From: rochkind@basepath.com (Marc Rochkind)
Subject: [TUHS] Scan of "Edition 0" manual
Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2015 11:57:05 -0700 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <CAOkr1zW5HN9Lroqeu4ymJPzodEXC+0Z+0+Ef7FJ-J4QarHyX9Q@mail.gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <201512081820.tB8IKCLQ144717@tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU>
Nelson--
Well, maybe CP/M and MS-DOS were less powerful, but you're forgetting that
they had the benefit of 10 years or so of additional evolution. ;-)
--Marc
On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 11:20 AM, Doug McIlroy <doug at cs.dartmouth.edu> wrote:
> > It might not be so much a set of macros as just using a
> > subset of raw groff.
>
> Yes, there were no macros back then. If you format the
> document using raw groff, the odds are that you will be
> speaking the same roff that Dennis did.
>
> > Doug having been there, might know/remember the actually lineage.
>
> Aside from some fuzziness about who wrote what and in what
> language, here's what happened:
>
> To port Jerry Saltzer's Runoff (presumably written in MAD)
> to Multics, either Dennis or Bob Morris or both together
> reimplemented it (presumably in PL/I). To coexist with
> Saltzer's version on CTSS, the new program needed a
> distinct name, hence roff.
>
> The early Multics PL/I compiler was far from a production
> tool. Justifiably, the Bell Labs comp center didn't
> support it. To get roff into general use at the Labs,
> I undertook yet another implementation in BCPL. I added
> functionality (number registers, three-part headings, etc)
> and kept the new name. Molly Wagner added hyphenation.
> Eventually, I added macros that were usable either as
> commands or (when parameterless) embedded in text.
>
> Almost as soon as Unix was up on the PDP-11 one of Ken, Dennis
> or Ossanna reimplemented a pre-macro version of roff (presumably
> in assembler or B). I'm quite sure roff never ran on the PDP-7.
>
> Ossana had a grander plan and undertook nroff. When he learned
> of the availability of the Graphic Systems CAT phototypesetter,
> he promptly generalized nroff to handle it. Joe replaced the
> CAT's paper tape reader with a direct wire to the computer.
> It all worked swimmingly--nothing like the travails when the
> CAT was replaced by the more capable Merganthaler Linotron.
>
> An interesting question of priority is whether nroff or
> BCPL roff was first to have a macro capability. Though
> I don't remember for sure, the fact that BCPL roff unified
> registers, macros, strings and diversions suggests that
> I abstracted from nroff facilities.
>
> Doug
> _______________________________________________
> TUHS mailing list
> TUHS at minnie.tuhs.org
> https://minnie.tuhs.org/mailman/listinfo/tuhs
>
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next prev parent reply other threads:[~2015-12-08 18:57 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 24+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2015-12-08 18:20 Doug McIlroy
2015-12-08 18:47 ` Charles Anthony
2015-12-08 18:57 ` Marc Rochkind [this message]
2015-12-08 19:16 ` John Cowan
-- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
2016-01-27 3:01 Doug McIlroy
[not found] <mailman.3.1448845201.3730.tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org>
[not found] ` <353E052F-541F-47C1-9ACF-587EB9EC6088@mcjones.org>
2015-11-30 9:06 ` Warren Toomey
2015-12-01 21:48 ` Random832
2015-12-01 22:29 ` Dave Horsfall
2015-12-02 0:44 ` Random832
2015-12-02 17:21 ` shawn wilson
2015-12-02 18:32 ` Random832
2015-11-29 17:51 Nelson H. F. Beebe
2015-11-29 20:00 ` Warren Toomey
2015-11-24 1:55 [TUHS] " Doug McIlroy
2015-11-28 23:24 ` [TUHS] Scan of " Warren Toomey
2015-11-29 2:01 ` Warren Toomey
2015-11-29 14:31 ` Clem cole
2015-11-29 20:21 ` Christian Neukirchen
2015-11-29 20:40 ` Nelson H. F. Beebe
2015-11-29 21:45 ` arnold
2015-11-30 4:02 ` John Cowan
2015-11-30 4:26 ` Dave Horsfall
2015-12-26 14:09 ` Warren Toomey
2016-01-26 23:15 ` Warren Toomey
2016-01-26 23:46 ` Warren Toomey
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