From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.1 (2015-04-28) 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=3.4.1 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [45.79.103.53]) by inbox.vuxu.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id e6992897 for ; Sat, 8 Sep 2018 16:10:55 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id A6145A1E1E; Sun, 9 Sep 2018 02:10:54 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8330BA1A20; Sun, 9 Sep 2018 02:10:31 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 3B4ADA1A20; Sun, 9 Sep 2018 02:10:27 +1000 (AEST) Received: from p3plsmtpa07-09.prod.phx3.secureserver.net (p3plsmtpa07-09.prod.phx3.secureserver.net [173.201.192.238]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id E9059A1A1A for ; Sun, 9 Sep 2018 02:10:26 +1000 (AEST) Received: from medusa.kilonet.net ([72.69.214.193]) by :SMTPAUTH: with ESMTPA id yfoYfiprzeCBnyfoYfDuAy; Sat, 08 Sep 2018 09:10:26 -0700 Received: from [199.89.231.101] (ender.kilonet.net [199.89.231.101]) by medusa.kilonet.net (8.14.8/8.15.1) with ESMTP id w88GAP2L007612 for ; Sat, 8 Sep 2018 12:10:26 -0400 (EDT) To: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org References: <201809081202.w88C2OCj038136@tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU> <3054F86A-0FDA-4266-B8B8-EE53869F3700@gmail.com> <20180908142212.167B1218D6@orac.inputplus.co.uk> From: Arthur Krewat Message-ID: Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2018 12:10:00 -0400 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/52.9.1 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <20180908142212.167B1218D6@orac.inputplus.co.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Language: en-US X-CMAE-Envelope: MS4wfPsTVHmhUf4kHPz47Fz4NBKiQZ5YpED5go0ufaPNMjYzhAkomH8yUUfysdSDbeR/c0uRizU/57FxMwwkcJkOP6pE6MKkVddXDGMKS88X7/DqqzEPkdu9 4DVkxNdTeLG9laRvx6UkO240hL3bKMf+s096wY6yFi3av22ZF+rT7IgKDPSyBSXBnGxVu4RNJLhtHg== Subject: Re: [TUHS] cat -v and other complaints X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.20 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" On 9/8/2018 10:22 AM, Ralph Corderoy wrote: > >> I'm interested in learning about this curses vs blit business. Is >> there a writeup or book chapter out there that covers this in any >> detail? > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blit_(computer_terminal) is a jumping-off > point. And I suppose the same goes for curses(3): > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curses_(programming_library) > In my opinion (as retarded as I can be sometimes), this is an apples-and-oranges comparison. Blit is a completely new terminal type, with specific operating system/software support. Curses is a way to control various already-existing terminal types. DEC terminals, Hazeltine, etc. A recent termcap on my Solaris server has 472 entries. The wide-ranging support was quite important. Many people/institutions had a variety of terminals already, usually recycled from previous systems. I remember one instance when I was 17 years old working at BOCES/LIRICS on Long Island, and an office worker in a local high-school looked at me like a deer in the headlights when they could no longer use their current-loop terminal and acoustic coupler. Sorry, the leased-line mux in the other room can't do that. It has to be RS232. We gladly gave them a new LA36. Which invoked another set of "how do I..." questions. Ah, progress. (This was to support TOPS-10 on DEC KS10's, but the same thing happened many times over my early career. People just didn't want to give up what they already had) ak