A snapshot of the shell being built at Bell Labs.

[Isaac (.ike) Levy]

Hi Warner,

I don't see why not!

Best,
.ike


> On May 13, 2026, at 1:14 PM, Warner Losh <imp at bsdimp.com> wrote:
> 
> Oh! Can we share this usrnews.txt file with TUHS? Or is it already in their archive?
> 
> Warner
> 
> On Tue, May 12, 2026 at 7:32 PM Isaac (.ike) Levy <ike at blackskyresearch.net> wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> It's rare for any presenter, in any technical talk, to even have their slides done the day before their presentation.
> 
> However, ahead of the NYC*BUG meeting tomorrow night, Steve Bourne forwarded something he prepared for us in 1978.
> 
> Attached, /usr/news updates June 1976 through July 1978.  A snapshot of the shell being built at Bell Labs.  It shows the actual design decisions as they were happening (spoiler alert):
> 
> - $pid -> $$, $r -> $?, $n -> $#, $pcs -> $! (variable names compressing from words to symbols)
> - read introduced as a builtin (replacing set -r name)
> - export introduced, variables not transmitted to environment by default (this shocked me!)
> - PATH replacing the old lowercase $p
> - IFS word splitting on read
> - The line: "Those who read certain children's magazines will readily recognize these."
> 
> 
> Also a reminder, worth a look before tomorrow's fireside chat, where we can discuss more with SRB:
> 
> BSTJ 57: 6. July-August 1978: UNIX Time-Sharing System: The UNIX Shell. (Bourne, S.R.)
> https://archive.org/details/bstj57-6-1971
> 
> Best,
> .ike
> 
>