Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!mcvax!ukc!eagle!rde
From: rde@eagle.ukc.ac.uk (R.D.Eager)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: DAEMONs -- what does GCOS mean anyway ?
Message-ID: <3360@eagle.ukc.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 12-Oct-87 02:56:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: eagle.3360
Posted: Mon Oct 12 02:56:08 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 15-Oct-87 20:05:34 EDT
References: <1131@nrcvax.UUCP> <3550002@hplsdla.HP.COM> <392@xios.XIOS.UUCP> <1129@ark.cs.vu.nl>
Reply-To: rde@ukc.ac.uk (R.D.Eager)
Organization: Computing Lab, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.
Lines: 17

Summary:

Expires:

Sender:

Followup-To:


>To continue, what does [nt]roff stand for ? (I believe 'off' is something
>like 'output format filter')

I always understood that `roff' was a contraction of the name `runoff', from
the name of the DEC program on which `roff' was based (it being far too long
a command name for UNIX in its own right :-) ).

The original version was in PDP-11 assembler, but it was rewritten in C;
this (n)ew version was called `nroff' (new roff). Then the typesetter version
naturally got called (t)roff.

Put us out of our misery. What was the origin of cat??
-- 
           Bob Eager
           rde@ukc.UUCP
           ...!mcvax!ukc!rde
           Phone: +44 227 764000 ext 7589