jdow wrote:
From: "Les Mikesell" lesmikesell@gmail.com
On Thu, 2005-12-29 at 04:30, Michael A. Peters wrote:
Craig, this is an 'ix'-like operating system. Users are expected to
abbreviate commands into oblivion, ls for list and ps for process
status
come to mind. I concluded long LONG ago it was because people could
not
type. (Hey, I sympathized with that concept, too!)
Actually I think it was because storage space use to be extremely limited in original unix - so keeping commands short saved extra bits in scripting.
Remember that input devices were mechanical 300 baud tty's (printer, keyboard, no video CRT) in those days. Typing was not fun; making corrections even less so.
Only the newer teletypes run at 300. ;-) I worked with some that used current loop and slower speeds 28.8, 38.4, 110 baud. Let's not paper tape for storage.