Origin of term "bug"
Jay James
In the back page of the April issue of BYTE magazine is an article on the
origin of "bug" in computerese. It did not come from the discovery of a
moth stuck inbetween terminals in an old mainframe. The word was in use
in engineering circles since the 19th century, used by Thomas Edison too.
--
Jay James <jayj...@rahul.net>
Michael Sawyer
: In the back page of the April issue of BYTE magazine is an article on the
^^^^^
: origin of "bug" in computerese. It did not come from the discovery of a
: moth stuck inbetween terminals in an old mainframe. The word was in use
: in engineering circles since the 19th century, used by Thomas Edison too.
It is amazing how easily we forget what month it is... :>
: Jay James <jayj...@rahul.net>
--
Michael Sawyer - My opinions are mine, not necessarily UH's, NSF's, or NASA's
University of Hawaii Physical Oceanography/Satellite Remote Sensing
RIPEM public key available, MD5OfPublicKey: C53C8744A87664168D135C0763DCCC1D
MD
Not exactly old mainframes, though close. Computers were initialy developed
using relays, yes relays, this is in the days before the tube. One very
serious problem were bugs, literaly. When they got into the relays it
was a real problem to find it... And thus the origin of the word "bug"
Guy Dawson
|> Jay James (jayj...@rahul.net) wrote:
|>
|> : In the back page of the April issue of BYTE magazine is an article on the
|> ^^^^^
|> : origin of "bug" in computerese. It did not come from the discovery of a
|> : moth stuck inbetween terminals in an old mainframe. The word was in use
|> : in engineering circles since the 19th century, used by Thomas Edison too.
|>
|> It is amazing how easily we forget what month it is... :>
OK! What moth was the bug? :-)
|>
|> : Jay James <jayj...@rahul.net>
|>
|> --
|> Michael Sawyer - My opinions are mine, not necessarily UH's, NSF's, or NASA's
|> University of Hawaii Physical Oceanography/Satellite Remote Sensing
|> RIPEM public key available, MD5OfPublicKey: C53C8744A87664168D135C0763DCCC1D
Guy
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work : gu...@hoskyns.co.uk
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Buddha Buck
Michael Sawyer <m...@soest.hawaii.edu> wrote:
>Jay James (jayj...@rahul.net) wrote:
>
>: In the back page of the April issue of BYTE magazine is an article on the
> ^^^^^
>: origin of "bug" in computerese. It did not come from the discovery of a
>: moth stuck inbetween terminals in an old mainframe. The word was in use
>: in engineering circles since the 19th century, used by Thomas Edison too.
>
>
It is amazing how easily we forget that serious things get done this
month, too.
In this case, Jay James is backed up by The New Hacker's Dictionary,
which mentions the moth-in-relay-contancts story, quotes the log book
("1545 Relay #70 Panel F (moth) in relay. First actual case of bug
being found"), which implies the term had been in use BEFORE the
incident, and makes the claim that it was well established in Edison's
time, and that a bug as a disruptive event was used as far back as
Shakespeare.
Paul Tomblin (aye bee four oh one)
Regardless of the month of the BYTE magazine in question, they are telling
the truth. Edison used the phrase "I have to get a few bugs out" before
Grace Hopper was even born.
Grace Hopper just thought it was amusing when a *real* bug (ie a moth) was
found, lending an ironic twist to the use of the word "bug". Which is why it
was taped to the log book.
Sheesh! Don't you people even read the Jargon file?
--
Paul Tomblin (gratuitous Vicki Robinson reference)
"When viewed from the proper perspective, this thread is actually just a bunch
of people being silly." - Daniel Lottero
Wilson Roberto Afonso
>In the back page of the April issue of BYTE magazine is an article on the
>origin of "bug" in computerese. It did not come from the discovery of a
>moth stuck inbetween terminals in an old mainframe. The word was in use
>in engineering circles since the 19th century, used by Thomas Edison too.
I really think that the Jargon File (a.k.a. The New Hacker's Dictionary)
describes usages of 'bug' predating that moth. So, maybe it is not an
April Fool's joke, as somebody else implied.
-Wilson (wil...@nutec.com)
Dave Brown
>origin of "bug" in computerese. It did not come from the discovery of a
>moth stuck inbetween terminals in an old mainframe. The word was in use
>in engineering circles since the 19th century, used by Thomas Edison too.
Gracious.
I'm shocked. What amazing news. And to think I believed that story.
--Dave "What? September already?" Brown
--
Dave Brown -- dagbrown@{iia.org,uwaterloo.ca} -- (905) 660-1723
"I know that this is vitriol, no solution, spleen venting,
But I feel better having screamed on you...."
--R. E. M.
pwpa...@news.delphi.com
>In article <Cnpu2...@rahul.net>, Jay James <jayj...@rahul.net> wrote:
>>In the back page of the April issue of BYTE magazine is an article on the
>>origin of "bug" in computerese. It did not come from the discovery of a
>>moth stuck inbetween terminals in an old mainframe. The word was in use
>>in engineering circles since the 19th century, used by Thomas Edison too.
>>Jay James <jayj...@rahul.net>
>Not exactly old mainframes, though close. Computers were initialy developed
>using relays, yes relays, this is in the days before the tube. One very
>serious problem were bugs, literaly. When they got into the relays it
>was a real problem to find it... And thus the origin of the word "bug"
But by saying what you have, you seem to support the computer origin.
How does this account for "Thomas Edison-The Man" (1940; Spencer Tracy)?
Near the end as he prepares to light New York City, the twin dynamos
designed just for that situation break. His wife asks him what is
wrong and he replies, "Jumbo developed a few bugs at the last minute."
(Jumbo was the pet name for the twin dynamos)
John Henderson
From: pwpaxton
Date: 7 Apr 1994 17:47:32 -0400
In article <2o1v1k$n...@news.delphi.com> , pwpa...@news.delphi.com writes:
>rd...@alpha1.umsl.edu (MD) writes:
>
>>Not exactly old mainframes, though close. Computers were initialy
developed
>>using relays, yes relays, this is in the days before the tube. One
very
>>serious problem were bugs, literaly. When they got into the relays it
>>was a real problem to find it... And thus the origin of the word "bug"
>
>But by saying what you have, you seem to support the computer origin.
>How does this account for "Thomas Edison-The Man" (1940; Spencer Tracy)?
>Near the end as he prepares to light New York City, the twin dynamos
>designed just for that situation break. His wife asks him what is
>wrong and he replies, "Jumbo developed a few bugs at the last minute."
>(Jumbo was the pet name for the twin dynamos)
In a computer science textbook I saw a copy of the notebook page with the
moth of "computer bug" fame, and it is clear from the note [something
like the following, with my emphasis] "The first ACTUAL computer bug..."
that they were aware of the earlier use of the term. I still think,
however, that it is that incident that established "bug" as the only term
to use for hardware or software problems vs one of the many other terms
available: gremlin, snafu, etc.