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 fa2ebf1e for ; Thu, 6 Feb 2020 03:01:19 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 449679CC08; Thu, 6 Feb 2020 13:01:18 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8E3669CB86; Thu, 6 Feb 2020 13:00:48 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 430609CB86; Thu, 6 Feb 2020 13:00:45 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mcvoy.com (mcvoy.com [192.169.23.250]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 7AAE99CB15 for ; Thu, 6 Feb 2020 13:00:44 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mcvoy.com (Postfix, from userid 3546) id 3028E35E104; Wed, 5 Feb 2020 19:00:44 -0800 (PST) Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2020 19:00:44 -0800 From: Larry McVoy To: Dan Cross Message-ID: <20200206030044.GD21264@mcvoy.com> References: <1ippPk-8PE-00@marmaro.de> <1iqMuL-1zK-00@marmaro.de> <20200204094018.661e76717f7f475e6cb53e75@sjmulder.nl> <20200204201453.ebeaabon26vbgfle@localhost.localdomain> <202002050845.0158jDOu024559@freefriends.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.24 (2015-08-30) Subject: Re: [TUHS] pronouncing *nix formulas (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: , Cc: The Eunuchs Hysterical Society Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" That's awesome. And finger, back in the days of innocence before scammers and viruses and black hat hackers, was super useful. I hacked my finger server to do all sorts of stuff, it was sort of ftp/ps/who and who knows what else in one. I miss the days when finger was a thing. Perhaps poorly named (perhaps not), whatever, it was simpler time. On Wed, Feb 05, 2020 at 09:43:33PM -0500, Dan Cross wrote: > On Wed, Feb 5, 2020 at 5:23 PM Ed Carp wrote: > > > Sex the UNIX way > > [...] > > # finger > > [...] > > > > Perhaps I've sent this story to TUHS before, but I can't resist. "finger: > the most inappropriately named command in computerdom" (no, that's not a > challenge...). > > When I was in high school I was stealing, er, I mean, borrowing computer > time from the local university. It wasn't quite as criminal as I make it > sound; I was decently well known around campus, folks tolerated my presence > admirably and as informal payment for the computer time, I did a lot of > unpaid sysadmin work. > > Anyway, this was the early 90s and the university was starting to give > email accounts to pretty much everyone. What this meant was that there was > a server somewhere running sendmail that accepted incoming mail, and a POP3 > server that you could connect to to download that mail. There were > self-service computer labs around campus connected to the university > network, and the `finger` service on the main campus machine was backed by > a database that responded to a crude, limited query syntax. Notably, you > could finger your own first and last name (in quotes) and get some data > about your account, including your login name (most of which were of the > form abc123 because ... university bureaucracy). However, the university > wasn't all that great about telling people any of this stuff...word had > gotten out that everyone had an email account, but not how to go about > getting your login information, etc. They certainly never mentioned the > "finger" command. > > Of course, among the computer types, using 'finger' was par for the course. > "Hey, you going to be online later?" "Yeah, just finger me over at the math > department." Etc. > > One day I was hanging around near the helpdesk when a young woman, a > graduate student, came in to ask about her account details. The student on > duty at the time, in a very helpful, cheerful voice said, "oh, that's easy! > Just finger yourself!" (Oh context, you are everything...). > > Jaws dropped. Stunned silence ensued. The student working the helpdesk, > suddenly looking approximately like he might die, managed to awkwardly > stammer out something about "the the the finger command" and "I mean, uh, > I'm not saying that YOU should, like, you know... I mean, I don't mean > THAT...and, uh...I'm just making it worse, aren't I? Here, this will all > make so much more sense if I just show you what I mean. On the computer! I > mean...just let me type this thing...er, what's your name?" > > The graduate student left a few minutes later with her login details. So > far as I know, no one got fired. In the end I think everyone had a good > laugh, grad student included. > > - Dan C. > > On 2/5/20, Rob Pike wrote: > > > Frodo (Ted Kowalski) told me it was originally spelled, and pronounced, > > > fuck, for good reason, but he soon realized it was going to be used by > > > others and changed one letter. It was just letters after that. > > > > > > -rob > > > > > > > > > On Thu, Feb 6, 2020 at 1:34 AM Clem cole wrote: > > > > > >> FWIW. When it was written, Ted and I used pronounced it as ???fisk??? > > (rhymes > > >> with ???disk???), but F. S. C. K. was always acceptable to my ears. I admit > > >> I > > >> smiled one time when I heard some one call it ???f-sick??? but that was not > > >> considered the proper pronunciation. > > >> > > >> Sent from my PDP-7 Running UNIX V0 expect things to be almost but not > > >> quite. > > >> > > >> > On Feb 5, 2020, at 3:45 AM, arnold@skeeve.com wrote: > > >> > > > >> > "G. Branden Robinson" wrote: > > >> > > > >> >> At 2020-02-04T09:40:18+0100, Sijmen J. Mulder wrote: > > >> >>> markus schnalke wrote: > > >> >>>> Wikipedia writes that `ed' would be pronounced ``ee-dee'' (like > > >> >>>> ``vee-eye''), is that what you english speakers do? > > >> >> > > >> >> Certainly not. When one sees a command name that duplicates a > > >> >> frequently-used diminituve of a common name, the brain is going to > > >> >> select that preferentially. > > >> > > > >> > ISTR thinking of it and calling it e-d, along with r-m, l-n, m-v and > > >> > the other two-letter commands. > > >> > > > >> >> (And did people really say "dee-eye-tee-roff" for "ditroff"?) > > >> > > > >> > I did ... Although it's "groff" and not "g-roff". :-) > > >> > > > >> > FWIW, > > >> > > > >> > Arnold > > >> > > > > > -- --- Larry McVoy lm at mcvoy.com http://www.mcvoy.com/lm