A deep dive into the convoluted and fascinating story of one of the most important keys on the keyboard
  • rothaine@lemmy.zip
    27·
    12 days ago

    Fun read!

    And even today, anyone who has worked on a project where some developers are on Windows and some are not has probably encountered the fun that is configuring autocrlf in Git: Windows uses CRLF (“carriage return, line feed”) as a line ending in text files, while other systems just use LF.

    • hperrin@lemmy.caEnglish
      8·
      12 days ago

      Personally, I think carriage return line feed makes more sense in the context of a printer carriage. But then, how often are people using printers like that?

      • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
        61·
        12 days ago

        It was probably designed like that because line printers were the thing in the early days of Windows.

        • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
          4·
          12 days ago

          That’s in TFA.

          Having two characters: CR followed by LF allowed time for a teletype to physically return its carriage before printing the next printable character.

        • Default Username@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          3·
          12 days ago

          Not sure about that. Even the IBM 5150, which was the computer where DOS was first released and also coined the term “PC”, had a video card come as standard.

        • piccolo@sh.itjust.works
          1·
          9 days ago

          Unix was developed in 1969. MS-DOS (from where Windows inherits its baggage) was developed in 1981. And DOS was basically a clone of CP/M developed in 1974.

          So I dont see why windows would be designed with line printers in mind when its younger than unix. Its even more strange because CP/M and DOS were “microcomputer” OS and unlikely to ever operate a teletyper, while unix was primarily a mainframe OS that certainly would be operating a teletyper.

          Then you have MacOs being a weirdo and just using CR.

  • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    12 days ago

    I learned to type on an IBM typewriter in school back in the early 80s, I got a D in the class, but a few years later, when I got my first computer, that training would become very useful.

    I went from typewriter to keyboard, but I only vaguely remember needing to learn the nuances of a computer keyboard–Ctrl, Alt, Del, Ins, Home, End, etc. It all seems so natural, now, moving between word processing, to graphic design, to games, using the same keyboard for very different tasks.

    I sit here, now, typing on my favorite keyboard of the past 15 years, the Logitech K800. I own three of this model, and only two still work. Sadly, the K800 was discontinued, and it’s virtually impossible to find one for sale, they’re highly sought after by those who love them. I was shocked they discontinued it, considering its popularity. Maybe it became too costly to make?

    • Sundray@lemmus.orgEnglish
      1·
      11 days ago

      It’s funny, I learned how to type on a computer, and the first time I had to use an actual typewriter, I nearly jumped out of my chair on account of how LOUD it was.