[TUHS] Re: pseudo tty history

[Larry McVoy <lm@mcvoy.com>]

On Sat, Aug 16, 2025 at 06:13:33PM -0700, Al Kossow wrote:
> On 8/16/25 6:05 PM, Larry McVoy wrote:
> >On Sat, Aug 16, 2025 at 08:21:30PM -0400, Aron Insinga wrote:
> >>The PDP-6 had a sign on it that said something like "This machine
> >>is old and flaky so don't touch it unless you know what you are doing."
> >
> >Wasn't there a PDP-<something> at MIT, I think, that had a switch labeled
> >"magic" and "more magic" that had wires that went nowhere but it only
> >worked when set to "more magic"?  I'm sure I have the details wrong but
> >I have a pretty strong memory of that.  Anyone able to confirm?
> >
> 
> https://github.com/PDP-10/its/issues/1232
> 
> the switch still exists

Nice to know I didn't make all that story up in my boomer brain.  That story
is exactly as I remember it except for this

    I still have that switch in my basement. Maybe I'm silly, but I
    usually keep it set on "more magic".

I hadn't heard that part.

Thanks for the memories, it's part of the history.

--lm