From: smueller@microsoft.com (Stephan Mueller) Subject: RE: using cat on binary files (CTRL-Z trauma) 29 Oct 1996 18:05:56 -0800 Sender: daemon@cygnus.com Approved: cygnus.gnu-win32@cygnus.com Distribution: cygnus Message-ID: Original-To: "'jqb@netcom.com'" , "'dj@delorie.com'" Original-Cc: "'kerr@wizard.net'" , "'noer@cygnus.com'" , "'gnu-win32@cygnus.com'" X-Mailer: Microsoft Exchange Server Internet Mail Connector Version 4.0.994.56 Encoding: 36 TEXT Original-Sender: owner-gnu-win32@cygnus.com I have my suspicions about which direction that class-action suit might be aimed, so I'd like to point out that MS-DOS inherited the in-band EOF indicator from CP/M. Backwards compatibility, while backwards, is fortunately, compatible. But before the suit changes direction towards Digital Research (which will be hard to find :-/) I'll mention that the reason CP/M has an in-band EOF is because its file system was more primitive than those we have now, maintaining only a count of disk blocks for a file, and not a count of bytes. An application then, needed to itself know when the actual file data ended, and this was done using the inband ^Z. At the time, it was a clever solution. When it's time to get actual work done, one often finds that real users would gladly live with the 'backward' than give up the 'compatible.' stephan(); >-----Original Message----- >From: jqb@netcom.com [SMTP:jqb@netcom.com] >Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 1996 1:35 PM >To: dj@delorie.com >Cc: kerr@wizard.net; noer@cygnus.com; gnu-win32@cygnus.com >Subject: Re: using cat on binary files (CTRL-Z trauma) > >Maybe we can file a class action suit for a few billion against the turkey >who >unleashed on the world a system with such fundamentally bad design decisions >as a two-character EOL indicator and an in-band EOF indicator. > >-- > > >- >For help on using this list, send a message to >"gnu-win32-request@cygnus.com" with one line of text: "help". - For help on using this list, send a message to "gnu-win32-request@cygnus.com" with one line of text: "help".