Subject: Re: Where did . come from
To: Hgntkwis@vfemail.net, LKML <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
References: <20160324002948.7fb87217@ulgy_thing>
From: Casey Schaufler <casey@schaufler-ca.com>
Message-ID: <56F419F2.8030600@schaufler-ca.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2016 09:46:42 -0700
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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
>
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