JargonFile/entries/bucky bits.txt

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2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
bucky bits
2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
/buhkee bits/ , n. 1. [obs.] The bits produced by the CONTROL and META shift
keys on a SAIL keyboard (octal 200 and 400 respectively), resulting in a
9-bit keyboard character set. The MIT AI TV (Knight) keyboards extended this
with TOP and separate left and right CONTROL and META keys, resulting in a
12-bit character set; later, LISP Machines added such keys as SUPER, HYPER,
and GREEK (see space-cadet keyboard ). 2. By extension, bits associated with
extra shift keys on any keyboard, e.g., the ALT on an IBM PC or command and
option keys on a Macintosh. It has long been rumored that bucky bits were
named for Buckminster Fuller during a period when he was consulting at
Stanford. Actually, bucky bits were invented by Niklaus Wirth when he was at
Stanford in 1964--65; he first suggested the idea of an EDIT key to set the
8th bit of an otherwise 7-bit ASCII character). It seems that, unknown to
Wirth, certain Stanford hackers had privately nicknamed him Bucky after a
prominent portion of his dental anatomy, and this nickname transferred to
the bit. Bucky-bit commands were used in a number of editors written at
Stanford, including most notably TV-EDIT and NLS. The term spread to MIT and
CMU early and is now in general use. Ironically, Wirth himself remained
unaware of its derivation for nearly 30 years, until GLS dug up this history
in early 1993! See double bucky , quadruple bucky.