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From: zeta@runx.OZ (Nick Andrew)
Newsgroups: net.text
Subject: Re: You can do anything in (state your favorite word processor)
Message-ID: <40@runx.OZ>
Date: Sat, 23-Aug-86 23:51:30 EDT
Article-I.D.: runx.40
Posted: Sat Aug 23 23:51:30 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 24-Aug-86 19:42:59 EDT
References: <158@tcdmath.UUCP>
Organization: RUNX Un*x Timeshare.  Sydney, Australia.
Lines: 73


    Relay-Version: version B UNSW 1.1.5 (IPS) 85/10/18; site runx.OZ
    From: jaymin@tcdmath.UUCP (Joe Jaquinta)
    Date: 13 Aug 86 12:45:46 GMT
    Newsgroups: net.text
    Subject: You can do anything in (state your favorite word processor)
    Message-ID: <158@tcdmath.UUCP>
    Path: runx!ipso!metro!basser!moncskermit!munnari!seismo!mcvax!ukc!einode!tcdmath!jaymin
    Reply-To: jaymin@tcdmath.UUCP (Joe Jaquinta)
    Date-Received: Sat, 23 Aug 86 03:16:04 AEST
    Organization: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin.
    Lines: 6
    
    
    We've seen sorting in nroff, prime number generation in TeX, does
    anybody know if anyone has written an operating system in a word
    processing language yet?
    
    				j^2

Hi!
This is my first USENET article, sorry if I make mistakes.
    I have not seen any operating systems written in word processing
languages, however a friend of mine [Michael Wardman, former
s8427967@nswitgould.OZ    ....!munnari!basser!nswitgould] spent two years
writing FREDEX.

    Hard to describe, but FREDEX ran on the ancient Honeywell Level 66, a
beast of a thing if there ever was one. It was written in "Fred Buffer
Language", FRED being a text editor on the L/66 "Friendly Editor".

    FREDEX had the following features:

  o  It kept a sorted list of all users, ranked by date/time of last access,
     total access count, an RANK {private, lance-corporal, general .....}

  o  It provided translation between the level 66 user naming [Sxxxxxxx] and
     real names

  o  It provided mail service to anybody on the user list

  o  ditto ....  distribution lists .....

  o  Michael maintained a regular "Fredex News" to all users,
and lastly
  o  Fredex would "thank" the user each time he ran the program with a
     small piece of mail, something like:

YOU HAVE MAIL.

* mail

(1 u)  FREDEX 24/08/86 14:01:00

Thanks for making a bored Fredex very, very happy,
for the 135th time, Colonel jellyfish.

----
   Fortunately, the Honeywell 66 is no longer with us [flame 1: GCOS the
L/66 os is the worst calamity I have seen: flame 0], and again fortunately,
FREDEX is no longer a fully supported system in its own right.
   As with all things, Fredex deserves to die, sooner or later.
----
   I am however glad to see other people making fools of themselves by
writing circuitous programs in utterly ridiculous languages ... by making
the system do something totally unlike what it was designed for ... and
getting it all to work.

My signature: something like this:
  UUCP:  ......!munnari!basser!ipso!runz!zeta
         your guess is as good as mine to get to munnari (Melb. Aust),
         try hplabs I think.
  ACSNET:  {easier}      zeta@runx.OZ
Cheers,   Nick.