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix David Wade <g4ugm@dave.invalid> - 2026-01-29 08:43 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-01-29 15:36 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> - 2026-01-29 11:46 -0500
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-29 19:32 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 19:58 +0000
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-29 06:30 +0000
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-01-29 12:15 +0000
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-29 19:32 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 19:55 +0000
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-01-30 09:56 +0000
                  Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-30 19:02 +0000
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-01-30 11:32 -0800
                      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-31 05:10 +0000
                    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2026-02-05 03:04 -0400
                Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-01-31 11:40 +0000
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix "Kurt Weiske" <kurt.weiske@realitycheckbbs.org.remove-m6d-this> - 2026-01-31 08:35 -0800
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-01-30 11:59 -0800
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> - 2026-01-31 11:36 +0000
      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2026-01-28 22:26 +0000
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-28 20:26 -0700
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-01-30 09:46 +0000
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-30 19:18 +0000
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-01-31 16:25 +0000
      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-01-29 11:22 +0000
    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-01-27 16:02 -0800
      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-28 01:52 +0000
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-01-28 16:12 -0800
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-29 00:28 +0000
            Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-01-30 13:07 -0800
              Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-30 21:21 +0000
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-01-29 14:36 +0000
    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-01-28 00:29 +0000
      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-01-28 16:11 -0800
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-29 00:54 +0000
    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-01-29 11:20 +0000
    Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Anthk <anthk@disroot.org> - 2026-04-15 06:48 +0000
      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-04-15 11:24 +0000
        Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-04-15 15:47 +0000
          Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2026-04-15 16:11 +0000
      Re: Don Norman: The Truth About Unix Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-04-15 22:10 +0000

Page 2 of 14 — ← Prev page 1 [2] 3 4 … 14  Next page →


#233704

Fromscott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal)
Date2026-01-28 15:55 +0000
Message-ID<FjqeR.3$%sT8.2@fx23.iad>
In reply to#233698
cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:
>In article <unix-20260128130650@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de>,
>Stefan Ram <ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de> wrote:
>>Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> wrote or quoted:
>>>I do find the name of the TYPE command a bit counterintuitive, though.
>>>Not that "more", or worse, "cat" or "less", is any better.
>>
>>  This is probably a textbook case of bikeshedding. For people
>>  who aren't into this stuff, the first thing that clicks for
>>  them are the command names, so that's what they end up talking
>>  about. Doesn't mean it's wrong to talk about command names.
>>
>>  Still, you could say that a name like "rm" instead of "remove"
>>  is quicker to type and helps avoid the mistake of thinking you
>>  can just use the command word like the regular English verb.
>
>And that was the original motivation, of course.
>
>Multics had a concept of an official name for a command, and
>then a short version.  So to list the contents of the current
>working directory, one might run the `list` command:
>
  <snip description of list vs. ls on Multics>
>

DEC's VMS supported abbreviating commands
to the shortest unique first characters of the command name.

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#233705

FromNiklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com>
Date2026-01-28 18:31 +0000
Message-ID<mtv30hF575pU1@mid.individual.net>
In reply to#233704
On 2026-01-28, Scott Lurndal <scott@slp53.sl.home> wrote:
>
> DEC's VMS supported abbreviating commands
> to the shortest unique first characters of the command name.

And appears to have been an inspiration for the Cisco IOS CLI, where you
can do the same thing. Also you'll go "show X" much the same as you
would in VMS to get the status for something.

*nix shells eventually evolved completion, which is at least a coarse
approximation of the abbreviation ability, at least for the part of the
command that is an actual executable... though you can program it to do
more if you put enough effort in.

Niklas
-- 
"So after I specifically asked you not to touch anything, you drank a bottle of
strange blue liquid? It could've been poisonous acid!"
"It could've been, but chances were equally good it was an emperor."
                       -- Leela and Fry, Futurama

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#233707

FromChris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us>
Date2026-01-28 14:10 -0500
Message-ID<10ldmv2$nut1$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#233705
Niklas Karlsson wrote this post by blinking in Morse code:

> On 2026-01-28, Scott Lurndal <scott@slp53.sl.home> wrote:
>>
>> DEC's VMS supported abbreviating commands
>> to the shortest unique first characters of the command name.
>
> And appears to have been an inspiration for the Cisco IOS CLI, where you
> can do the same thing. Also you'll go "show X" much the same as you
> would in VMS to get the status for something.
>
> *nix shells eventually evolved completion, which is at least a coarse
> approximation of the abbreviation ability, at least for the part of the
> command that is an actual executable... though you can program it to do
> more if you put enough effort in.
>
> Niklas

I use cdargs for directory completion/book-marking allatime.

-- 
When in doubt, parenthesize.  At the very least it will let some
poor schmuck bounce on the % key in vi.
		-- Larry Wall in the perl man page

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#233715

FromRich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com>
Date2026-01-28 16:26 -0500
Message-ID<mddbjidpgxo.fsf@panix5.panix.com>
In reply to#233705
Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> writes:

> On 2026-01-28, Scott Lurndal <scott@slp53.sl.home> wrote:

>> DEC's VMS supported abbreviating commands
>> to the shortest unique first characters of the command name.

> And appears to have been an inspiration for the Cisco IOS CLI, where you
> can do the same thing. Also you'll go "show X" much the same as you
> would in VMS to get the status for something.

Both VMS and Cisco IOS got the idea from TENEX/TOPS-20 on the PDP-10.

> *nix shells eventually evolved completion, which is at least a coarse
> approximation of the abbreviation ability, at least for the part of the
> command that is an actual executable... though you can program it to do
> more if you put enough effort in.

The first Unix shell to do so was tcsh, "TENEX C shell".

I believe my a.f.c. post regarding the history of this feature is still found
in the tcsh man page, as one of the Berkeley or Sun folks asked my permission
to include it...

-- 
Rich Alderson					  news@alderson.users.panix.com
      Audendum est, et veritas investiganda; quam etiamsi non assequamur,
	  omnino tamen proprius, quam nunc sumus, ad eam perveniemus.
									--Galen

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#233737

Fromrbowman <bowman@montana.com>
Date2026-01-29 00:59 +0000
Message-ID<mtvpnaF8jlsU6@mid.individual.net>
In reply to#233715
On 28 Jan 2026 16:26:27 -0500, Rich Alderson wrote:

> The first Unix shell to do so was tcsh, "TENEX C shell".

Long live tcsh! I used it for years until it became apparent bash was 
going to be the Linux default. I had to convert some of my stuff since 
what can be done with a simple alias in tcsh needs a damn function in 
bash. Progress...

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#233721

FromLawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
Date2026-01-28 22:26 +0000
Message-ID<10le2ff$r9l5$6@dont-email.me>
In reply to#233705
On 28 Jan 2026 18:31:45 GMT, Niklas Karlsson wrote:

> *nix shells eventually evolved completion, which is at least a
> coarse approximation of the abbreviation ability ...

And also applies to other things, like file names.

In fact, command-name expansion only works because it matches an
existing file name.

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#233752

FromChris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us>
Date2026-01-29 06:54 -0500
Message-ID<10lfhps$189fq$4@dont-email.me>
In reply to#233721
Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote this post by blinking in Morse code:

> On 28 Jan 2026 18:31:45 GMT, Niklas Karlsson wrote:
>
>> *nix shells eventually evolved completion, which is at least a
>> coarse approximation of the abbreviation ability ...
>
> And also applies to other things, like file names.
>
> In fact, command-name expansion only works because it matches an
> existing file name.

$ man r <TAB>
$ man radiobutton

That's a Tk built-in command. There's no such file. On my other
box the result is "radeon".

-- 
Ah, but the choice of dreams to live, there's the rub.
For all dreams are not equal, some exit to nightmare
most end with the dreamer.
But at least one must be lived ... and died.

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#233758

Fromcross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross)
Date2026-01-29 14:50 +0000
Message-ID<10lfs3f$nn6$1@reader2.panix.com>
In reply to#233705
In article <mtv30hF575pU1@mid.individual.net>,
Niklas Karlsson  <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 2026-01-28, Scott Lurndal <scott@slp53.sl.home> wrote:
>>
>> DEC's VMS supported abbreviating commands
>> to the shortest unique first characters of the command name.
>
>And appears to have been an inspiration for the Cisco IOS CLI, where you

I think that mainly came from TENEX/TOPS-20; if you look at the
history of Cisco, that sort of makes sense given the folks
involved and their backgrounds.  Some XKL Darkstar parts can
(still?) boot TOPS-20.

>can do the same thing. Also you'll go "show X" much the same as you
>would in VMS to get the status for something.
>
>*nix shells eventually evolved completion, which is at least a coarse
>approximation of the abbreviation ability, at least for the part of the
>command that is an actual executable... though you can program it to do
>more if you put enough effort in.

Completion and abbreviation aren't exactly the same thing, and
completion in the TOPS-20 sense is much more evolved than
anything Unix has done.

It's a shame that the industry collectively is so fixated on
Unix-y systems and spends so little looking at other historical
designs: there are a lot of great lessons to be learned out
there, if folks would just take a look.

	- Dan C.

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#233806

FromJohn Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com>
Date2026-01-30 13:04 -0800
Message-ID<20260130130439.0000298b@gmail.com>
In reply to#233758
On Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:50:23 -0000 (UTC)
cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) wrote:

> Completion and abbreviation aren't exactly the same thing, and
> completion in the TOPS-20 sense is much more evolved than anything
> Unix has done.

Powershell in WinNT has a fairly capable completion system. Sadly, PS
is so sesquipedalian that it practically *requires* one.

> It's a shame that the industry collectively is so fixated on Unix-y
> systems and spends so little looking at other historical designs:
> there are a lot of great lessons to be learned out there, if folks
> would just take a look.

Yeah, that's long been a pet peeve of mine. Unix had some great ideas,
of course, but there've been other interesting concepts in systems
before and since that were mostly left by the wayside.

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#233830

Fromcross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross)
Date2026-01-31 15:10 +0000
Message-ID<10ll609$fki$1@reader2.panix.com>
In reply to#233806
In article <20260130130439.0000298b@gmail.com>,
John Ames  <commodorejohn@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:50:23 -0000 (UTC)
>cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) wrote:
>
>> Completion and abbreviation aren't exactly the same thing, and
>> completion in the TOPS-20 sense is much more evolved than anything
>> Unix has done.
>
>Powershell in WinNT has a fairly capable completion system. Sadly, PS
>is so sesquipedalian that it practically *requires* one.

(Fantastic use of vocabulary.)

>> It's a shame that the industry collectively is so fixated on Unix-y
>> systems and spends so little looking at other historical designs:
>> there are a lot of great lessons to be learned out there, if folks
>> would just take a look.
>
>Yeah, that's long been a pet peeve of mine. Unix had some great ideas,
>of course, but there've been other interesting concepts in systems
>before and since that were mostly left by the wayside.

Indeed.  It's a shame; how many hidden gems are sitting there,
buried in the evolutionary graveyard of systems that were just
before their time?

	- Dan C.

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#233826

FromNiklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com>
Date2026-01-31 11:59 +0000
Message-ID<mu695kFan7cU4@mid.individual.net>
In reply to#233758
On 2026-01-29, Dan Cross <cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net> wrote:
>
> Completion and abbreviation aren't exactly the same thing, and
> completion in the TOPS-20 sense is much more evolved than
> anything Unix has done.

No indeed, they aren't the same thing. I was only trying to say that
it's the closest you'll typically get on a *nix system.

I suppose one could write a shell that does support abbreviation. I
don't know of any such attempts (but would be very interested if they
did exist), and I could see it getting messy the way things work on
*nix.

Niklas
-- 
"Avoid hyperbole at all costs, its the most destructive argument on
the planet" - Mark McIntyre in comp.lang.c

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#233832

Fromcross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross)
Date2026-01-31 16:39 +0000
Message-ID<10llb7b$916$1@reader2.panix.com>
In reply to#233826
In article <mu695kFan7cU4@mid.individual.net>,
Niklas Karlsson  <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 2026-01-29, Dan Cross <cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net> wrote:
>>
>> Completion and abbreviation aren't exactly the same thing, and
>> completion in the TOPS-20 sense is much more evolved than
>> anything Unix has done.
>
>No indeed, they aren't the same thing. I was only trying to say that
>it's the closest you'll typically get on a *nix system.
>
>I suppose one could write a shell that does support abbreviation. I
>don't know of any such attempts (but would be very interested if they
>did exist), and I could see it getting messy the way things work on
>*nix.

Abbreviations in the sense I understood them earlier in the
thread were closer to shell aliases than what I gather you mean
here, which is closer to the DEC (and IBM VM) thing of requiring
the user to only type a few characters.

One could write a shell that mimmicked the latter behavior, as
you observed; it would simply walk $PATH, open directories, and
keep look for programs that matched a prefix until it found
something unambiguous.

That's not quite how e.g. the VMS mechanism worked.  On VMS,
you could define "foreign commands" and specify how much of the
prefix you considered significant; that overrode the need for
non-ambiguity in the first four characters of the verb prefix.
For instance, I have `bl*ank:==type/page nl:` to provide a quick
way to clear the screen in my `LOGIN.COM` file.  (I'm sure that
Rich already knows, but the name is an homage to TOPS-20.)

	- Dan C.

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#233841

FromLawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
Date2026-01-31 20:56 +0000
Message-ID<10llq9p$37blf$2@dont-email.me>
In reply to#233826
On 31 Jan 2026 11:59:48 GMT, Niklas Karlsson wrote:

> I suppose one could write a shell that does support abbreviation.

Can’t see the point, myself. In a less dynamic environment (e.g. a DEC
OS), where new commands are not added that frequently, you might be
able to get away with it. In a typical *nix environment, I don’t think
it would work.

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#233884

FromJohn Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com>
Date2026-02-02 10:36 -0800
Message-ID<20260202103605.00007975@gmail.com>
In reply to#233841
On Sat, 31 Jan 2026 20:56:25 -0000 (UTC)
Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

> > I suppose one could write a shell that does support abbreviation.  
> 
> Can’t see the point, myself. In a less dynamic environment (e.g. a DEC
> OS), where new commands are not added that frequently, you might be
> able to get away with it. In a typical *nix environment, I don’t think
> it would work.

I suspect the fundamental philosophies are different enough that there
is no *good* way to reconcile them - is the shell a formally-specified
programming language with a given set of basic operations and a syntax
for defining subroutines which may happen to be external, or a system
for manipulating files and invoking programs plus the means to glue
them together? Either may be valid, but I don't know that you'd ever
marry them successfully.

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#233757

Fromcross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross)
Date2026-01-29 14:39 +0000
Message-ID<10lfrfj$4as$3@reader2.panix.com>
In reply to#233704
In article <FjqeR.3$%sT8.2@fx23.iad>, Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
>cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:
>>In article <unix-20260128130650@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de>,
>>Stefan Ram <ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de> wrote:
>>>Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> wrote or quoted:
>>>>I do find the name of the TYPE command a bit counterintuitive, though.
>>>>Not that "more", or worse, "cat" or "less", is any better.
>>>
>>>  This is probably a textbook case of bikeshedding. For people
>>>  who aren't into this stuff, the first thing that clicks for
>>>  them are the command names, so that's what they end up talking
>>>  about. Doesn't mean it's wrong to talk about command names.
>>>
>>>  Still, you could say that a name like "rm" instead of "remove"
>>>  is quicker to type and helps avoid the mistake of thinking you
>>>  can just use the command word like the regular English verb.
>>
>>And that was the original motivation, of course.
>>
>>Multics had a concept of an official name for a command, and
>>then a short version.  So to list the contents of the current
>>working directory, one might run the `list` command:
>>
>  <snip description of list vs. ls on Multics>
>>
>
>DEC's VMS supported abbreviating commands
>to the shortest unique first characters of the command name.

Yeah, that was kind of nifty.  TOPS-20/TENEX does it, as well.

Prime had the 'AB' command to create an abbreviation, and
Multics also has aliases.  I guess the point is that many
systems have created ways to customize things in this area over
the decades.  Nothing new under the sun.

	- Dan C.

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#233763

Fromscott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal)
Date2026-01-29 16:01 +0000
Message-ID<0vLeR.288832$KF5d.253214@fx43.iad>
In reply to#233757
cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:
>In article <FjqeR.3$%sT8.2@fx23.iad>, Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
>>cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:
>>>In article <unix-20260128130650@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de>,
>>>Stefan Ram <ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de> wrote:
>>>>Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> wrote or quoted:
>>>>>I do find the name of the TYPE command a bit counterintuitive, though.
>>>>>Not that "more", or worse, "cat" or "less", is any better.
>>>>
>>>>  This is probably a textbook case of bikeshedding. For people
>>>>  who aren't into this stuff, the first thing that clicks for
>>>>  them are the command names, so that's what they end up talking
>>>>  about. Doesn't mean it's wrong to talk about command names.
>>>>
>>>>  Still, you could say that a name like "rm" instead of "remove"
>>>>  is quicker to type and helps avoid the mistake of thinking you
>>>>  can just use the command word like the regular English verb.
>>>
>>>And that was the original motivation, of course.
>>>
>>>Multics had a concept of an official name for a command, and
>>>then a short version.  So to list the contents of the current
>>>working directory, one might run the `list` command:
>>>
>>  <snip description of list vs. ls on Multics>
>>>
>>
>>DEC's VMS supported abbreviating commands
>>to the shortest unique first characters of the command name.
>
>Yeah, that was kind of nifty.  TOPS-20/TENEX does it, as well.

One downside is that all VMS commands needed to be registered
with DCL, even user-generated commands.   DCL was a VMS
subsystem running in supervisor mode (alongside RMS in
executive mode and the rest of VMS in kernel mode).

Command parsing was handled by the DCL subystem with
rather rigid rules, if I recall correctly, to ensure
consistency across the command language. Unlike Unix
where the command line is simply tokenized and passed
via the argument vector.

However, VMS did provide an interface to get the command
line so an application could parse it directly (lib$get_foreign).


        .Page
        .Sbttl  {*** PMON$MAIN ***} Main Program 
        .Psect  pmon$main,exe,nowrt,byte

        .Entry  pmon$main,^m<>

;++
;       Check to see if executed from batch job
;--
        bbc     #cli$v_batch,cli$l_cliflag(ap),1$
        bisl    #<pmon$m_batch!pmon$m_hard>,flags
1$:

;++
;       Do Initialization.
;--
        calls   #0,pmon$initialize
;++
;       Get the foreign command line.
;--
        pushaq  foreign_block
        calls   #1,lib$get_foreign
;++
;       Set up and call TPARSE to parse the input string.
;--
        movzwl  foreign_block,parse_block+TPA$L_STRINGCNT
        movl    foreign_block+4,parse_block+TPA$L_STRINGPTR
        pushal  pmon$key
        pushal  pmon$state
        pushal  parse_block
        calls   #3,lib$tparse
        blbs    r0,3042$
3022$:
;++
;       Handle Control-C traps
;--
        $dclast_s astadr=pmon$ctrap,astprm=#3

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#233794

From"Kerr-Mudd, John" <admin@127.0.0.1>
Date2026-01-30 17:19 +0000
Message-ID<20260130171905.c9a948bc1208aea7d7aadefb@127.0.0.1>
In reply to#233704
On Wed, 28 Jan 2026 15:55:17 GMT
scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) wrote:

> cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:
> >In article <unix-20260128130650@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de>,
> >Stefan Ram <ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de> wrote:
> >>Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> wrote or quoted:
> >>>I do find the name of the TYPE command a bit counterintuitive, though.
> >>>Not that "more", or worse, "cat" or "less", is any better.
> >>
> >>  This is probably a textbook case of bikeshedding. For people
> >>  who aren't into this stuff, the first thing that clicks for
> >>  them are the command names, so that's what they end up talking
> >>  about. Doesn't mean it's wrong to talk about command names.
> >>
> >>  Still, you could say that a name like "rm" instead of "remove"
> >>  is quicker to type and helps avoid the mistake of thinking you
> >>  can just use the command word like the regular English verb.
> >
> >And that was the original motivation, of course.
> >
> >Multics had a concept of an official name for a command, and
> >then a short version.  So to list the contents of the current
> >working directory, one might run the `list` command:
> >
>   <snip description of list vs. ls on Multics>
> >
> 
> DEC's VMS supported abbreviating commands
> to the shortest unique first characters of the command name.
> 
E
Enter Build
D
Get Cryst
Attac Pirat
Open Oyste
-- 
Bah, and indeed Humbug.

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#233701

FromPeter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com>
Date2026-01-28 08:11 -0700
Message-ID<10ld8ud$j82e$3@dont-email.me>
In reply to#233697
On 1/28/26 05:07, Stefan Ram wrote:
> Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> wrote or quoted:
>> I do find the name of the TYPE command a bit counterintuitive, though.
>> Not that "more", or worse, "cat" or "less", is any better.
> 
>    This is probably a textbook case of bikeshedding. For people
>    who aren't into this stuff, the first thing that clicks for
>    them are the command names, so that's what they end up talking
>    about. Doesn't mean it's wrong to talk about command names.
> 
>    Still, you could say that a name like "rm" instead of "remove"
>    is quicker to type and helps avoid the mistake of thinking you
>    can just use the command word like the regular English verb.
>   

If you were really concerned, I guess you could set up aliases for 
commands. Several times I've been tempted to alias "del" to "rm".

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#233708

FromChris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us>
Date2026-01-28 14:15 -0500
Message-ID<10ldn96$nut1$2@dont-email.me>
In reply to#233701
Peter Flass wrote this post by blinking in Morse code:

> On 1/28/26 05:07, Stefan Ram wrote:
>> Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com> wrote or quoted:
>>> I do find the name of the TYPE command a bit counterintuitive, though.
>>> Not that "more", or worse, "cat" or "less", is any better.
>> 
>>    This is probably a textbook case of bikeshedding. For people
>>    who aren't into this stuff, the first thing that clicks for
>>    them are the command names, so that's what they end up talking
>>    about. Doesn't mean it's wrong to talk about command names.
>> 
>>    Still, you could say that a name like "rm" instead of "remove"
>>    is quicker to type and helps avoid the mistake of thinking you
>>    can just use the command word like the regular English verb.
>
> If you were really concerned, I guess you could set up aliases for 
> commands. Several times I've been tempted to alias "del" to "rm".

I thought about using del to mv the file(s) to ~/.trash. I mv them
to ~/tmp and periodically clean that out.

-- 
Tallulah Bankhead barged down the Nile last night as Cleopatra and sank.
		-- John Mason Brown, drama critic

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#233719

FromLawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
Date2026-01-28 22:25 +0000
Message-ID<10le2dc$r9l5$5@dont-email.me>
In reply to#233697
On 28 Jan 2026 12:07:54 GMT, Stefan Ram wrote:

> Still, you could say that a name like "rm" instead of "remove" is
> quicker to type ...

Some might say that’s more of a bug than a feature ...

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