diff options
Diffstat (limited to '')
-rw-r--r-- | doc/groff.html.node/Background.html | 96 |
1 files changed, 96 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/doc/groff.html.node/Background.html b/doc/groff.html.node/Background.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1ce4224 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/groff.html.node/Background.html @@ -0,0 +1,96 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html> +<!-- Created by GNU Texinfo 7.0.3, https://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/ --> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<!-- This manual documents GNU troff version 1.23.0. + +Copyright © 1994-2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc. + +Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document +under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or +any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no +Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A +copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free +Documentation License". --> +<title>Background (The GNU Troff Manual)</title> + +<meta name="description" content="Background (The GNU Troff Manual)"> +<meta name="keywords" content="Background (The GNU Troff Manual)"> +<meta name="resource-type" content="document"> +<meta name="distribution" content="global"> +<meta name="Generator" content="makeinfo"> +<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1"> + +<link href="index.html" rel="start" title="Top"> +<link href="Request-Index.html" rel="index" title="Request Index"> +<link href="index.html#SEC_Contents" rel="contents" title="Table of Contents"> +<link href="Introduction.html" rel="up" title="Introduction"> +<link href="What-Is-groff_003f.html" rel="next" title="What Is groff?"> +<link href="Introduction.html" rel="prev" title="Introduction"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +span.r {font-family: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal} +--> +</style> + + +</head> + +<body lang="en"> +<div class="section-level-extent" id="Background"> +<div class="nav-panel"> +<p> +Next: <a href="What-Is-groff_003f.html" accesskey="n" rel="next">What Is <code class="code">groff</code>?</a>, Previous: <a href="Introduction.html" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Introduction</a>, Up: <a href="Introduction.html" accesskey="u" rel="up">Introduction</a> [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Request-Index.html" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p> +</div> +<hr> +<h3 class="section" id="Background-1">1.1 Background</h3> +<a class="index-entry-id" id="index-background"></a> + +<p>M. Douglas McIlroy, formerly of AT&T Bell Laboratories and present at +the creation of the Unix operating system, offers an authoritative +historical summary. +</p> +<blockquote class="quotation"> +<p>The prime reason for Unix was the desire of Ken [Thompson], Dennis +[Ritchie], and Joe Ossanna to have a pleasant environment for software +development. The fig leaf that got the nod from … +management was that an early use would be to develop a “stand-alone” +word-processing system for use in typing pools and secretarial offices. +Perhaps they had in mind “dedicated”, as distinct from +“stand-alone”; that’s what eventuated in various cases, most notably +in the legal/patent department and in the AT&T CEO’s office. +</p> +<p>Both those systems were targets of opportunity, not foreseen from the +start. When Unix was up and running on the PDP-11, Joe got wind of +the legal department having installed a commercial word processor. +He went to pitch Unix as an alternative and clinched a trial by +promising to make <code class="code">roff</code> able to number lines by tomorrow in order +to fulfill a patent-office requirement that the commercial system did +not support. +</p> +<p>Modems were installed so legal-department secretaries could try the +Research machine. They liked it and Joe’s superb customer service. +Soon the legal department got a system of their own. Joe went on to +create <code class="code">nroff</code> and <code class="code">troff</code>. Document preparation became a +widespread use of Unix, but no stand-alone word-processing system was +ever undertaken. +</p></blockquote> + +<p>A history relating <code class="code">groff</code> to its predecessors <code class="code">roff</code>, +<code class="code">nroff</code>, and <code class="code">troff</code> is available in the <cite class="cite">roff<span class="r">(7)</span></cite> +man page. +</p> + + +</div> +<hr> +<div class="nav-panel"> +<p> +Next: <a href="What-Is-groff_003f.html">What Is <code class="code">groff</code>?</a>, Previous: <a href="Introduction.html">Introduction</a>, Up: <a href="Introduction.html">Introduction</a> [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Request-Index.html" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p> +</div> + + + +</body> +</html> |