[TUHS] /usr/mdec

[Norman Wilson]

I'm curious about the origin of the directory name /usr/mdec.
(I am reminded of it because I've noticed that it lives on in
at least one of the BSDs.)

I had a vague notion that it meant `DEC maintenance' but that
seems a bit clumsy to describe a place holding boot blocks.

A random web board suggests it meant `magnetic DECtape.'
That's certainly not true by the time I came along, when it
contained the master copy of the disk boot block(s).
But I suppose it could have meant that early on and
the name just carried forward.

A quick skim of the V1-V7 manuals doesn't explain the name.

Anyone have any clearer memories than I do?  Doug or Ken or
anyone who was there when it was coined, do you still recall?

Norman Wilson
Toronto ON