From: Robert Raschke <rtrlists@googlemail.com>
To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@9fans.net>
Subject: Re: [9fans] Why does Plan 9 use “snarf” instead of “copy”?
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2016 12:38:53 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <CAH+xwdDPiEfMqUcA9QerJXfD3hz1xscPdVVeBq0BRMWzH=dTxg@mail.gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <CAH+xwdA8kKRebYPNVZGHpYLBQ3tZSnVtbNZ4JsQo2cxwYS0_bA@mail.gmail.com>
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Hi Mateusz,
as far as I remember, it was originally called "xerox". But that is
trademarked. No idea where the word "snarf" comes from.
Cheers,
Robby
On 12 Sep 2016 12:19, "Mateusz Piotrowski" <mpp302@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello,
I've discovered Plan 9 recently and became curious about some
design decisions.
Why there is a snarf buffer and not a copy buffer?
As it might seem to be a dull question, it is not. I am very
interested in the reason behind this decision. I've browsed
numerous websites (including cat-v.org and the 9fans archives)
but I wasn't able to find anything about it.
I decided to ask this question [1] on Unix & Linux StackExchange
but its community doesn't seem to know the answer.
My guess is that "copying" is not as an atomic action.
"Copying" is in fact:
- obtaining the content you want to copy (_snarfing_)
- inserting the content where you want it to be (_pasting_)
Hence the use of snarf instead of copy.
Am I right? Is there a document / book / article where
it is explained?
Cheers!
Mateusz Piotrowski
[1]: http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/308943/why-does-
plan-9-use-snarf-instead-of-copy
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next prev parent reply other threads:[~2016-09-12 10:38 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 8+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2016-09-12 10:19 Mateusz Piotrowski
[not found] ` <CAH+xwdCqV8fA6diS6Q4hOgMoo0daB+HLgoi_Ui=ETE+iPEDrFQ@mail.gmail.com>
[not found] ` <CAH+xwdA8kKRebYPNVZGHpYLBQ3tZSnVtbNZ4JsQo2cxwYS0_bA@mail.gmail.com>
2016-09-12 10:38 ` Robert Raschke [this message]
2016-09-12 10:44 ` Alexander Kapshuk
2016-09-12 12:27 ` Rob Pike
2016-09-12 12:37 ` Mateusz Piotrowski
2016-09-13 2:57 ` Winston Kodogo
2016-09-13 4:25 ` Jules Merit
2016-09-12 17:20 ` Skip Tavakkolian
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