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 84da4d6a for ; Wed, 15 Jan 2020 04:56:03 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id BB3399BFE2; Wed, 15 Jan 2020 14:56:02 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5E35F9B898; Wed, 15 Jan 2020 14:55:34 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 4844C9B898; Wed, 15 Jan 2020 14:55:33 +1000 (AEST) Received: from cuzuco.com (v.cuzuco.com [166.84.7.17]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8F8B093D06 for ; Wed, 15 Jan 2020 14:55:32 +1000 (AEST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by cuzuco.com (8.14.9/8.13.3) with SMTP id 00F4sF9H013965; Tue, 14 Jan 2020 23:54:25 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2020 23:54:15 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <202001150454.00F4sF9H013965@cuzuco.com> From: Brian Walden To: Subject: Re: [TUHS] A portrait of cut(1) 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" Random832 writes: >markus schnalke writes: >> [2015-11-09 08:58] Doug McIlroy >>> things like "cut" and "paste", whose exact provenance >>> I can't recall. >> >> Thanks for reminding me that I wanted to share my portrait of >> cut(1) with you. (I sent some questions to this list, a few >> months ago, remember?) Now, here it is: >> >> http://marmaro.de/docs/freiesmagazin/cut/cut.en.pdf > >Did you happen to find out what GWRL stands for, in the the comments at >the top of early versions of cut.c and paste.c? > >/* cut : cut and paste columns of a table (projection of a relation) (GWRL) */ >/* Release 1.5; handles single backspaces as produced by nroff */ >/* paste: concatenate corresponding lines of each file in parallel. Release 1.4 (GWRL) */ >/* (-s option: serial concatenation like old (127's) paste command */ > >For that matter, what's the "old (127's) paste command" it refers to? I know this thread is almost 5 years old, I came across it searching for something else But as no one could answer these questions back then, I can. GWRL stands for Gottfried W. R. Luderer, the author of cut(1) and paste(1), probably around 1978. Those came either from PWB or USG, as he worked with, or for, Berkley Tague. Thus they made their way into AT&T commercial UNIX, first into System III and the into System V, and that's why they are missing from early BSD releases as they didn't get into Research UNIX until the 8th Edition. Also "127" was the internal department number for the Computer Science Research group at Bell Labs where UNIX originated Dr. Luderer co-authored this paper in the orginal 1978 BSTJ on UNIX -- https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/Papers/BSTJ/bstj57-6-2201.pdf I knew Dr. Luderer and he was even kind enough to arrange for me stay with his relatives for a few days in Braunschweig, West Germany (correct county name for the time) on my first trip to Europe many decades ago. But haven't had contact nor even thought of him forever until I saw his initials. I also briefly worked for Berk when he was the department head for 45263 in Whippany Bell Labs before moving to Murray Hill. And doing a quick search for him, it looks like he wrote and autobiograhy, which I am now going to have to purchase http://www.lulu.com/shop/gottfried-luderer/go-west-young-german/paperback/product-23385772.html?ppn=1 -Brian