Information about Roff
roff was the first Unix text-formatting computer program, also the most important application run on the first machine specifically purchased to run UNIX, and a predecessor of the nroff and troff document processing systems on Unix.
It was a Unix version of the runoff text-formatting program from Multics, which was a descendant of RUNOFF for CTSS (the first computerized text-formatting application).
The first UNIX version was a transliteration of the BCPL version of runoff into PDP-7 assembly, for the prototype UNIX on the PDP-7, circa 1970. When the first PDP-11 was acquired for UNIX in late 1970 (a PDP-11/20), the justification cited to management for the funding required was that it was to be used as a word processing system, and so roff was quickly transliterated again, into PDP-11 assembly, in 1971.
Dennis Ritchie notes that the ability to rapidly modify roff (because it was locally written software) to provide special features needed by the Bell Labs Patent department was an important factor in leading to the adoption of UNIX by the Patent department to fill their word processing needs. This in turn gave UNIX enough credibility inside Bell Labs to secure the funding to purchase one of the first PDP-11/45's produced; it was on that machine that UNIX evolved into the system that later took the computer science world by storm.
It was a Unix version of the runoff text-formatting program from Multics, which was a descendant of RUNOFF for CTSS (the first computerized text-formatting application).
The first UNIX version was a transliteration of the BCPL version of runoff into PDP-7 assembly, for the prototype UNIX on the PDP-7, circa 1970. When the first PDP-11 was acquired for UNIX in late 1970 (a PDP-11/20), the justification cited to management for the funding required was that it was to be used as a word processing system, and so roff was quickly transliterated again, into PDP-11 assembly, in 1971.
Dennis Ritchie notes that the ability to rapidly modify roff (because it was locally written software) to provide special features needed by the Bell Labs Patent department was an important factor in leading to the adoption of UNIX by the Patent department to fill their word processing needs. This in turn gave UNIX enough credibility inside Bell Labs to secure the funding to purchase one of the first PDP-11/45's produced; it was on that machine that UNIX evolved into the system that later took the computer science world by storm.
See also
Sources
- D. M. Ritchie, The Evolution of the UNIX Time-sharing System (AT&T Bell Laboratories Technical Journal, Vol. 63, No. 8, October 1984)
External links
Unix (officially trademarked as UNIX®) is a computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie and Douglas McIlroy.
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A word processor (more formally known as document preparation system) is a computer application used for the production (including composition, editing, formatting, and possibly printing) of any sort of printable material.
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A computer program is one or more instructions that are intended for execution by a computer. Specifically, it is a symbol or combination of symbols forming an algorithm that may or may not terminate, and that algorithm is written in a programming language.
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nroff (short for "new roff") is a Unix text-formatting program; it produces output suitable for simple fixed-width printers and terminal windows. It is an integral part of the Unix help system, being used to format man pages for display.
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troff is a document processing system developed by AT&T for the Unix operating system.
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History
troff can trace its origins back to a text formatting program called RUNOFF, written by Jerome H. Saltzer for MIT's CTSS operating system in the mid-1960s...... Click the link for more information.
runoff was the text formatting program on the Multics operating system.
It was a descendant of the RUNOFF type-setting program from CTSS and was originally written by Jerome H. Saltzer.
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It was a descendant of the RUNOFF type-setting program from CTSS and was originally written by Jerome H. Saltzer.
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Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) was an extraordinarily influential early time-sharing operating system. The project was started in 1964. The last running Multics installation was shut down on October 31, 2000.
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Run-off or runoff may refer to:
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- Surface runoff, water that flows over the land surface
- An alternative term in printing for bleed.
- Two-round system - a voting system used to elect a single winner, whereby only two candidates from the first round continue to
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CTSS, which stood for the Compatible Time-Sharing System, was one of the first time-sharing operating systems; it was developed at MIT's Computation Center. CTSS was first demonstrated in 1961, and was operated at MIT until 1973.
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BCPL>BCPL
Paradigm: procedural, imperative, structured
Appeared in: 1966
Designed by: Martin Richards
Influenced by: ALGOL
Influenced: C
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Paradigm: procedural, imperative, structured
Appeared in: 1966
Designed by: Martin Richards
Influenced by: ALGOL
Influenced: C
This article is about a computer language.
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PDP-7 is a minicomputer produced by Digital Equipment Corporation. Introduced in 1965, the first to use their Flip-Chip® technology, with a cost of only $72,000 USD, it was cheap but powerful.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
1967 1968 1969 - 1970 - 1971 1972 1973
Year 1970 (MCMLXX
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1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
1967 1968 1969 - 1970 - 1971 1972 1973
Year 1970 (MCMLXX
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The PDP-11 was a series of 16-bit minicomputers sold by Digital Equipment Corp. in the 1970s and 1980s. The PDP-11 was a successor to DEC's PDP-8 computer in the PDP series of computers. It had several uniquely innovative features, and was easier to program than its predecessors.
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Word processing is the ability to create documents using a word processor. It can also refer to advanced shorthand techniques, sometimes used in specialized contexts with a specially modified typewriter.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
1968 1969 1970 - 1971 - 1972 1973 1974
Year 1971 (MCMLXXI
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1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
1968 1969 1970 - 1971 - 1972 1973 1974
Year 1971 (MCMLXXI
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Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie
Born September 9 1941
Bronxville, New York
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Born September 9 1941
Bronxville, New York
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Bell Laboratories (also known as Bell Labs and formerly known as AT&T Bell Laboratories and Bell Telephone Laboratories) is part of the research and development organization of Alcatel-Lucent and previously the United States Bell System.
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patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention.
The procedure for granting patents, the requirements placed on the patentee and the extent of the exclusive rights vary widely
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The procedure for granting patents, the requirements placed on the patentee and the extent of the exclusive rights vary widely
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Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems.
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nroff (short for "new roff") is a Unix text-formatting program; it produces output suitable for simple fixed-width printers and terminal windows. It is an integral part of the Unix help system, being used to format man pages for display.
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troff is a document processing system developed by AT&T for the Unix operating system.
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History
troff can trace its origins back to a text formatting program called RUNOFF, written by Jerome H. Saltzer for MIT's CTSS operating system in the mid-1960s...... Click the link for more information.
groff is the GNU replacement for the troff and nroff text formatters. It is an original implementation written primarily in C++ by James Clark and is modeled after ditroff, including many extensions. The first version, 0.3.1, was released June 1990. The first stable version, 1.
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