[TUHS] Other Bell Labs shells from the 80s?

[George Michaelson via TUHS]

That "output is valid input" thing totally was what I wanted, I played with
making PS1 and PS2 elements which did not prevent cut-paste making valid
commands and it never quite worked for me. Not the same, but related.

I think as a killer feature, that definitely counts as one. Modern shell
behaviour being "nice" makes the output and command history very hard to
just replay if it's a complex command.

I frequently make intermediate commands in piped sequences emit shell which
is then executed, because you can run it without the final | sh to see what
it will do, and then do it. So my command streams in construction are often
echo "thing to be done"

=G

On Tue, Mar 3, 2026 at 7:00 AM Rob Pike via TUHS <tuhs at tuhs.org> wrote:

> Self promotion: the v8 shell was underseen. Not really even what
> people want in shells these days, but in its own environment it worked
> well and its principle of all its output being valid shell input is
> missing from most interactive tools to this day.
>
> -rob
>
> On Tue, Mar 3, 2026 at 5:04 AM ron minnich via TUHS <tuhs at tuhs.org> wrote:
> >
> > there was a lisp shell ca 1977. I always liked the idea.
> >
> > there were a lot of shells out there, like the REX shell.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 2, 2026 at 1:58 AM Arnold Robbins via TUHS <tuhs at tuhs.org>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Arnold Robbins via TUHS <tuhs at tuhs.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Also it refers to a shell by Blewett and arder called Parser. Anyone
> > >
> > > ... and another called Parser. ...
> > >
> > > Sheesh. Not enough coffee this morning I guess.
> > >
>