On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 03:19:50 -0400, i18n@... <i18n@...> wrote:

> Nicholas Bodley wrote:
>
>> Well, it's pretty obscure info.; have seen it only a very few times,
>> but it's memorable.

> Yes it is memorable. Especially in the sw internationalization business,
> [...]

Okay, I got off my figurative duff and Googled Until Found.

Google on ["forward slash" "directory separator" MS-DOS]; that gives a
good number of hits. I stopped at the first one that had a decent
description.

One hit is
<http://discuss.fogcreek.com/joelonsoftware/default.asp?cmd=show&ixPost=3389>

Scroll down about 35%, and see

"Because MS-DOS used the '/' for options, which it got from CP/M, which in
turn got it from RX-11, which may have originated it. [...]"
Following that, you'll see what I was fussing about. Author is Sean
Conner, and he posted on Sunday, February 03, 2002.

It's not the only such statement. MS-DOS is small enough for people to
(illegally?) disassemble it, and discover this for themselves. Whether
this is how most who know it found out, I doubt; word simply spread, I'd
say.

Apologies for all the computer detail; however, what's being discussed is
the meaning of a weird and wondrous (okay, 20% "w. & w.") symbol.

Regards,

--
Nicholas Bodley /*|*\ Waltham, Mass. (Not "MA")
The curious hermit -- autodidact and polymath
Pretty evening sky show: Go see!
<http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/26aug_sunset.htm>