Deep Six
Kay Dekker
>I've never heard "deep six" refer to burial, only to (usually useless)
>objects. At sea, the phrase is "commit her/his body to the deep". On
>land, one would "put it six feet under".
The one place that I have encountered this phrase was in the
command repertoire of CANDE, the Command AND Edit interface
for the Burroughs B6700 computer, in which the DS command was
used to terminate a process. I was told, when I asked about
this puzzling command name, that it came from the phrase "deep
six"; I can't say that that enlightened me much...
I've taken the liberty of crossposting this to alt.folklore.computers
to validate this (there must be some CANDE users still around),
and to ask about other little Burroughs gems that I've heard, such
as that the part of the operating system which spawned new processes
was known as the "MotherForker", and that the security subsystem
was called "J_Edgar_Hoover".
affectionately,
Kay
Chris Reed
Kay Dekker <k...@vide.coventry.ac.uk> wrote:
>Christopher T. Barber <c...@mitre.org> wrote:
>>I've never heard "deep six" refer to burial, only to (usually useless)
>>objects. At sea, the phrase is "commit her/his body to the deep". On
>>land, one would "put it six feet under".
>
>The one place that I have encountered this phrase was in the
>command repertoire of CANDE, the Command AND Edit interface
>for the Burroughs B6700 computer, in which the DS command was
>used to terminate a process. I was told, when I asked about
>this puzzling command name, that it came from the phrase "deep
>six"; I can't say that that enlightened me much...
The control command 'DS' predates the B6700. It was used to terminate a
process in the '60s on the B-5500. I was there. But, in all my years I
have never hears DS to mean Deep-Six. It does make sense though. I'll
cross post this to comp.sys.unisys. Some one there might know.
>
>I've taken the liberty of crossposting this to alt.folklore.computers
>to validate this (there must be some CANDE users still around),
CANDE is alive and well and living on the A-Series.
>and to ask about other little Burroughs gems that I've heard, such
>as that the part of the operating system which spawned new processes
>was known as the "MotherForker", and that the security subsystem
>was called "J_Edgar_Hoover".
References to procedures such as MOTHERFORKER and JEDGARHOOVER were truly
in the code but were expunged by directive in the early 80s. There was
nothing really vulgar. Just fun.
The DCALGOL (Burroughs Extended ALGOL plus Datacomm extensions) source
code of CANDE consists of mainly two cooperating processes. One called
BUMP, the other GRIND. I think these still survive.
Not many shops get to see the source any longer. You have to pay for it.
I could go on for hours but I would need a beer.
--
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Ben Coleman
>The one place that I have encountered this phrase was in the
>command repertoire of CANDE, the Command AND Edit interface
>for the Burroughs B6700 computer, in which the DS command was
>used to terminate a process. I was told, when I asked about
>this puzzling command name, that it came from the phrase "deep
>six"; I can't say that that enlightened me much...
DS wasn't specific to CANDE, but was used in the Burroughs Large Systems,
Medium Systems, Small Systems(B1000 native mode, not CMS) operator commands.
It was probably used in Burroughs CMS systems, too, but I can't quite
remember. I remember it as an abbreviation for DiScontinue.
Ben
--
Ben Coleman NJ8J | "All that is not eternal is
Internet: b...@nj8j.atl.ga.us or | eternally out of date."
bcol...@mindspring.com | C. S. Lewis
John K Scoggin Jr
>I believe DS truely does mean Deep Six. At least that is what I have
>always been told. The original authors of the MCP must have been
>truely sick guys. Remember the terminal display message telling you
>when you have DS'd a parent process when child processes were still
>in the mix? The parent process would kill the child process(s) and
>the display messages was INFANTICIDE. Memory excapes me, but there
>used to be a lot of gruesomely named MCP procedures. But the above
>poster is correct, the code was cleaned up in the 80's, but some of
>the terminolgy stuck and is still quite apparent.
>
I don't know - I never had a problem identifying the purpose of the code -
the names were pretty indicative of the function (more so than a lot of
code written these days).
Working with MCP in the early 70's was a real joy, especially when compared to
my next few jobs which involved IBM 370 DOS and DOS/VS systems!
- John
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Tony Waddell
: in the code but were expunged by directive in the early 80s. There was
: nothing really vulgar. Just fun.
: The DCALGOL (Burroughs Extended ALGOL plus Datacomm extensions) source
: code of CANDE consists of mainly two cooperating processes. One called
: BUMP, the other GRIND. I think these still survive.
: Not many shops get to see the source any longer. You have to pay for it.
I believe DS truely does mean Deep Six. At least that is what I have
Mark R. Williamson
> The one place that I have encountered this phrase was in the
> command repertoire of CANDE, the Command AND Edit interface
> for the Burroughs B6700 computer, in which the DS command was
> used to terminate a process. I was told, when I asked about
> this puzzling command name, that it came from the phrase "deep
> six"; I can't say that that enlightened me much...
I used (and maintained) CANDE and the MCP on a B-5500 (an older
Burroughs
machine). "DS" to terminate a process predated CANDE. I don't recall
every hearing the "deep six" derivation and thought of DS as a cryptic
abbreviation for DiScontinue, DiSconnect, or the like. "DS" still pops
up occasionally in my conversations with the meaning "terminate".
> I've taken the liberty of crossposting this to alt.folklore.computers
> to validate this (there must be some CANDE users still around),
> and to ask about other little Burroughs gems that I've heard, such
> as that the part of the operating system which spawned new processes
> was known as the "MotherForker", and that the security subsystem
> was called "J_Edgar_Hoover".
I don't recall either of those being in the B-5500 TS MCP (the
operating
system "under" CANDE), but there was OLD_WIERD_HAROLD, who according to
the documentation "looped through the bed looking for things to fork"
(read "scanned the pending-process table looking for eligible
processes").
Mark R. Williamson, Office of Networking Services, Rice University
Peter da Silva
separate command, "dsw". The man page for it never did explain what it stood
for, though occasionally someone would come up with an explanation.
The "official" explanation seems to be that in an early version it monitored
the front panel, so you could "Delete by Switch Register".
I've also heard it stood for "delete shit work" (or shitty).
So, what'sit?
--
Har du kramat din varg idag?
Donald J. Gregory
: In article <34pbh6$d...@hermes.coventry.ac.uk>,
: Kay Dekker <k...@vide.coventry.ac.uk> wrote:
: >Christopher T. Barber <c...@mitre.org> wrote:
: >>I've never heard "deep six" refer to burial, only to (usually useless)
: >>objects. At sea, the phrase is "commit her/his body to the deep". On
: >>land, one would "put it six feet under".
: >
: >The one place that I have encountered this phrase was in the
: >command repertoire of CANDE, the Command AND Edit interface
: >for the Burroughs B6700 computer, in which the DS command was
: >used to terminate a process. I was told, when I asked about
: >this puzzling command name, that it came from the phrase "deep
: >six"; I can't say that that enlightened me much...
: The control command 'DS' predates the B6700. It was used to terminate a
: process in the '60s on the B-5500. I was there. But, in all my years I
: have never hears DS to mean Deep-Six. It does make sense though. I'll
: cross post this to comp.sys.unisys. Some one there might know.
When I was in grad school at UCSD, I interviewed Bob Barton, who was
one of the original designers of the B5000 computer system. He told
me that the original team was a bunch of ex-Navy guys. The command
'DS' really does mean "deep six", but no one in Unisys will admit it
anymore.
I cited this piece of folklore in my WFL book because 'DS' is also
used as a history status, to indicate a process that did not
terminate normally (which is EOT). It was the best explanation
I could find for the term.
: >
: >I've taken the liberty of crossposting this to alt.folklore.computers
: >to validate this (there must be some CANDE users still around),
: CANDE is alive and well and living on the A-Series.
: >and to ask about other little Burroughs gems that I've heard, such
: >as that the part of the operating system which spawned new processes
: >was known as the "MotherForker", and that the security subsystem
: >was called "J_Edgar_Hoover".
: References to procedures such as MOTHERFORKER and JEDGARHOOVER were truly
: in the code but were expunged by directive in the early 80s. There was
: nothing really vulgar. Just fun.
Actually, MOTHERFORKER was expunged circa 1970. It seems that an
older female employee of an establishment in Great Britain attended
an MCP class back then. She was not amused when they studied the
procedures MOTHERFORKER, FATHERFORKER, and the name of the queue
from which their offspring were sprung (three guesses what it was...).
Her site demanded it be removed. The coders who put it in were
almost fired.
When they renamed them, they took random words out of the dictionary.
That is how MOTHERFORKER became ANABOLISM, which it still is today.
FATHERFORKER was originally renamed something like ROSACEOUS (rosy,
lovelike), then changed again.
JEDGARHOOVER is still in the MCP. He handles security. If you
do something wrong, your task gets sentenced to be "kangarooed"
by the kangaroo court (KANGAROO). Being kangarooed is the same
as being DS-ed.
This code was all written around 1968, during the Viet Nam protests,
and some of that spirit still survives. There are also references
to TV shows of the time. Why else is the procedure for waiting
on a time period called TIMETUNNEL?
There is a lot of folklore in the history of the A-Series. Somebody
should write a history book some day.
Don Gregory
Michael B. Smith
> > The control command 'DS' predates the B6700. It was used to terminate a
> > process in the '60s on the B-5500. I was there. But, in all my years I
> > have never hears DS to mean Deep-Six. It does make sense though. I'll
> > cross post this to comp.sys.unisys. Some one there might know.
> The control command 'DS' means Discontinue (a job or task) and was used on
> Large Systems (B6500/B6700) and Medium Systems (B2500/B3500). It is still
> used on A Series and V Series today.
Discontinue was added as the "official" name for DS during the manual rewrites
in the mid-to-late 80's, I think. Note that "DC" would fit that MUCH better. ;)
The "deep-six" explanation comes from commentary in the old ESPOL MCP. My
memory is that the define for DSV used to say "deep-six the mother"; but it's
been many years....
--
// Michael B. Smith
\X/ m...@adastra.cvl.va.us -or- uunet.uu.net!virginia.edu!adastra!mbs
Gert Koning
> in the code but were expunged by directive in the early 80s. There was
> nothing really vulgar. Just fun.
> The DCALGOL (Burroughs Extended ALGOL plus Datacomm extensions) source
> code of CANDE consists of mainly two cooperating processes. One called
> BUMP, the other GRIND. I think these still survive.
One message I remember was: "Death in family". This happended if you DSed a
parent process while one more child processes were still running.
--
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Department of Computer Services
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Edward Reid
> in the mid-to-late 80's, I think.
Discontinue has been the official long name since at least the early
'70s on the B6700 and successors. You could (and can) even type out
discontinue in full. The deep-six alternative has always been
unofficial on the B6700/A-Series. Can't speak for the B5500.
Edward Reid e...@titipu.resun.com re...@freenet.tlh.fl.us
Charlie Gibbs
>Christopher T. Barber <c...@mitre.org> wrote:
>>I've never heard "deep six" refer to burial, only to (usually useless)
>>objects. At sea, the phrase is "commit her/his body to the deep".
>>On land, one would "put it six feet under".
>
>The one place that I have encountered this phrase was in the
>command repertoire of CANDE, the Command AND Edit interface
>for the Burroughs B6700 computer, in which the DS command was
>used to terminate a process. I was told, when I asked about
>this puzzling command name, that it came from the phrase "deep
>six"; I can't say that that enlightened me much...
I never used CANDE myself, but a friend of mine used to operate and
program a B1700 on the afternoon shift, and I'd often visit him and
we'd hack around a bit. DS was also a console command to kill a
running job. Word was that DS stood for DiScontinue.
Charli...@mindlink.bc.ca
Heave-ho: when you get seasick, and you've eaten too much ho.
Edward Reid
> When they renamed them, they took random words out of the dictionary.
> That is how MOTHERFORKER became ANABOLISM, which it still is today.
> FATHERFORKER was originally renamed something like ROSACEOUS (rosy,
> lovelike), then changed again.
ANABOLISM is clearly not a random choice. The word means "constructive
metabolism" -- loosely, "growth" -- and the procedure builds a task
(process) structure. ROSACEOUS is a bit more obscure, but flowering (or
deflowering) certainly fits within the growth cycle - family analogy used
for much of the terminology of A-Series processes.
Edward Reid e...@titipu.resun.com re...@freenet.tlh.fl.us
John Ahlstrom
Much deleted
>This code was all written around 1968, during the Viet Nam protests,
>and some of that spirit still survives. There are also references
>to TV shows of the time. Why else is the procedure for waiting
>on a time period called TIMETUNNEL?
>There is a lot of folklore in the history of the A-Series. Somebody
>should write a history book some day.
>Don Gregory
I was a 5500/6700/7700 customer and 1700MCP writer
in the late 60s and early 70s. For television tie-ins
there were procedures in the 5500 TimeSharing MCP named
FatAlbert and OldWierdHarold
The comment at the head of OldWierdHarold stated that it
did "many strange and wonderous things, some of which are useful".
There was also a procedure dedicated to a sgt of the CA
National Guard who threw down his rifle and joined the
protesters at a Berkeley anti-war rally. I'm sorry
I do not remember his name.
Then there was the comment in the 1700 virtual memory manager
Yesterday I had a scare.
I used some code that wasn't there.
It wasn't there again today.
Oh, how I wish that it would stay.
--
John Ahlstrom I can neither confirm nor deny
Boole & Babbage that these opinions are or are not
San Jose CA 95134 held by anyone else.
INTERNET: j...@boole.com phone 408-526-3307 fax 408526-3055
Gene Mutschler
My understanding from one of the people innvolved is that it basically was
indeed a random choice, but a fortuitous one. The poeple involved nearly
lost their jobs when top management found about the names, and they were in
kind of a hurry to get the names changed.
Marc Wiz
Gene Mutschler <gmts...@pcs.mv-oc.unisys.com> wrote:
>In article <0101006...@titipu.resun.com> e...@titipu.resun.com (Edward Reid) writes:
>>dgre...@netcom.com (Donald J. Gregory) writes:
>>> When they renamed them, they took random words out of the dictionary.
>>> That is how MOTHERFORKER became ANABOLISM, which it still is today.
>>> FATHERFORKER was originally renamed something like ROSACEOUS (rosy,
>>> lovelike), then changed again.
>>
>>
>
>indeed a random choice, but a fortuitous one. The poeple involved nearly
>lost their jobs when top management found about the names, and they were in
>kind of a hurry to get the names changed.
I had a whale of a good time designing the new job control architecture
for the V series MCP back around 1987.
I and the other people who I solicited input from on the design
for the product got pretty outrageous with talk of children, incest,
suicide, homicide and probably many other things I've forgotten.
I was asked to tone things down when word got out.
Marc ex-V-series and ISC hacker for V-series.
--
Marc
ma...@wiz.com
Yes, that really is my last name.