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 84f92941 for ; Mon, 28 Oct 2019 15:09:19 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 95C4F9B907; Tue, 29 Oct 2019 01:09:17 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4A06193D48; Tue, 29 Oct 2019 01:08:55 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 105DB93D48; Tue, 29 Oct 2019 01:08:53 +1000 (AEST) Received: from frieza.hoshinet.org (ks3374089.kimsufi.com [37.187.103.66]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4026393D1B for ; Tue, 29 Oct 2019 01:08:46 +1000 (AEST) Received: by frieza.hoshinet.org (Postfix, from userid 1005) id 1C3ED1C8C7B4; Mon, 28 Oct 2019 11:08:45 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by frieza.hoshinet.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1412E1C8C79B; Mon, 28 Oct 2019 11:08:45 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2019 11:08:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Steve Nickolas X-X-Sender: nicci@frieza.hoshinet.org To: =?ISO-8859-15?Q?Michael_Kj=F6rling?= In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: <201910272031.x9RKVSem124842@tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU> <51f2d838-d097-a93f-b44d-9c670d206d2b@tnetconsulting.net> User-Agent: Alpine 2.02 (BSF 1266 2009-07-14) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: MULTIPART/MIXED; BOUNDARY="2115017584-237030875-1572275325=:77349" Subject: Re: [TUHS] UNIX Backslash History 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: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. --2115017584-237030875-1572275325=:77349 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8BIT On Mon, 28 Oct 2019, Michael Kjörling wrote: > On 27 Oct 2019 21:11 -0400, from usotsuki@buric.co (Steve Nickolas): >> >> I can't imagine there's any such connection. MS-DOS got it from CP/M, which >> didn't even have the concept of subdirectories until after MS-DOS did. > > If there was such a relationship, it would probably make more sense > for the command prompt termination character to be ":", not ">", as > DOS labelled devices as [whatever]: (like "A:" or "NUL:"). So I agree > with Steve; I imagine it's unrelated. They just had to use _something_ > as a default to indicate that the computer is waiting for a command, > and ">" is as good a character as any. 86-DOS actually did use ":" as a prompt character. This was changed for IBM's release, for some clone releases, and for MS-DOS 2.0. -uso. --2115017584-237030875-1572275325=:77349--