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=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [45.79.103.53]) by inbox.vuxu.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id f9baeddf for ; Sun, 12 Jan 2020 13:44:14 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 262F593D07; Sun, 12 Jan 2020 23:44:13 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7451D93D85; Sun, 12 Jan 2020 23:43:40 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 07A9D93D85; Sun, 12 Jan 2020 23:43:38 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail.cs.dartmouth.edu (mail.cs.dartmouth.edu [129.170.212.100]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 7558F93D07 for ; Sun, 12 Jan 2020 23:43:37 +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 00CDhYJV2295487 (version=TLSv1.3 cipher=TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 bits=256 verify=NO) for ; Sun, 12 Jan 2020 08:43:34 -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 00CDhYmh132104 for ; Sun, 12 Jan 2020 08:43:34 -0500 Received: (from doug@localhost) by tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU (8.15.2/8.15.2/Submit) id 00CDhYHK132101 for tuhs@tuhs.org; Sun, 12 Jan 2020 08:43:34 -0500 From: Doug McIlroy Message-Id: <202001121343.00CDhYHK132101@tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU> Date: Sun, 12 Jan 2020 08:43:34 -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: Re: [TUHS] Tech Sq elevator (Was: screen editors) X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26 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" Mention of elevators at Tech Square reminds me of visiting there to see the Lisp machine. I was struck by cultural differences. At the time we were using Jerqs, where multiple windows ran like multiple time-sharing sessions. To me that behavior was a no-brainer. Surprisingly, Lisp-machine windows didn't work that way; only the user-selected active window got processor time. The biggest difference was emacs, which no one used at Bell Labs. Emacs, of course was native to the Lisp machine and provided a powerful and smoothly extensible environment. For example, its reflective ability made it easy to display a list of its commands. "Call elevator" stood out amng mundane programmering actions like cut, paste and run. After scrolling through the command list, I wondered how long it was and asked to have it counted. Easy, I thought, just pass it to a wc-like program. But "just pass it" and "wc-like" were not givens as they are in Unix culture. It took several minutes for the gurus to do it--without leaving emacs, if I remember right. Doug