anecdotes:values_of_beta
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— | anecdotes:values_of_beta [2016/01/12 10:27] (current) – created wkt | ||
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+ | ==== Values of Beeta ==== | ||
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+ | (taken from Dennis Ritchie' | ||
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+ | In Sixth Edition Unix, the **mv** command could produce this diagnostic: | ||
+ | < | ||
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+ | </ | ||
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+ | This was noticed by some and is recorded in a [[https:// | ||
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+ | The actual source line in **mv.c** that produced the message was | ||
+ | < | ||
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+ | </ | ||
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+ | except that in the real source, the \016B\017 was written with literal ASCII SI and SO control characters. These shifted the Model 37 Teletype into its optional extended character set, and the B printed as the Greek letter beta. See below for more about rendering beta amidst changing hardware and software. | ||
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+ | Like most of the messages recorded in these compilations, | ||
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+ | The very first use of Unix in the "real business" | ||
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+ | < | ||
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+ | </ | ||
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+ | It was of course obvious that the typist had interrupted a printout (generating the " | ||
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+ | But the phrase itself was just so striking! Utterly meaningless, | ||
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+ | At the same time, we were experimenting with text-to-voice software by Doug McIlroy and others, and of course the phrase was tried out with it. For whatever reason, its rendition of "give rise to dom!" accented the last word in a way that emphasized the phonetic similarity between " | ||
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+ | The phrase had to be recorded somewhere, and it was, in the v6 source. Most likely it was Bob Morris who did the deed, but it could just as easily have been Ken. | ||
anecdotes/values_of_beta.txt · Last modified: 2016/01/12 10:27 by wkt