According to the Unix room fortunes file, the actual quote is SCCS: the source-code motel -- your code checks in but it never checks out. Ken Thompson On Sat, Dec 14, 2024 at 3:52 AM Marc Rochkind wrote: > IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering has asked me to write a > retrospective on the influence of SCCS over the last 50 years, as my SCCS > paper was published in 1975. They consider it one of the most influential > papers from TSE's first decade. > > There's a funny quote from Ken Thompson that circulates from time-to-time: > > "SCCS, the source motel! Programs check in and never check out!" > > But nobody seems to know what it means exactly. As part of my research, I > asked Ken what the quote meant, sunce I wanted to include it. He explained > that it refers to SCCS storing binary data in its repository file, > preventing UNIX text tools from operating on the file. > > Of course, this is only one of SCCS's many weaknesses. If you have > anything funny about any of the others, post it here. I already have all > the boring usual stuff (e.g., long-term locks, file-oriented, no merging). > > Marc Rochkind > mrochkind.com > > > > >