I've known and feared even the mention of tty, in the RAF we used RTTY (Radio TeleTYpe), it used to transmit a feeling of panic when from hundreds of yards away you could hear them chuntering away as you approached another shift with those instruments of torture. In the days when they used the same mechanical machines and punched tape for amateur radio RTTY, I swore I'd never have one around the house. I sighed a relief when computers obsoleted them once and for all. Having said that, before about the early 70's, computers used them as input/output consoles. I think I'm cured now, knowing they will never come back, hopefully. Regards Sid. Jerome Lyles wrote:

Thanks, I've always wondered about the y. Old morse code days,interesting:-)

On Tuesday 23 December 2003 10:03 pm, GarUlbricht7@netscape.net wrote:

...

Jerome Lyles wrote:

...

On Tuesday 23 December 2003 05:07 am, Mark Gray wrote:

...

Sid Boyce writes:

---<text snipped>-----

...

What does tty stand for (especially the y:-) Thanks, Jerome

Doing a quick google search I cam across this:

"tty - Definition:

/tit'ee/ (ITS pronunciation, but some Unix people say it this way as well; this pronunciation is not considered to have sexual undertones), /T T Y/

1. teletypewriter.

2. (Especially Unix) Any terminal at all; sometimes used to refer to the particular terminal controlling a given job (it is also the name of a Unix command which outputs the name of the current controlling terminal).

3. (Unix) Any serial port, whether or not the device connected to it is a terminal; so called because under Unix such devices have names of the form tty*. Ambiguity between senses 2 and 3 is common but seldom bothersome.

4. A TDD.

from: [Jargon File] COPYRIGHT © 2000-2003 WEBNOX CORP. http://www.hyperdictionary.com/computing/tty

----

Neal Stephenson also give a definition is his book: "In the beginning..." but I can't find it right this minute:

The "y" is left over from the old morse code days... "r" was harder to send ....

-- In the Beginning was the Command Line ---Neal Stephenson

-- Sid Boyce .... Hamradio G3VBV and keen Flyer Linux Only Shop.