Doug McIlroy scripsit:

> So "always" is ever since it became available. 

Yes, I meant that the meaning of | was never anything but "or" until it
came to be used as "pipe" (not only in shells but also in Perl and other
places), not that the representation of "or" has never been anything
but |.

> Was PL/I the first to adopt it?

I can't imagine anyone would do so until it was available.  The Algol
60 committee is a special case, with its distinction between publication
language, reference language, and implementation language.  The reference
language used ∨ (hence the proposed \/ convention); the existing
implementations use either "or" as a reserved word or else |.

-- 
John Cowan          http://www.ccil.org/~cowan        cowan at ccil.org
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths
led. And through the air. I am he that walks unseen.  I am the clue-finder,
the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number.  --Bilbo