From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu
From: "Thomas Bushnell, BSG" <tb+usenet@becket.net>
Message-ID: <87wuypoi6t.fsf@becket.becket.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
References: <E16Ocdq-00057w-00@minster.cs.york.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: [9fans] `Grid Computing' - reinventing the Plan 9 wheel?
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 09:48:37 +0000
Topicbox-Message-UUID: 3d802734-eaca-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025

john@cs.york.ac.uk (John Murdie) writes:

> (Incidentally, I find myself wondering whether the columnist knows the
> derivation of the technical term ``modem'' - see the 6th paragraph of
> his article. My major point is that I wonder whether either the
> columnist or the people of the project he describes have heard of Plan
> 9.)

Um, Ward Christensen did in fact which xmodem, which was called
"modem.asm" originally--that is, a "program called modem" in the words
of the column.  The columnist might well not know
"modulator/demodulator", but Christensen did actually write the
described program, which was a key step in the development of the BBS
culture.

So the columnist does seem to be a bit ignorant of True History, but
still, didn't get wrong the basic facts that he relates.

Thomas