[TUHS] Line Numbers Before SysIII nl? BSD num?

Rob Pike robpike at gmail.com
Sat Jul 23 23:20:04 AEST 2022


Very odd. I thought so too, but the 8th Edition manual says pr -n
prints in n columns, while the 9th and 10th say it numbers the lines.

No memory, if I ever knew, of what triggered that change.

-rob

On Sat, Jul 23, 2022 at 10:50 PM Norman Wilson <norman at oclsc.org> wrote:
>
> I had a vague memory that pr could be made
> to number lines, but a quick check of the 7/e
> manual says no.
>
> I expect Dan's right, and none of the 127 folks
> felt much need to number lines on printouts
> so nobody wrote the obvious simple tool.
>
> Ironic, since the Unix PDP-11 used by the patent
> licensing office (and I think shared with the
> research group, and that was how their first
> PDP-11 was justified and funded) happened
> because the patent folks needed line-numbered
> output and roff was easily modified to do that.
>
> Maybe Doug or Ken or Steve has first-hand
> memories.
>
> Norman Wilson
> Toronto ON
> (on a train shuffling toward Buffalo)


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