Path: csiph.com!weretis.net!feeder9.news.weretis.net!panix!.POSTED.2602:f977:0:1::5!not-for-mail From: Rich Alderson Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.os.linux.misc Subject: Re: The joy of FORTRAN Date: 01 Mar 2025 18:41:28 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC Lines: 21 Sender: alderson+news@panix5.panix.com Message-ID: References: <1976765442.762208809.808387.peter_flass-yahoo.com@news.eternal-september.org> <20250225130315.00004e34@gmail.com> <87y0xtjts3.fsf@localhost> <878qptjrh4.fsf@localhost> <1235219340.762291923.105673.peter_flass-yahoo.com@news.eternal-september.org> <20250227211154.db2ee6d13e852ff817d6fd56@127.0.0.1> <877c59hdlt.fsf@localhost> Injection-Info: reader1.panix.com; posting-host="2602:f977:0:1::5"; logging-data="23034"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@panix.com" X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.7/Emacs 22.3 Xref: csiph.com alt.folklore.computers:230246 comp.os.linux.misc:65928 Lawrence D'Oliveiro writes: > On Fri, 28 Feb 2025 13:08:14 -1000, Lynn Wheeler wrote: >> trivia: 360s were originally going to be ASCII ... but the ASCII unit >> record gear wasn't ready ... > Both System/360 and the first official ASCII spec came out in 1964, so you > could understand why it would have been too much of a rush to get ASCII > support working in time for the product launch. And there was an additional turd in the kettle: IBM were plumping for an 8 bit extension to ASCII (which was a 7 bit character set) in which bit 5 and bit 7 either echoed or inverted each other, instead of bit 7 being always 0 for the defined ASCII characters, and 1 for the other 128 characters to be defined. -- 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