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Subject:Re: Re. Virtually terminal From:"Dan S. Azlin" <dazlin -at- SHORE -dot- NET> Date:Mon, 28 Aug 1995 00:23:44 -0400
On Fri, 4 Aug 1995, Geoff Hart wrote:
> Dick Dimock, our artfully senior El Segundoite, di-mocks the
> suggestion that "VT100" means "virtual terminal 100". Yet I too have
> heard this suggestion, and given that IBM produced an operating system
> no less annoying than Windows (called, MVS, multiple virtual
> something), the concept of a 40-pound terminal that is virtual strikes
> me as reasonable. Any DEC-ites out there who can confirm this?
> BTW, here's some more acronymic trivia for you, courtesy of Jim Prall,
> an old friend: APL = APL Programming Language (it's a recursive
> definition) <grin> this will, of course, make sense to you if you're
> familiar with what Jim also called the world's first "write only"
> programming language. <grin again>
That's odd. When I took a college course in programming many many years
ago, the language was APL and the textbook was an IBM publication. The
text indicated that APL was an acronym for "A Programming Language."
Does this fall under the category of an "urban legend?"
Dan Azlin ** WORD ENGINEERS, Technical Writing & Publishing **
Ph/Fax: 508-921-8908 18 School Street
Internet: dazlin -at- shore -dot- net Beverly, MA 01915-4851
