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Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing?

From Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
Newsgroups alt.folklore.computers
Subject Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing?
Date 2026-08-05 21:38 +0000
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <1150ah9$3blde$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References (4 earlier) <114r9lt$1nlvl$6@dont-email.me> <114rct2$1l39u$8@dont-email.me> <ghc*q4hNA@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk> <114u09g$2iv3s$3@dont-email.me> <dWd*e3nNA@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk>

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On 05 Aug 2026 18:46:59 +0100 (BST), Theo wrote:

> RISC OS is not Unix (probably wouldn't pass certification even with
> UnixLib) but the GUI borrows certain ideas from how Unix programs
> work together on the command line.

Here’s a subtle question: how exactly is the command line implemented
at the kernel level?

In a Unix-type system, the command line is passed as the “argument
vector” (you may be familiar with the “argv” that you see as an
argument to the main() of a C program). Whereas in Windows (and its
precursor MS-DOS), you have the simple string buffer inherited from
CP/M from the 8-bit era, which in turn copied it from the DEC
operating systems that came before.

The difference is, trying to pass multiple command-line arguments in a
simple string buffer requires the use of shell-style escaping
conventions, even when no shell is involved. Whereas on Unix-type
systems, it is easy (and common) for one program to directly invoke
another, passing the argument vector directly, without having to worry
about escaping any characters that might be interpreted specially by a
shell -- because you don’t need to go through a shell.

So, which way does RISC OS do it?

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Thread

Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-10 22:53 +0000
  Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-05-11 08:23 -0700
    Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2026-05-18 17:34 +0100
      Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-18 20:58 +0000
      Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Jeffrey Bagely <6cf6e82302@darkc0de.one> - 2026-08-03 23:24 +0000
        Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-03 23:53 +0000
          Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Jeffrey Bagely <6cf6e82302@darkc0de.one> - 2026-08-04 00:48 +0000
            Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-04 02:56 +0000
              Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Jeffrey Bagely <6cf6e82302@darkc0de.one> - 2026-08-04 03:08 +0000
            Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2026-08-04 15:33 +0100
              Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-08-04 14:45 +0000
              Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Jeffrey Bagely <6cf6e82302@darkc0de.one> - 2026-08-04 21:31 +0000
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2026-08-05 00:19 +0100
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-08-16 21:53 +0800
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2026-08-18 11:09 +0100
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-05 00:29 +0000
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Jeffrey Bagely <6cf6e82302@darkc0de.one> - 2026-08-05 03:18 +0000
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-05 04:39 +0000
              Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-05 00:31 +0000
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Jeffrey Bagely <6cf6e82302@darkc0de.one> - 2026-08-05 03:22 +0000
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Jeffrey Bagely <6cf6e82302@darkc0de.one> - 2026-08-05 03:24 +0000
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2026-08-05 18:46 +0100
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-05 21:38 +0000
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Jeffrey Bagely <6cf6e82302@darkc0de.one> - 2026-08-05 21:55 +0000
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-06 03:30 +0000
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Anton Antimo <anton@safunu.org> - 2026-08-06 15:13 -0300
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2026-08-07 10:16 +0100
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-07 21:46 +0000
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-08-10 08:46 -0700
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2026-08-12 12:28 +0100
                Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-08-18 15:38 -0700
                UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing?) Geoff Clare <geoff@clare.See-My-Signature.invalid> - 2026-08-06 13:54 +0100
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing?) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-06 23:58 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing?) Geoff Clare <geoff@clare.See-My-Signature.invalid> - 2026-08-07 13:17 +0100
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing?) Bob Eager <throwaway0008@eager.cx> - 2026-08-07 17:18 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2026-08-08 12:16 +0100
                Re: UNIX certification Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2026-08-08 18:41 -0400
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing?) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-13 23:23 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp "Phigan" <phigan@mutinybbs.com.remove-51d-this> - 2026-08-14 01:38 -0400
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp Bob Eager <throwaway0008@eager.cx> - 2026-08-14 12:14 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-08-14 21:18 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-08-14 21:31 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp "Phigan" <phigan@mutinybbs.com.remove-110l-this> - 2026-08-16 10:14 -0400
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp drb@ihatespam.msu.edu (Dennis Boone) - 2026-08-16 21:33 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp Bob Eager <throwaway0008@eager.cx> - 2026-08-16 22:44 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-08-17 14:24 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp Bob Eager <throwaway0008@eager.cx> - 2026-08-17 14:32 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-08-14 20:52 -0700
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-15 04:21 +0000
                Multics (ws: Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp) Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-08-16 21:36 +0800
                Re: Multics (ws: Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp) Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-08-16 07:32 -0700
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp Geoff Clare <geoff@clare.See-My-Signature.invalid> - 2026-08-14 13:29 +0100
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To  Document-CentricComp vallor <vallor@vallor.earth> - 2026-08-16 12:26 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-08-14 07:31 -0700
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened ToDocument-CentricComp "Phigan" <phigan@mutinybbs.com.remove-110l-this> - 2026-08-16 10:12 -0400
                Princess Irulan (was: Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-CentricComp) Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-08-16 21:33 +0800
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing?) Geoff Clare <geoff@clare.See-My-Signature.invalid> - 2026-08-14 13:20 +0100
                Re: UNIX certification (was: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing?) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-16 22:16 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-08-21 12:56 +0000
                Re: UNIX certification Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-21 22:29 +0000
                System calls in assembly (was: Re: UNIX certification) Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-08-16 21:40 +0800
    Extensible, interoperable standards (Document-Centric Computing) Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com> - 2026-05-18 20:56 -0700
      Re: Extensible, interoperable standards (Document-Centric Computing) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-05-19 05:49 +0000
  Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2026-05-12 20:16 -0400
    Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? Jonathan Lamothe <jonathan@jlamothe.net> - 2026-05-18 10:31 -0400
  Re: Whatever Happened To Document-Centric Computing? David Wade <g4ugm@dave.invalid> - 2026-08-04 16:20 +0100

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