Where did . come from

Where did . come from

[Hgntkwis]

Granted, you need something to signify that a file is a dir (remember,
in linux everything is a file), and what the parent dir is.
I'm assuming that the kernel folks decided the name, or at least have
some idea about it.
I'm not objecting, it's fine, I just want to know this history behind the
decision to use . instead of say $ or %.

Thanks, David

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Re: Where did . come from

[Casey Schaufler]

On 3/23/2016 9:29 PM, Hgntkwis@vfemail.net wrote:
> Granted, you need something to signify that a file is a dir (remember,
> in linux everything is a file), and what the parent dir is.
> I'm assuming that the kernel folks decided the name, or at least have
> some idea about it.
> I'm not objecting, it's fine, I just want to know this history behind the
> decision to use . instead of say $ or %.

Minimum amount of ink used on a TTY33.
No, I'm not kidding. It dates back to the UNIX systems of the 1970's.

>
> Thanks, David
>
> -------------------------------------------------
>
> ONLY AT VFEmail! - Use our Metadata Mitigator to keep your email out of the NSA's hands!
> $24.95 ONETIME Lifetime accounts with Privacy Features!  
> 15GB disk! No bandwidth quotas!
> Commercial and Bulk Mail Options!  
>