From d2ed789a2045880b1527b13bdc81879c6f3f900b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Eric S. Raymond" Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2014 17:07:48 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Transplant some news. --- NEWS | 23 +++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 23 insertions(+) diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS index 2ce69de..9613c54 100644 --- a/NEWS +++ b/NEWS @@ -24,3 +24,26 @@ Repository head: Versions up to 1.5 wwere pre-version-control and cannot be precisely dated, but I believe I ported the program to Unix in mid-1991. +Why this matters: + + Back when I was first working on the Jargon File, I distributed + it for a while in a flat-text form in which all the references to + entries were surrounded by curly brtaces, a la "{foo}". A guy + named Ray Gardner thought "Hey, why don't I..." and write what we'd + now call a browser for the File - it was screen-oriented, could + page up and down, and could chase links. The right and left arrow keys + hopped from link to link on the page; press enter on a link and go + to the entry. The idea for the browser was Ray's, but some of + the interface polish was mine. + + What makes this interesting is that we weren't imitating the text-mode + lynx browser and the World Wide Web - we were anticipating it. + Shortly after vh's first release in 1991 I got email from a then-obscure + programmer named Tim Berners-Lee hinting that he was doing some + hypertext-related stuff and asking if I might be interested in + collaborating on some standards. I replied "yes", but never + heard back from him. + + Of course Tim Berners-Lee didn't stay obscure for very long after + 1991. I've wondered ever since if Ray Gardner and I actually + influenced the design of HTML. If I ever meet Sir Tim, I'll ask him. -- 2.43.0