Post #1806130

2026-04-28 20:39 UTC

I ran across and scanned an old document recently that describes the command set for TECO-based Emacs on the MIT ITS operating system in the very early 1980s, probably, although the document is not dated. I think I either produced it, or had a hand in how it was produced. But in any case, the grouping and layout suits me in terms of describing why certain commands are related to one another, and making it easier to see why particular letters were chosen as mnemonics. TECO was the language Emacs was originally implemented in, before it was ported to gnu. ITS was an MIT-written operating system for the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) PDP-10, a main frame processor whose architecture also spanned the TOPS-20 operating system (though I&#39;m blurring some details). http://nhplace.com/kent/History/emacs/Emacs-Command-Index.pdf This is part of an ongoing project where I&#39;m sifting some things in boxes at my house, trying to get rid of stuff I don&#39;t need. Some of it is getting scanned, other things just going to the trash. #emacs #ComputerHistory #ITS #TECO #Lisp #KentsHistoryProject

Replies (8)

@screwlisp@gamerplus.org 2026-04-28 20:41

@kentpitman@climatejustice.social This is an absolutely great document.

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@ireneista@adhd.irenes.space 2026-04-28 20:44

@kentpitman@climatejustice.social NICE!!!! thanks for helping to preserve the history. as someone with a lifelong interest in text editor implementation and history, we're going to give this one a slow careful read.

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@jspath55@chaos.social 2026-04-28 21:48

@kentpitman@climatejustice.social Very cool. I remember being an undergrad doing term papers on my manual Olivetti portable typewriter (mid 1970s) while EE majors were using TECO on keypunch machines for their work. It was revolutionary.

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@Lsamuelson57@mastodon.social 2026-04-28 22:00

@kentpitman@climatejustice.social During a summer job (Compu-serv), the elite developers worked in TECO, while the rest of us used FILGE, a much less sophisticated line editor. I was so proud toward the end of summer as I started to get the hang of TECO. Brings back long forgotten memories... That summer we all celebrated the 200th anniversary of the declaration of imdependence.

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@kickingvegas@sfba.social 2026-04-28 22:28

@kentpitman@climatejustice.social Thanks for posting this. This seems especially notable as 2026 is the 50 year mark for #Emacs.

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@rayotron@mstdn.social 2026-04-28 22:50

@kentpitman@climatejustice.social Great post! It set me off on a Wikipedia fueled learning spree. Thanks!

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@leffe@social.linux.pizza 2026-04-28 22:57

@kentpitman@climatejustice.social Looks a bit similar to the C-h t (tutorial) that has been included since the TECO days. The M-x Wallchart is gone now, though.

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@alderson@mastodon.sdf.org 2026-04-29 03:45

@kentpitman@climatejustice.social I remember that chart from the directory on the DEC-20 at UChicago, where I first learned EMACS. I found (MIT) TECO so fascinating that I created my own variant with the TWENEX and TMACS/TMUCS libraries built in rather than loaded by the top level. You and RMS declared me the “official”maintainer when I published a Y2K fix for the KMPTIME library in 1999! ;-)

Open ##2369191