*BSD News Article 95466


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Newsgroups: comp.unix.shell,comp.os.linux.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,gnu.misc.discuss
Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!feed1.news.erols.com!europa.clark.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!ix.netcom.com!scicom!zebra!vern
From: vern@zebra.alphacdc.com (Vern Hoxie)
Subject: Re: unix acronyms -collecting a list?
Organization: Personal Development.
Message-ID: <EA8t12.Bv1@zebra.alphacdc.com>
References: <5kd2ng$c8b$1@rzsun02.rrz.uni-hamburg.de> <EA6HHD.AAF@serval.net.wsu.edu> <EA7MIG.6JD@zebra.alphacdc.com> <5levf4$gnc@web.nmti.com>
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 21:58:14 GMT
Lines: 27
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.shell:45029 comp.os.linux.misc:175528 comp.unix.bsd.misc:3259 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:40994 gnu.misc.discuss:31297

In article <5levf4$gnc@web.nmti.com>, Peter da Silva <peter@nmti.com> wrote:
>In article <EA7MIG.6JD@zebra.alphacdc.com>,
>Vern Hoxie <vern@zebra.alphacdc.com> wrote:
>> 'bss' was the name of a register on the IBM mainframe used to run early
>> UNIX by Ritchie et al. 
>
>You got your unix and lisp reversed, thweetie.
>
>(CAR/CDR)

I had my reference wrong.  My information is from "The Design of the UNIX
Operating System", Maurice J. Bach, page 25, Note 2:

----------
2. The name 'bss' comes from an assembly psuedo-operator on the IBM 7090
machine, which stood for "block started by symbol."
----------

Maybe Lisp also used this machine (and I am not your thweetie).

vern

-- 
Vernon C. Hoxie                                           scicom!zebra!vern
3975 W. 29th Ave.                                   vern@zebra.alphacdc.com
Denver, Colo., 80212        uucp: 303-455-2670          voice: 303-477-1780
               Unix is what MSDOS will be when it grows up.