From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.1 (2015-04-28) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.1 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [45.79.103.53]) by inbox.vuxu.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id c47405a8 for ; Sat, 8 Sep 2018 12:02:57 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 90087A1E25; Sat, 8 Sep 2018 22:02:55 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D5D21A1A2A; Sat, 8 Sep 2018 22:02:31 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 34261A1A2A; Sat, 8 Sep 2018 22:02:29 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail.cs.Dartmouth.EDU (mail.cs.dartmouth.edu [129.170.212.100]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 94759A1A20 for ; Sat, 8 Sep 2018 22:02:28 +1000 (AEST) Received: from tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU (tahoe.cs.dartmouth.edu [129.170.212.20]) by mail.cs.Dartmouth.EDU (8.15.2/8.15.2) with ESMTPS id w88C2PtK001829 (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 bits=256 verify=NO) for ; Sat, 8 Sep 2018 08:02:25 -0400 Received: from tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]) by tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU (8.15.2/8.14.3) with ESMTP id w88C2P0Q038137 for ; Sat, 8 Sep 2018 08:02:25 -0400 Received: (from doug@localhost) by tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU (8.15.2/8.15.2/Submit) id w88C2OCj038136 for tuhs@tuhs.org; Sat, 8 Sep 2018 08:02:24 -0400 From: Doug McIlroy Message-Id: <201809081202.w88C2OCj038136@tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU> Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2018 08:02:24 -0400 To: tuhs@tuhs.org User-Agent: Heirloom mailx 12.5 7/5/10 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: [TUHS] [TUHS} cat -v and other complaints X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.20 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" > you can't tell me > this system was designed with the idea of running it using text terminal > and no mouse. There is also no cursor addressing, no curses. The well named Curses and the associated vi were an ugly outgrowth of glass screens--an outgrowth many of us in the Unix lab never adopted. That branch of evolution was unrelated to the Blit branch that essentially preserved the old TTY interface, except that one could have multiple terminals on screen and a mouse was available to give mechanical help for manual cut/paste/edit activities. Plan 9 terminal-handling smoothly continued that evolutionary branch. Mouse support could have been used to take off in a radical direction, but it wasn't. To my mind, the primary innovation in Plan 9 was not terminal support, nor everything-is-a-file. Rather it was an advance in what Vyssotsky called "distributable computing", where components can collaborate in a uniform way, no matter where they are. The key was the 9P protocol that unpacked the notion of file type--a unifying principle that brought simplicity and generality to a diversity of particulars.