HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: keithd@bigguy.timeplex.com (Keith Dickinson)
Subject: Re: IBM vs. world terminology (was: What does dd stand for?)
Organization: Ascom Timeplex Inc.
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 11:03:38 GMT

In article <1992Jul29.075500.16518@blaze.cs.jhu.edu> jelson@poincare.cs.jhu.edu (Jeremy Elson) writes:
>BTW- As far as I can remember (which isn't very far anyway ;-)), IBM
>has always called PC hard drives "fixed disks" but I noticed during
>OS/2v2.0 installation the message: "OS/2 is copying files to your
>hard drive."
>
>Anyone know what prompted the switch?

Proof posative that intelligent life has once again invaded IBM?  The last
time being the Dirty Dozen that built the PC.

L8r G8r
 Keith
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|The content of this message    | "He's a special effects man! His whole
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From: unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (tuu)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Today's Games Destined to be Classics
Keywords: Sigh
Date: 21 Jul 92 11:11:40 GMT
Organization: University of California; Santa Cruz
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucscb.ucsc.edu


In article <870@cybaswan.UUCP> iiitac@cybaswan.UUCP (Alan Cox) writes:
}Of the others the count was from Scott Adams who wrote a string of games as
}Adventure International (Adventureland, Pirate, Secret Mission etc..)

whew.. when not reading this newsgroup for so long, there's a lot of messages
to reply to.. (boy, I bet you're all thrilled!)

I didn't ever solve any of the Scott Adams games, but they were always 
exactly the same length on disk (87 DOS 3.3 blocks).. I would think that the
data from one game to another would vary in size.

One of my friends thinks it's funny that in one of the game you have to use
"unlight lamp" because of the verb-noun structure.

Infocom games' "intelligence" is/was so astounding compared to the Scott Adams
games.  (Back when I used to run the Q&A database for a company a few years 
ago, I'd explain the feature in which you can type in questions in somewhat
complex English instead of some arcane symbolic language as being like an
Infocom game. Q&A is one of my favorite programs ever actually.. and it's an
IBM PC program..)
-- 
/unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu   used ADB trackball WANTED          Apple II Forever!\
\Mail me:Get INFOCOM GAMES RERELEASED,ULT VI GS done,for UNIX GS&CHEAP CD info/
What the world needs now is another folk singer like I need a hole in my head.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: hallam@zeus02.desy.de (Phillip M. Hallam-Baker)
Subject: Re: Computer Relics (Was: 9 track data storage?)
Reply-To: hallam@zeus02.desy.de
Organization: DESY ZEUS Central Data Acquisition
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 21:42:35 GMT

In article <1992Jul23.052322.21011@unislc.uucp>, thayne@unislc.uucp
(Thayne Forbes) writes:

|>From article <1992Jul21.205524.20552@nap.amoco.com>, by
|>pgravel@nap.amoco.com (Philip L. Gravel):
|>> In article <83871@netnews.upenn.edu>, blewis@eniac.seas.upenn.edu
|>(Benn L. 
|>> Lewis) writes:
|>>  
|>>> 	Has anyone ever heard of a "9track tape" as data storage? 
|>> 
|>> On a related topic, did you hear that Paul McCartney was in another
|>band
|>> before "Wings"????    My, how time flies....
|>
|>Really?  What was it called?
|>
|>> Pretty soon we'll hear question like:
|>> 
|>>   Has anyone heard of a paper tape?
|>>    "    "      "    " a punch card?
|>>    "    "      "    " core memory?
|>> 
|>> Name your favorite artifact of a by-gone era....
|>
|>Lets make it more challenging.  Who still has any of these on a
|>system
|>running today.  How about any two?  Anybody want to go for three?  I
|>have 9-track and paper tape concurrently as late as 1982 (although I
|>will concede that this use was infrequent).  I have never used core
|>memory, but Sperry used to give away little PCBs containing about 1K
|>of memory to 'Visiting Dignitaries (tm)'.

We are using our 9 track drive at the moment to do a backup. The Exabyte
is a bit faster, but the 9 track is on maintenance contract.

Hell, I know someone who bought a new 9 track not too long ago, they
were selling their old ones and needed something to read exisitng
tapes.


Phill Hallam-Baker
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Wumpus source in C!
From: cwes1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (Clare West)
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 05:05:38 GMT
Organization: Dept of CompSci, U of Auckland

avg@rodan.UU.NET (Vadim Antonov) writes:
>eric@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond) writes:
>>/*
>> * wumpus.c --- a faithful translation of the classic "Hunt The Wumpus" game.
>> *
>>[the rest is deleted -- see original posting]
>
>Bad programming style. Gas! The following bug prevents it from working
>under SunOS and BSD/386 (and probably a dozen more systems).

Same bug comes up under Ultrix

-- 
Oh, why didn't I listen when they said "Never do a   |  cwes1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz 
 masters and try to have a life at the same time"?   |  clare west
                 BigSis to Chris, Eric and Kristiina
                    Official Welcomer of the RFA
From: kiki@bass.bu.edu (Keith Baccki)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Computer Relics (Was: 9 track data storage?)
Date: 22 Jul 92 19:22:07 GMT
Reply-To: kiki@bass.bu.edu (Keith Baccki)
Followup-To: alt.folklore.computers
Organization: Boston University

In article <1992Jul22.023736.47370@datamark.co.nz> tfarmer@datamark.co.nz (Thomas Farmer) writes:
>>Pretty soon we'll hear question like:
   .
   .
   .
>Has anyone heard of Unix?


	Yeah, isn't that a word processor?


	Just curious,

			Keith
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: dylan@ibmpcug.co.uk (Matthew Farwell)
Subject: Re: Non Unix-OS's
Organization: The IBM PC User Group, UK.
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 07:47:54 GMT

In article <9207291418.AA17748@thep.lu.se> magnus@THEP.LU.SE (Magnus Olsson) writes:
>Not too many years ago, there was a plethora of different operating systems;
>almost every manufacturer had at least one proprietary OS which ran only on
>their machines and nothing elase, and was incompatible with everything else.
>DEC even had several different OS's for each model of computer.
>
>Today, the scene is completely different. Apart from VMS VAXen and IBM
>mainframes, every computer bigger than a PC seems to be running Unix
>nowadays. 
>
>So, I wonder, how many non-Unix OS's are still being used on *new*
>multi-user hardware? Of course, there are a lot of old systems,
>running old OS's. And there are lots of microcomputer OS's, but let's
>exclude most of them by defining "OS", I mean multi-tasking, multi-user
>OS. 
>
>The term "non-Unix OS" is of course ambiguous, but I mean systems that
>are *radically* different from both BSD and System V. I'd like to bundle
>Unix-lookalikes such as Linux and OSF/1 with Unix, as well.

It is, as you say, ambiguous.  There are a few systems out there built
with Unix lookalikes built on top of a Microkernel (ie NeXt). What do
you define as an operating system?

Dylan.
-- 
It is no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase 'As
pretty as an Airport' appear -- Douglas Adams
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: agc@bmdhh298.bnr.ca (Alan Carter)
Subject: Re: Cathode ray memory
Organization: BNR-Europe-Limited, Maidenhead, England
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 11:04:28 GMT

In article <9207282234.AA23821@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, C491153@MIZZOU1.MISSOURI.EDU (John Schultz) writes:
|> Some people have mentioned using cathode ray tubes for memory.  Just how
|> was this trick accomplished?

I've played with one of these things. The CRT was divided into a 32 * 32 grid, 
giving 1024 positions. It was illuminated like a normal CRT, each position 
being light or dark. To the front of the CRT was bolted a photomultiplier, 
which scanned each position in sequence. The memory was provided by the 
persistance of the phosphor, the refresh by the signal from the 
photomultiplier being fed back to control the CRT. Addressing for 
read/write was accomplished by waiting for the right moment to 
copy/over-ride the photomultiplier feedback.

This technology provided 1024 bits of fast memory, a great improvement over the
previous technology, which cycled up to 100 pressure waves (or their absence)
down a brass cylinder filled with mercury.

         Alan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Maidenhead itself is too snobby to be pleasant. It is the haunt of the
   river swell and his overdressed female companion. It is the town of showy
   hotels, patronized chiefly by dudes and ballet girls. 

   Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome, 1889
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: dave@lynx.mn.org (David Messer)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: What does UNIX mean?
Date: 21 Jul 92 01:59:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: lynx.1992Jul21.015940.17871
Distribution: na
Organization: Lynx Data Systems

UNIX is a recursive acronym that means:  "UNIX is a trademark of AT&T"
:)
-- 
The aliens are watching!  They are   | David Messer       dave@lynx.mn.org -or-
waiting for sentient life to evolve. | Lynx Data Systems  ..!tcnet!lynxds!dave
From: dik@cwi.nl (Dik T. Winter)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Computer Relics (Was: 9 track data storage?)
Date: 24 Jul 92 01:01:08 GMT
Organization: CWI, Amsterdam

In article <1992Jul23.214235.15617@dscomsf.desy.de> hallam@zeus02.desy.de writes:
 > Hell, I know someone who bought a new 9 track not too long ago, they
 > were selling their old ones and needed something to read exisitng
 > tapes.
 > 
Why not?  On 9 track tape it is at least possible for the user to do
incremental backups.  I am still using them.  Now, it they come up
with a device where I can do 'tar r' which can hold more data, I
would switch immediately.  There is no substitute.
-- 
dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj  amsterdam, nederland
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn  amsterdam, nederland
dik@cwi.nl
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: jc@sci.kun.nl (Jan Christiaan van Winkel (ATC))
Subject: Re: What does dd stand for?
Organization: University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1992 12:11:36 GMT

In <1992Jul25.011759.7655@organpipe.uug.arizona.edu> dougw@zippy.as.arizona.edu (Doug Williams) writes:

>I am interested in the derivation of the name of the Unix command dd.  My
>local Unix guru said he always assumed it stood for "device to device," but
>could not substantiate this claim.  Any guesses??

I've allways understood that dd stands for Copy and Convert (i.e. CC),
but because cc was already taken (and no c++ available :-)), they
increased c to d, giving dd.

JC
--
___  __  ____________________________________________________________________
   |/  \   Jan Christiaan van Winkel                        jc@sci.kun.nl
   |       Alternative e-mail addresses: jc@oreo.atcmp.nl and jc@atcmp.nl
__/ \__/ ____________________________________________________________________
From: thad@public.BTR.COM (Thaddeus P. Floryan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: IBM vs. world terminology (was: What does dd stand for?)
Date: 29 Jul 92 09:40:07 GMT
Organization: BTR Public Access UNIX, Mountain View CA

In article <1992Jul27.071236.8036@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz> ecmtwhk@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz (Thomas Koenig) writes:
>
>Why is it that MVS terminology is so different from the rest of the
>world? Look at a few examples:
>
>file		dataset
>disk		DASD
>formatting	DASDi
>file handle	file (well, TSO also calls it that; usually it's ddname)
>core dump	abend
>booting		IPL
>directory	partitioned data set (well, sort of, anyway)
>
>...and so on... it's a small wonder that they call a program a program...

And let's add one more that really perplexed us when attempting to install
from scratch an IBM AIX box last year:

partition	minidisk


NONE of us had a clue what "minidisk" meant other than, perhaps, a 3.5"
floppy, so we accepted all the AIX defaults.  (And we've all been in the
computer industry for anywhere from 20-35 years, but apparently never on
IBM systems).

Too bad the system didn't run (not enough disk space to install all the
stuff we ordered), so back to IBM it went.  And now we have only Sun, SGI,
HP and DEC stuff; in retrospect, this is probably for the best. :-)

LATER, when I related this story to a friend of mine who works at Amdahl,
she informed me "oh, minidisk, everyone knows what that is."  Yeah, sure. :-)

Had we asked for a larger "minidisk" (we learned much later), all the stuff
WOULD have fit on the HD.  Such is life.  :-)

Thad Floryan [ thad@btr.com (OR) {decwrl, mips, fernwood}!btr!thad ]
From: dik@cwi.nl (Dik T. Winter)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: You know you've been hacking too long...
Keywords: workstation, hacking, risks
Date: 23 Jul 92 21:26:22 GMT
Organization: CWI, Amsterdam

In article <1992Jul23.152757.1506@uniwa.uwa.edu.au> gudjm@uniwa.uwa.edu.au (D John McKenna) writes:
 > Just out of curiosity... out of all of you hackers who wear a digital
 > watch, how many have it in 24 hour mode?
 > 
I have, as would most (all?) people in Europe, unless they have a watch
that refuses to be set in 24 hour mode.  No funny AM/PM doings overhere.
BTW, today my watch is 8.5 minutes fast, last week it was only 7.5 minutes.
-- 
dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj  amsterdam, nederland
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn  amsterdam, nederland
dik@cwi.nl
From: smckinty@sunicnc.France.Sun.COM (Steve McKinty - Sun ICNC)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: 9 track data storage???????????????READ/NEW/FOLLOWUP
Date: 23 Jul 1992 13:48:32 GMT
Organization: SunConnect
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: hardy.france.sun.com

In article <6682204@zl2tnm.gen.nz>, don@zl2tnm.gen.nz (Don Stokes) writes:

> Those drives, with their vaccuum tubes and wirewrap backplanes really seemed
> like living breathing things.  The 3.5" form factor DAT drive on the 3100 
> just isn't the same....

True, but at least you don't get the problem with DAT tapes that I once
had with 9tr: a whole boxful wound the wrong way on the reels! It seemed so
unlikely that it took a while to convince myself that that really was
the problem. 

Took even longer to convince the local DEC office on the phone!

Steve
From: magnus@THEP.LU.SE (Magnus Olsson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Non Unix-OS's
Date: 30 Jul 92 12:13:06 GMT
Organization: Theoretical Physics, Lund University, Sweden

In article <1992Jul30.074754.10471@ibmpcug.co.uk> dylan@ibmpcug.co.uk writes:
>In article <9207291418.AA17748@thep.lu.se> magnus@THEP.LU.SE (Magnus Olsson) writes:
>>The term "non-Unix OS" is of course ambiguous, but I mean systems that
>>are *radically* different from both BSD and System V. I'd like to bundle
>>Unix-lookalikes such as Linux and OSF/1 with Unix, as well.
>
>It is, as you say, ambiguous.  There are a few systems out there built
>with Unix lookalikes built on top of a Microkernel (ie NeXt). 

Yes, I thought of mentioning Mach (on whih the NeXT OS is built).
However, to the *user*, Mach looks very much as BSD Unix, so I suppose
I'd bundle that with Unix, as well.

>What do you define as an operating system?

OK, let's rephrase the question as:

Are there any multiuser, multitasking, timesharing systems (this
excludes CP/M, OS/2, AmigaDOS and most other microcomputer OS's) that
are *radically* different from Unix *to the typical user* (i.e., so
that a user can't just get along with his/her knowledge of Unix, but
has to re-learn more or less from scratch) that are still being sold,
developed and supported on new hardware today? VMS is one example, of
course. 



BTW, speaking of microkernels, could someone please tell me what a
microkernel really is? I know what a kernel is, and I've heard
"microkernel" used as a buzz-word in various places, but I still don't
know what it is...

-- 
Magnus Olsson                   | \e+      /_
Dept. of Theoretical Physics    |  \  Z   / q
University of Lund, Sweden      |   >----<           
Internet: magnus@thep.lu.se     |  /      \===== g
Bitnet: THEPMO@SELDC52          | /e-      \q
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris)
Subject: Re: 9 track data storage???????????????
Organization: The MITRE Corporation
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 14:40:30 GMT

lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:

  [the subject is 9-track industry-standard tape drives]

>                                                               Rumor
>has it that 6250 happened because 6400 was too fast for IBM's then
>best 370-class model, so they slowed it down.

You're confusing tape density with data transmission rate.  Density (6250
fci in this case) represents the number of bytes which can be stored in one
linear unit (inch) of tape.  Transmission speed (which is the limiting
factor in the channel or CPU architecture) is density times tape speed.
You can have an incredibly dense recording density combined with an
incredibly slow transport speed.

The most common tape speeds are 75, 150, and 200 inches/second for
mainframe drives.  (I'm talking about current, 9-track 1/2" drives
here, used on middle-sized and larger systems.  Older units, and
boxes on small systems, are slower (I've worked with 15 ips drives...ugh)
and there are surely other speeds available if  you want them.)

>There is also something about the lower-speed formatting that can get confused
>if you write even-parity data zeroes, because it can't tell the data's there.
>Perhaps someone can point out which formats are prone to this, because I think
>some don't have the problem.

That's one of the reasons that when you wrote binary data on a 7-track
drive you were expected to use odd parity.  (9-track drives are always
odd parity; on 7-track drives you had a choice.)  With NRZI encoding
this means that each character position on the tape includes at least 
one flux change which can be used to recover the sync clock.

>Many DEC systems support using all nine bits as data, since they are 18 or
>36 bits wide.

Is this true for industry-standard 9-track tape?  I can't say it isn't
since DEC occasionally designed products even more odd than usual, but
I never heard of it.

On a DECsystem-10 I used to be acquainted with we had a pair of 9-track 
tape drives which were used to exchange data with the IBM systems.  I don't
recall the DEC nomenclature for them (TU40??), but in real life they were
STC tape drives for an IBM system (including both the drives and the
associated control units -- functionally identical to IBM 3420's).  A
special DEC interface (DX10??) converted Massbus signals into an IBM
selector channel which was then connected to the STC controller.

Joe Morris
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: 9999cs02@uhdvx3 (Tina Marie!)
Subject: Re: And what about this DogCow business ? ( moof! )
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41A   
Organization: University of Houston-Downtown
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 14:01:00 GMT

(Dazed N. Confused) writes...
>willem@pub2.bu.edu (Willem van der Oord) writes:
> 
>> Also, in some versions of the MacOS (less than 7, 6.0.7?) if you hold
>> down the option key while selecting About the Finder, you will see
>> the original picture of mountains that came with Finder 1.0.  If you
>> wait long enough Clarus will appear and say "Moof!" every once in a
>> while.
> 
>     So that's why everything in the Mac world is so bloated.  So
>many damned easter eggs.
> 

Actually, the message is in 7.0 and up....

Tina Marie
Aspiring Mac Wizard
From: grog@adagio.UUCP (Greg Lehey)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: ibm displaywriter iii
Date: 23 Jul 92 08:26:23 GMT
Distribution: alt
Organization: LEMIS, Schellnhausen 2, W-6324 Feldatal, Germany

In article <1992Jul21.1223.15856@dosgate> "curtis repen" <curtis.repen@canrem.com> writes:
>  ObFolklore:
>    *Why* was current loop originally used,

Current loop was originally used to drive the solenoids in a steam
titty - the start bit started the thing rotating, the following data
bits drove the character selection mechanism, and the stop bits (both
of them) gave the thing time to stop. The original current loop I
remember had 60 mA; presumably 20 mA became practical when low-power
solenoids were introduced (what did the ASR-33 have?).

> and why has it since been so
>  completely replaced by voltage-level 232 ???

Good question. I used to work for Tandem Computers, and they *still*
use current loop in preference to RS-232 (though they have found out
about Ethernet). The reason is the demonstrably higher resistance to
interference. RS-232 has a relatively high impedance, and so is
susceptible to inductive interference.

I suspect that the main reason was the lower power requirement and the
ease of detection. Modern CL circuits tend to use optoelectronics for
isolation, and these *used* to be more expensive (probably still are,
if $0.05 is going to make a difference to your total budget).


-- 
Greg Lehey                       | Tel: +49-6637-1488              
LEMIS                            | Fax: +49-6637-1489
Schellnhausen 2, W-6324 Feldatal, Germany
*** NOTE ***: Headers are mangled - reply to grog%lemis@Germany.EU.net
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: Josef Moellers <mollers.pad@sni.de>
Subject: Re: What does UNIX mean?
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 13:57:50 GMT
Organization: Siemens Nixdorf Info.Sys. AG, Paderborn, Germany

In <jimf.711984648@centerline.com> jimf@centerline.com (Jim Frost) writes:

>pt@geovision.gvc.com (Paul Tomblin) writes:
>>vargish@sura.net (Nick Vargish) writes:
>>>Jerry Pournelle writes a column for a Swedish regional newspaper?
>>I still read his columns, but I'm no longer sure why...

>I gave up on them a long time ago.  I can get the same drivel by
>walking into any retail computer store and talking to their techie,
>except the techie usually knows something about what he's talking
>about.

>When he tries Pournelle is a pretty good writer, but he's usually a
>confused and underinformed user.  It's amazing to me that Byte still
>gives him that much magazine space.

They have to fill up the blanks between the ads anyhow!

-- 
| Josef Moellers		| c/o Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG  |
|  USA: mollers.pad@sni-usa.com	| Abt. STO-XS 113	   | Riemekestrasse   |
| !USA: mollers.pad@sni.de	| Phone: (+49) 5251 835124 | D-4790 Paderborn |
From: samw@bucket.rain.com (Sam Warden)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Kernighen's "Why Pascal is not my favorite language"
Date: 27 Jul 92 21:07:33 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Rick's Home-Grown Un*x

mzraly@ra.cs.umb.edu (Michael S. Zraly) writes:

>>"Why Pascal is Not My Favorite Language".  

>Its at research.att.com, in directory netlib/research/cstr, in file 100.Z
>(PostScript format).

I recently went to the considerable trouble of producing a (hopefully
accurate) ASCII version by a combination of filtering and hand-editing.
It seems that PostScript (d**n, I hate MacBabble and all its kin)
builds a separate stack of snippets for each font change, and sundry
weirdness.  So, does anybody have a _real_ PS-to-ASCII utility?
(Sorry about the off-folklore topic.)

Has anything changed in the last 10 years to materially change the
situation as described in WPINMFPL?  (I'm not that fond of Pascal
either.)  8-)

-- 
 
samw@bucket.rain.com (Sam Warden) -- and not a mere Device.
 
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers