that ancient old geezer stuff

[A. P. Garcia]

norman at nose.cita.utoronto.ca wrote:
>> Warren's note reminds me of a few other Y2K bugs I've spotted that affect
>> ancient UNIX:

msokolov at meson.jpsystems.com replied:
> Would you please avoid that term? It is offensive to those for whom Kernighan/
> Ritchie/Thompson/Berkeley UNIX is the primary and sole computing platform.


Interesting.  It's true that the word ancient is generally pejorative
in the context of computers.  However, I think that this word may have
helped persuade SCO to offer us licenses for these versions.  The header
of my license contains some wording like, "Special software license
agreement for ancient unix source code."

So I tend to use this terminology with an inside-joke kind of smirk on
my face.  These kernels are more elegant and pure in design than their
descendants.  If the good folks at SCO are having pleasant dreams, please
don't disturb their sleep.


> Please do pass along B. W. Kernighan's note.

I second this request.  Don't hold out on us.  :-)