Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!cos!fetter
From: fetter@cos.com (Bob Fetter)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Why not Multics? (was Re: BSD tty security, part 3: How to Fix It)
Message-ID: <45740@cos.com>
Date: 13 May 91 19:26:48 GMT
References: <1991May3.184152.28644@sctc.com> <3096@cirrusl.UUCP> <15896: Apr2714: 35:3991@kramden.acf.nyu.edu> <542@trux.UUCP> <1991Apr30.142053.2313@sctc.com> <00673160066@elgamy.RAIDERNET.COM> <00673676139@elgamy.RAIDERNET.COM>
Reply-To: fetter@cos.UUCP (Bob Fetter)
Organization: Corporation for Open Systems, McLean, VA
Lines: 30

In article <00673676139@elgamy.RAIDERNET.COM> elg@elgamy.RAIDERNET.COM (Eric Lee Green) writes:
>						One really needed thing was
>a standard display handling library. I don't remember whether one was ever
>written (something along the lines of termcap/curses), but if so, I never
>saw any software that used it. What Emacs used (a file full of MacLisp
>functions, one file for each available terminal, if I recall right) wasn't
>too accessible to PL/1 folks.

  There always was a terminal_type_tabel kept under >sc1>ttt, which had
the terminal management information such as is kept in a Unix termcap file.
Software could access it directly using the video_ i/o module, giving it
requests like 'clear_screen', 'goto_xy', etc.

  Any software which used screen terminals on Multics made use of these
functions.  The 'window' system, which was a full-screen interactive
environment did, and I'm *pretty* sure Emacs did too (but I'm probably
off base on this one).

>Now, if Multics had continued to be developed... and if Honeywell had
>actually tried to SELL the stupid thing... the story probably would have
>been different.

  Indeed.

>--
>Eric Lee Green   (318) 984-1820  P.O. Box 92191  Lafayette, LA 70509
>elg@elgamy.RAIDERNET.COM               uunet!mjbtn!raider!elgamy!elg


  -Bob-