Path: utzoo!utgpu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!emory!hubcap!dkarres
From: dkarres@hubcap.clemson.edu (Dean Karres)
Newsgroups: alt.sources.d
Subject: Re: Okay, I give up. What is the real story?
Message-ID: <11629@hubcap.clemson.edu>
Date: 14 Nov 90 22:01:52 GMT
References: <1990Nov11.000443.28487@cs.ucla.edu> <16367@s.ms.uky.edu>
Organization: Clemson University, Clemson, SC
Lines: 25

sean@ms.uky.edu (Sean Casey) writes:
>kirkaas@makaha.cs.ucla.edu (paul kirkaas) writes:
>|What the heck is the history behind "xyzzy" ????  I've seen so many
>|references to it here I feel like I'm missing a vital piece of
>|historic computer lore.

I have just picked up on this thread so forgivness is asked where
necessary :-)

If you ever have the chance to play on a Data General machine running
an operating system named AOS or AOS/VS (*) type "xyzzy" at a command
prompt and you get...

Nothing happens.

(*) - I know about this through first hand experience on DG machines
      running pre-rev-7 versions of AOS and AOS/VS. That means that it
      existed 10+ years ago and was carried on until, at least, 1987.

dean...k...
-- 
				  || /X\/X\ ||	   Any technology, sufficiently
dean...k...			  ||// XX \\||	 advanced, is indistinguishable
				  ||\\ XX //||	 from magic
dkarres@hubcap.clemson.edu	  || \X/\X/ ||			  - A. C. Clark