From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [45.79.103.53]) by inbox.vuxu.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id ddffc966 for ; Mon, 3 Dec 2018 16:31:02 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 752DBA2095; Tue, 4 Dec 2018 02:31:01 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BD001A1CE4; Tue, 4 Dec 2018 02:30:51 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 9CD60A1CE4; Tue, 4 Dec 2018 02:30:50 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail.cs.Dartmouth.EDU (mail.cs.dartmouth.edu [129.170.212.100]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 2674C94A37 for ; Tue, 4 Dec 2018 02:30:50 +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 wB3GUmLa030183 (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 bits=256 verify=NO) for ; Mon, 3 Dec 2018 11:30:48 -0500 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 wB3GUmTj022193 for ; Mon, 3 Dec 2018 11:30:48 -0500 Received: (from doug@localhost) by tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU (8.15.2/8.15.2/Submit) id wB3GUmIj022190 for tuhs@tuhs.org; Mon, 3 Dec 2018 11:30:48 -0500 From: Doug McIlroy Message-Id: <201812031630.wB3GUmIj022190@tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU> Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2018 11:30:48 -0500 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: [TUHS] The (un)importance of roff 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" Thhis is a cross-posting from the groff mailing list, where it was speculated that without roff there might be no Unix. Old hands will be familiar with the story. > Without roff, Unix might well have disappeared. The patent department and the AT&T president's office are the only in-house examples I know where Unix was adopted because of *roff. The important adoptions, which led Berk Tague to found a separate Unix Support Group, were mainstream telephone applications and PWB, a Unix-based IDE. The first telephone application happened in the field. An engineer in Charlotte, NC, heard of this cheap easily programmed system and proposed to use it to automate the scheduling and dispatch of maintenance on the floor of a wire center. Ken visited to help get them started. The first Bell Labs telephone application was automating the analysis of central-office trouble reports. These had been voluminous stacks of punched cards that reported every anomaly detected in huge electromechanical switches. The Unix application captured the data on line and identfied systematic failures in real time. The patent adoption was a direct result of Joe Ossanna's salesmaship. Other early adopters were self-motivated, but the generous support lent by Ken, Joe, and others was certainly a tipping force that helped turn isolated events into a self-sustaining movement. Doug