[TUHS] My EuroBSDcon talk (preview for commentary)

Diomidis Spinellis dds at aueb.gr
Sat Sep 14 17:35:22 AEST 2019


Correct!  I formatted the Third Edition manual with nroff rather than 
troff, but, as you write, it could have been roff.

Only one man page file contains macro definitions:

https://github.com/dspinellis/unix-history-repo/blob/Research-V3/man/manx/asmt.x#L9

and the man source files also contain the formatted output corresponding 
to that file:

https://github.com/dspinellis/unix-history-repo/blob/Research-V3/man/manx/asmt.cat

Furthermore, this file (and the others in the same directory — manx) 
does not appear in the original Third Edition manual.

So most likely the man pages were formatted with roff, although nroff 
existed and was documented at the time.

https://github.com/dspinellis/unix-history-repo/blob/Research-V3/man/man1/nroff.1

http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/att/unix/3rd_Edition/UNIX_Programmers_Manual_Third_Edition_Feb73.pdf#page=98



On 14-Sep-19 0:45, Clem Cole wrote:
> Awesome -- great way to figure it out, although I'm not sure 3rd edition 
> was nroff, I think it might have been roff.  I think a smart test is to 
> check to see if those sources used a macro package or not.  If not macro 
> package, I think that tells us that the likely formatting program was roff.


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