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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!news.cis.okstate.edu!nntp.ksu.edu!news.physics.uiowa.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.erols.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uwm.edu!alpha1.csd.uwm.edu!jgd From: jgd@alpha1.csd.uwm.edu (John G Dobnick) Newsgroups: comp.unix.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: On the Naming of UNIX Things Date: 15 Nov 1996 23:45:44 GMT Organization: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Lines: 28 Message-ID: <56ivb8$kbc@uwm.edu> References: <1996111206190712643@[192.159.32.2]> Reply-To: jgd@alpha1.csd.uwm.edu NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.169.1 Originator: jgd@alpha1.csd.uwm.edu Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.misc:26459 comp.unix.bsd.misc:1521 alt.folklore.computers:124658 From article <1996111206190712643@[192.159.32.2]>, by swb@mercury.campbell-mithun.com (Shawn Barnhart): > characters. But I like the idea that it was attributed to the amount of > effort to type the commands into a printing terminal. Perhaps the most important reason, or at least the driving force behind short command names, was the TELETYPE itself! You can type at a _maximum_ rate of 10 characters per second. Period. You have no-key rollover -- mechanical interlocks prevent depressing one key until after the previous key has released. (Anyone timed their "burst rate" typing recently? I know I can type, in bursts, much faster than 10 CPS.) So, given a fixed, and slow, rate of typing being inposed on you, and probably being the impatient type (we're talking programmers here, after all :-) ), you do what you can to reduce keystrokes. Reducing command names to minimal length helps, especially for the "common" programmer commands. That's my theory, at least. (Based on personal experience with TELETYPE devices.) -- John G Dobnick "Knowing how things work is the basis Information & Media Technologies for appreciation, and is thus a University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee source of civilized delight." jgd@csd.uwm.edu ATTnet: (414) 229-5727 -- William Safire