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Diffstat (limited to 'doc')
-rw-r--r-- | doc/groff.texinfo | 44 |
1 files changed, 28 insertions, 16 deletions
diff --git a/doc/groff.texinfo b/doc/groff.texinfo index 767df8ac..e519343e 100644 --- a/doc/groff.texinfo +++ b/doc/groff.texinfo @@ -600,24 +600,36 @@ impossible to accomplish complex actions.'' --Doug Gwyn (22/Jun/91 in @cindex @code{RUNOFF}, the program @cindex @code{rf}, the program @code{troff} can trace its origins back to a formatting program called -@code{RUNOFF}, written by Jerry E.@: Saltzer, which ran on MIT's -@acronym{CTSS} (@emph{Compatible Time Sharing System}) operating system -in the mid-sixties. The name came from the use of the phrase ``run off -a document'', meaning to print it out. Bob Morris ported it to the 635 -architecture and called the program @code{roff} (an abbreviation of -@code{runoff}). It was rewritten as @code{rf} for the @w{PDP-7} (before -having @acronym{UNIX}), and at the same time (1969), Doug McIllroy -rewrote an extended and simplified version of @code{roff} in the -@acronym{BCPL} programming language. +@code{RUNOFF}, written by Jerry Saltzer, which ran on the @acronym{CTSS} +(@emph{Compatible Time Sharing System}, a project of MIT, the +Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the +mid-sixties.@footnote{Jerome H.@: Saltzer, a grad student then, later a +Professor of Electrical Engineering, now retired. Saltzer's PhD thesis +was the first application for @code{RUNOFF} and is available from the +MIT Libraries.} The name came from the use of the phrase ``run off a +document'', meaning to print it out. +@c +@c Tom Van Vleck <thvv@multicians.org> writes about the following: +@c +@c I am not sure about this.. I think the BCPL runoff was the port to +@c the 635 architecture, and that the order of events is +@c 1. CTSS runoff +@c 2. BCPL runoff on Multics +@c 3. BCPL runoff on 635 +@c 4. rf on PDP-7 +@c +Bob Morris ported it to the 635 architecture and called the program +@code{roff} (an abbreviation of @code{runoff}). It was rewritten as +@code{rf} for the @w{PDP-7} (before having @acronym{UNIX}), and at the +same time (1969), Doug McIllroy rewrote an extended and simplified +version of @code{roff} in the @acronym{BCPL} programming language. @cindex @code{roff}, the program -The first version of @acronym{UNIX} was developed on a @w{PDP-7} which -was sitting around Bell Labs. In 1971, the developers wanted to get a -@w{PDP-11} for further work on the operating system, and to justify the -cost, proposed the development of a document formatting system for the -@acronym{AT&T} patents division. This first formatting program was a -reimplementation of McIllroy's @code{roff}, written by -J.@tie{}F.@tie{}Ossanna. +In 1971, the UNIX developers wanted to get a @w{PDP-11}, and to justify +the cost, proposed the development of a document formatting system for +the @acronym{AT&T} patents division. This first formatting program was +a reimplementation of McIllroy's @code{roff}, written by J.@tie{}F.@: +Ossanna. @cindex @code{nroff}, the program When they needed a more flexible language, a new version of @code{roff} |