*BSD News Article 82895


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From: peter@nmti.com (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: On the Naming of UNIX Things
Date: 14 Nov 1996 20:50:30 GMT
Organization: Network/development platform support, NMTI
Lines: 25
Message-ID: <56g0mm$gpf@web.nmti.com>
References: <55vhpf$q3o@mail1.wg.waii.com> <E0tAts.BAr.0.queen@torfree.net>
NNTP-Posting-Host: sonic.nmti.com
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.misc:26436 comp.unix.bsd.misc:1507 alt.folklore.computers:124626

In article <E0tAts.BAr.0.queen@torfree.net>,
William J. Hayes <ab915@torfree.net> wrote:
> grep:
> 	"Generic Regular Expression Printer"

No, no, you're wrong. It's from "Generic Repeated Pattern Evaluator", an old
IBM mainframe program that searched for text in 80 column card decks and
edited them into new decks. When it was ported to UNIX (using the "struct"
tool to convert the original Fortran to Ratfor, then to C) they couldn't
fit the whole functionality in so they only provided the "print" edit.

So it was called "grpep", then shortened to "grep" after Bill Gates made
a hilarious typo in the Xenix-86 version at a trade show. The actual details
were hushed up, and they changed the command to make sure it never happened
again.

The story was created that it was shortened because it was easier to type
"grep" than "grpep" on an IBM card punch, but this was an obvious cover-up,
since the "grpep" version was never used on an IBM.

Ironically the full functionality of "grpe" was ported to micros for the
first time on OS/2 in an implementation written in REXX (named after a dog
that barked when his owner sat down at a computer).
-- 
</peter>