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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no" />
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<title>History of UNIX Manpages</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/history.css" />
<script src="css/imageMapResizer.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<h1>
History of UNIX Manpages
</h1>
<div class="subhead">
An appendix of <a href="index.html">Practical UNIX Manpages</a>
</div>
<p class="first">
Where do UNIX manpages come from? Who introduced the section-based layout of <b>NAME</b>, <b>SYNOPSIS</b>, and so on?
And for manpage authors: where were those economical two- and three-letter instructions developed?
</p>
<p>
The many accounts available on the Internet lack citations and are at times inconsistent.
In this article, I reconstruct the history of the UNIX manpage based on source code, manuals, and first-hand accounts.
</p>
<p>
Special thanks to <a href="http://www.piercefuller.com/">Paul Pierce</a> for his
<abbr title="Compatible Time-Sharing System">CTSS</abbr>
<a href="http://www.piercefuller.com/library/ctss.html">source archive</a>; Bernard Nivelet for the
<a href="http://web.mit.edu/multics-history/source/Multics_Internet_Server/Multics_sources.html">Multics Internet
Server</a>; the <a href="http://www.tuhs.org">UNIX Heritage Society</a> for their research UNIX <a
href="http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl">source reconstruction</a>; <a href="#ritter">Gunnar Ritter</a> for the <a
href="http://heirloom.sourceforge.net/index.html">Heirloom Project sources</a>; <a
href="http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/wps/portal/BellLabs">Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs</a> for the <a
href="http://plan9.bell-labs.com/sources/plan9/sys/src/">Plan 9 sources</a>; <a
href="http://www.bitsavers.org/">BitSavers</a> for their historical archive; and last but not least, Rudd Canaday, James
Clarke, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, Nils-Peter Nelson, Jerome Saltzer, Henry Spencer, Ken Thompson, and Tom Van
Vleck for their valuable <a href="history/">contributions</a>.
</p>
<p>
Please see the <a href="#copyright">Copyright</a> section if you plan on reproducing parts of this work.
</p>
<h2>
Timeline
</h2>
<figure>
<figcaption>
The development of UNIX manpages can be divided into the <a class="prehistory"
href="#prehistory">Prehistory</a>, before UNIX; the
<a href="#classical" class="classical">Classical Age</a>, during the development of UNIX; and the
<a href="#renaissance" class="renaissance">Renaissance</a>, where traditional UNIX utilities were re-written.
In this chart, I show all known formatters of manpages (and their logical precursors before <q>manpages</q>
existed as such).
</figcaption>
<div id="manpagesbox">
<img src="history.png" alt="Timeline of UNIX manpage utilities" usemap="#manpages" />
</div>
<div id="manpageslongbox">
<img src="history-long.png" alt="Timeline of UNIX manpage utilities" usemap="#long-manpages" />
</div>
</figure>
<h3 id="prehistory">
Prehistory
</h3>
<dl>
<dt id="x1964_RUNOFF">
1964: <span class="cmd">RUNOFF</span> (<a href="#saltzer">Jerome H. Saltzer</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
<a href="#saltzer">Saltzer</a> wrote the <span class="cmd">RUNOFF</span> utility for <abbr
title="Massachusettes Institute of Technology">MIT</abbr>'s
<abbr title="International Business Machines">IBM</abbr>
7094 <abbr title="Compatible Time-Sharing System">CTSS</abbr> operating system in
the <abbr title="Michigan Algorithm Decoder">MAD</abbr> computer language.
Its legacy is considerable:
not only do contemporary manpages inherit from <span class="cmd">RUNOFF</span>, many of them, in fact,
use instructions identical to those specified in the original <span class="cmd">RUNOFF</span> manual.
</p>
<blockquote cite="http://web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/ctss/AH.9.01.pdf">
<p>
Input generally consists of English text, 36O or fewer characters to a line. Control words must
begin a new line, and they begin with a period so that they may be distinguished from other
text. <span class="cmd">RUNOFF</span> does not print the control words.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
Of the many abbreviated <span class="cmd">RUNOFF</span> control words, macros such as <code>sp</code>
and <code>br</code> are still common-place. According to <a href="#saltzer">Saltzer</a> and the source
literature, the syntax of <span class="cmd">RUNOFF</span> inherits loosely from the prior <span
class="cmd">DITTO</span>, <span class="cmd">MEMO</span>, and <span class="cmd">MODIFY</span> utilities
by M. J. Leslie Lowry, Fernando J. Corbató, and J. Richard Steinberg, 1963. The original purpose
of <span class="cmd">RUNOFF</span> was to format <a href="#saltzer">Saltzer</a>'s doctoral thesis
proposal.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a class="ref-link" href="http://www.piercefuller.com/library/ctss.html">CTSS source
listings</a>, hosted by <a href="http://www.piercefuller.com/">Paul Pierce</a>.
</li>
<li>
RUNOFF source: <a href="history/RUNOFF_mad_archive.txt">MAD</a>, <a
href="history/RUNOFF_fap_archive.txt">FAP</a> supporting routines, and the <a
href="history/RUNOFF_fap_support.txt">interface</a> for the supporting routines.
Provided by Mr. Saltzer.
</li>
<li>
Jerome H. Saltzer, <i><a
href="http://web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/ctss/AH.9.01.pdf">Manuscript Typing
and Editing</a></i>, section AH.9.01 of <i>The Compatible Time-Sharing System, A
Programmers Guide</i>, Patricia Crisman, editor (second edition). M.I.T. Press, 1965
(revised December 1966). (<a
href="http://web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/ctss/AH.9.01.html">HTML</a>)
</li>
<li>
Jerome H. Saltzer, <i><a
href="http://mit.edu/saltzer/www/publications/CC-244.pdf">TYPSET and RUNOFF,
memorandum editor and type-out commands</a></i>, <i>M.I.T. Computation Center
Memorandum</i>, CC-244. 6 November, 1964.
(<a href="http://mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/CC-244.html">HTML</a>)
</li>
<li>
M. J. Leslie Lowry, Fernando J. Corbató, and J. Richard Steinberg,
<i><a href="history/CC-205.pdf">Memo, Modify, and Ditto Commands in the Compatible
Time Sharing System</a></i>, <i>M.I.T. Computation Center Memorandum</i>, CC-205. 11
March, 1963. Provided by Mr Saltzer.
</li>
<li>
Jerome Saltzer, <i><a href="history/saltzer_22_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history: CTSS
RUNOFF</a></i>. 22 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Jerome Saltzer, <i><a href="history/saltzer_06_11_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history: CTSS
RUNOFF</a></i>. 06 November, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1966_RUNOFF">
1966: <span class="cmd">RUNOFF</span> (<a href="#canaday">Rudd Canaday</a>) (<b>UNCERTAIN</b>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
While working at AT&T Bell Labs' Whippany centre, <a href="#canaday">Canaday</a> led a porting
effort of the <abbr title="Compatible Time-Sharing System">CTSS</abbr> at
<abbr title="Massachusettes Institute of Technology">MIT</abbr> to the GE-635 (in 635 assembly). The <a class="cmd"
href="#x1964_RUNOFF">RUNOFF</a> utility is suspected to be part of this port. The ported <abbr
title="Compatible Time-Sharing System">CTSS</abbr> was originally intended as a prototype (to be
replaced by Nike hardware), but ended up being used for five more years. No sources could be located
for this CTSS port.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Rudd Canaday, <i><a href="history/canaday_27_10_2011.txt">the Old Days</a></i>. 27
October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons and Tom Van Vleck.
</li>
<li>
Rudd Canaday, <i><a href="history/canaday_24_10_2011.txt">the Old Days</a></i>. 24
October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons and Tom Van Vleck.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1967_roff">
1967: <span class="cmd">roff</span> (<a href="#morris">Robert Morris</a>) (<b>UNCERTAIN</b>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Little is known about this speculated port of <a href="#x1964_RUNOFF" class="cmd">RUNOFF</a>, only that
it was called <span class="cmd">roff</span> and probably ran on Bell Labs'
<abbr title="General Comprehensive Operating System">GCOS</abbr>-II GE-635. <a href="#ritchie">Ritchie</a> is commonly cited
as participating in this port, and this is not disputed. <a href="#canaday">Canaday</a> is also
mentioned as an author, though this is not the case by his own account. Both <a
href="#mcilroy">McIlroy</a> and <a href="#saltzer">Saltzer</a> speculate that this version, if written,
was likely in <abbr title="Basic Combined Programming Language">BCPL</abbr>, much like <a class="cmd"
href="#x1969">runoff</a>.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Douglas McIlroy, <i><a href="history/mcilroy_21_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history:
runoff</a></i>. 21 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Douglas McIlroy, <i><a href="history/mcilroy_22_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history:
runoff</a></i>. 22 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Douglas McIlroy, <i><a href="history/mcilroy_23_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history:
runoff</a></i>. 23 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Jerome Saltzer, <i><a href="history/saltzer_22_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history: CTSS
RUNOFF</a></i>. 22 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Jerome Saltzer, <i><a href="history/saltzer_23_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history: CTSS
RUNOFF</a></i>. 23 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Rudd Canaday, <i><a href="history/canaday_27_10_2011.txt">the Old Days</a></i>. 27
October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons and Tom Van Vleck.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1967_SCRIPT">
1967: <span class="cmd">SCRIPT</span> (<a href="#madnick">Stuart Madnick</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
In 1967, <a href="#madnick">Madnick</a> ported the <a class="cmd" href="#x1964_RUNOFF">RUNOFF</a> code
to the <abbr title="International Business Machines">IBM</abbr> CP67/CMS at IBM as <span
class="cmd">SCRIPT</span>. The documentation of <span class="cmd">SCRIPT</span> explicitly mentions the
backspace-encoding convention used to this day by manpage formatters on UNIX terminals (of course, this
was common practise in mechanical type-writers before then):
</p>
<blockquote cite="http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/360/cp67/">
<p>
Thus the backspace key allows underscoring and overprinting at the terminal for <span
class="cmd">SCRIPT</span> files. The logical backspace character prints only when entered and
does not take up a column in the record; it logically backspaces one column...
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
Source code for the original re-write of <a class="cmd" href="#x1964_RUNOFF">RUNOFF</a> could not be
located, although a considerable amount of documentation exists for this utility. The dates of <a
href="#madnick">Madnick</a>'s porting derive from his publication and independent accounts.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Stuart E. Madnick and Allen Moulton, <i><a
href="http://web.mit.edu/smadnick/www/papers/J002.pdf">SCRIPT, an On-line Manuscript
Processing System</a></i>, <i>IEEE Transactions on Engineering Writing and Speech</i>,
Vol. EWS-11, No. 2. August, 1968.
</li>
<li>
<i><a href="http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/360/cp67/">Control Program-67/Cambridge
Monitor System (CP67/CMS) User's Guide</a></i>, Version 3, Program Number
3600-05.2.005. October, 1970.
</li>
<li>
Jerome Saltzer, <i><a href="history/saltzer_22_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history: CTSS
RUNOFF</a></i>. 22 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1969">
1969: <span class="cmd">runoff</span> (<a href="#mcilroy">Douglas McIlroy</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
In 1969, <a href="#mcilroy">McIlroy</a> released an influential
<abbr title="Basic Combined Programming Language">BCPL</abbr> port of <a class="cmd" href="#x1964_RUNOFF">RUNOFF</a> <q>to extend the runoff
model</q> to the <abbr title="General Electric Comprehensive Operating Supervisor">GECOS</abbr> GE-645
computer at AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill. He did not refer to the CTSS <a class="cmd"
href="#x1964_RUNOFF">RUNOFF</a> source code in writing <span class="cmd">runoff</span>, nor any other
speculated derivatives of <a href="#saltzer">Saltzer</a>'s utility. The progress of this utility
subsequent 1969 is recorded in the Multics <abbr title="Basic Combined Programming Language">BCPL</abbr>
source as ported by R. F. Mabee:
</p>
<blockquote cite="http://web.mit.edu/multics-history/source/Multics/ldd/system_library_standard/source/bound_runoff_.s.archive">
<p>
The first <span class="cmd">ROFF</span> for Multics was written in March, 1969, by Doug <a
href="#mcilroy">McIlroy</a> of Bell Labs. Art Evans made extensive modifications to it in May
and June, 1969, adding many comments and making various changes. Footnoting added by Dennis
Capps in 1970. Maintained by Harwell Thrasher in 1971. Many new features added and bugs fixed
by R Mabee in 1971-1972. <span class="cmd">RUNOFF</span> and BCPL were brought over to the 6180
Multics (from 645) in May of 1973 by R F Mabee.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
<a href="#mcilroy">McIlroy</a>'s port is at times referred to as <span class="cmd">runoff</span>, at
times as <span class="cmd">roff</span>. The reason for renaming is not entirely clear: <q>I see that I
called it <span class="cmd">runoff</span> in 1969. By 1971 it was <span class="cmd">roff</span>. Now
I'm not so sure I got the name from <a href="#morris">Morris</a>. Conceivably it came from <a
href="#thompson">Thompson</a>, who was big on shortening names. My 1971 description came in January;
the first ediion [sic] Unix manual is dated December 1971.</q>
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a class="ref-link"
href="http://web.mit.edu/multics-history/source/Multics/ldd/system_library_standard/source/bound_runoff_.s.archive">
Runoff source listings</a>, hosted by the <a
href="http://web.mit.edu/multics-history/source/Multics_Internet_Server/Multics.html">Multics
Internet Server</a>. A copy of the <a href="history/runoff.s.gz"><span
class="cmd">runoff</span> source file</a> is available locally under the file's license
terms.
</li>
<li>
Douglas McIlroy, <i><a href="history/roff71.low.pdf">Roff</a></i>, AT&T Bell Labs
Technical Memorandum. 12 January, 1971. Available with permission of the author. (<a
href="history/roff71.high.pdf.gz">High-quality</a> version.)
</li>
<li>
Douglas McIlroy, <i><a href="history/runoff69.low.pdf">Runoff</a></i>, AT&T Bell
Labs Technical Memorandum. 17 September, 1969. Available with permission of the
author. (<a href="history/runoff69.high.pdf.gz">High-quality</a> version.)
</li>
<li>
Douglas McIlroy, <i><a href="history/mcilroy_21_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history:
runoff</a></i>. 21 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Douglas McIlroy, <i><a href="history/mcilroy_22_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history:
runoff</a></i>. 22 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Douglas McIlroy, <i><a href="history/mcilroy_28_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history:
runoff</a></i>. 28 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Jerome Saltzer, <i><a href="history/saltzer_22_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history: CTSS
RUNOFF</a></i>. 22 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1974_compose">
1974: <span class="cmd">compose</span> (<a href="#capps">Dennis Capps</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
The <span class="cmd">compose</span> utility, né <span class="cmd">runoff</span>, was a port of
<a href="#x1964_RUNOFF" class="cmd">RUNOFF</a> to PL/1 by <a href="#capps">Capps</a> for the Multics
Honeywell 6180. It was later tuned and improved by Ed Wallman. Tom Van Vleck, Wallman's manager in
mid-1978, recounts the porting effort <q>to produce photo-typeset manuals and eliminate dependence on
<abbr title="Basic Combined Programming Language">BCPL</abbr></q>. (Note: the primary source
erroneously refers to <a href="#ossanna">Ossanna</a> as writing the
<abbr title="Basic Combined Programming Language">BCPL</abbr> <span class="cmd">runoff</span>; it was in fact <a
href="#mcilroy">McIlroy</a>.)
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
MTB-346, 1977-10-11, New runoff Revisited, Ed Wallman. (Not available.)
</li>
<li>
MTB-337, 1977-05-09, New runoff Implementation, Ed Wallman. (Not available.)
</li>
<li>
MTB-165, 1975-03-03, New Runoff, Dennis Capps. (Not available.)
</li>
<li>
Tom Van Vleck, <i><a href="history/vleck_22_10_2011.txt">Origin date of Wallman's
COMPOSE</a></i>. 22 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
<a class="ref-link"
href="http://web.mit.edu/multics-history/source/Multics/ldd/system_library_unbundled/source/bound_compose_.s.archive">
Compose source listings</a>, hosted by the <a
href="http://web.mit.edu/multics-history/source/Multics_Internet_Server/Multics.html">Multics
Internet Server</a>. A copy of the <a href="history/compose.s.gz"><span
class="cmd">compose</span> source file</a> is available locally under the file's license
terms.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
</dl>
<h3 id="classical">
Classical Age
</h3>
<dl>
<dt id="x1969_roff">
1969: <span class="cmd">roff</span> (<a href="#kernighan">Brian Kernighan</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
After being exposed to <a class="cmd" href="#x1964_RUNOFF">RUNOFF</a> while at <abbr
title="Massachusettes Institute of Technology">MIT</abbr> in summer 1966, <a
href="#kernighan">Kernighan</a> wrote a port in Fortran (for an IBM System/360) while working on his
doctoral thesis at Princeton (to format the thesis). By his account, the system was used for five more
years by the student agency. The punch-card source has long since been lost.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Brian Kernighan, <i><a href="history/kernighan_23_10_2011.txt">Reconstructing UNIX
manpage history: ditroff(1)</a></i>. 23 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Brian Kernighan, <i><a href="history/kernighan_26_10_2011.txt">Reconstructing UNIX
manpage history: ditroff(1)</a></i>. 26 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Brian Kernighan, <i><a href="history/roff69.low.pdf">Manuscript Printing under OS/360:
ROFF</a></i>. Available with permission of the author. (<a
href="history/roff69.high.pdf.gz">High-quality</a> version.)
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1970_rf">
1970: <span class="cmd">rf</span> (<a href="#thompson">Ken Thompson</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
<a href="#thompson">Thompson</a> wrote a PDP-7 port of either the <abbr title="Basic Combined
Programming Language">BCPL</abbr> <a class="cmd" href="#x1969">runoff</a> or directly from the <abbr
title="Compatible Time-Sharing System">CTSS</abbr> <a class="cmd" href="#x1964_RUNOFF">RUNOFF</a>. This
fork was an evolutionary dead-end, replaced by the PDP-11 <a class="cmd" href="#x1971">roff(1)</a> which
was written at around the same time. The source code for this port has long since been lost.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Ken Thompson, <i><a href="history/thompson_23_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpages & questions
regarding roff(1) history</a></i>. 23 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1971">
1971: <span class="cmd">roff(1)</span> (<a href="#ritchie">Dennis Ritchie</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Most of the programming team for Multics continued working with UNIX at AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill,
so it's no surprise that Multics <span class="cmd">runoff</span> was incorporated as UNIX <span
class="cmd">roff(1)</span> in Version 1 AT&T UNIX, 1971. This was a PDP-11 assembly-language port
of the <abbr title="Basic Combined Programming Language">BCPL</abbr> <a class="cmd"
href="#x1969">runoff</a>. According to <a href="#thompson">Thompson</a>, <span
class="cmd">roff(1)</span> for formatting patent applications was used as a justification for the PDP-11
purchase.
</p>
<p>
There are many differing accounts of who wrote this version, but most settle on <a
href="#ossanna">Ossanna</a>, <a href="#ritchie">Ritchie</a>, and <a href="#thompson">Thompson</a>.
However, the first-hand accounts of <a href="#mcilroy">McIlroy</a>, <a href="#kernighan">Kernighan</a>,
and Thompson settle on Ritchie as the primary author. This is corroborated by Ritchie's expertise in
<abbr title="Basic Combined Programming Language">BCPL</abbr>, as <span class="cmd">roff(1)</span> was
based upon McIlroy's <abbr title="Basic Combined Programming Language">BCPL</abbr> <a
href="#x1969" class="cmd">runoff</a>.
</p>
<p>
Unfortunately, the first <span class="cmd">roff(1)</span> version is lost. Some sources from Version 1
AT&T UNIX have been reconstructed from old tapes, but <span class="cmd">roff(1)</span> was not among
them. All that remains from this time are manual entries and first-hand accounts. However, the
PDP-11 source for Version 5 AT&T UNIX still exists, and by first-hand accounts, is a modified
form of the original.
</p>
<p>
Version 1 AT&T UNIX <span class="cmd">roff(1)</span> is also notable, regarding manpages, for its
release of the First Edition UNIX Programmer's Manual, which defines the manpage structure and layout
enjoyed in the present day. <a href="#thompson">Thompson</a> conceived of this convention, inspired by
the Multics MSPM, itself inspired by the CTSS manuals.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Joseph F. Ossanna, Dennis Ritchie, and Ken Thompson, <i><a
href="http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V1/man/man1/roff.1">roff</a></i>,
<i>UNIX Programmer's Manual</i>, First Edition, Section 1. November, 1971.
</li>
<li>
<a
href="http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V5/usr/source/s7">Version 5 AT&T
source listings</a>, hosted by the <a href="http://www.tuhs.org">UNIX Heritage
Society</a>.
</li>
<li>
Ken Thompson and Dennis M. Ritchie, <i><a
href="http://www.cs.bell-labs.com/who/dmr/1stEdman.html">UNIX Programmer's
Manual</a></i>, First Edition. November 3, 1971.
</li>
<li>
Table of contents and partial listing of the <a
href="http://www.multicians.org/mspmtoc.html">Multics System Programmer's Manual</a>,
hosted by <a href="http://www.multicians.org/">Multicians.org</a>.
</li>
<li>
Douglas McIlroy, <i><a href="history/mcilroy_21_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history:
runoff</a></i>. 21 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Douglas McIlroy, <i><a href="history/mcilroy_22_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history:
runoff</a></i>. 22 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Jerome Saltzer, <i><a href="history/saltzer_22_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history: CTSS
RUNOFF</a></i>. 22 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Brian Kernighan, <i><a href="history/kernighan_23_10_2011.txt">Reconstructing UNIX
manpage history: ditroff(1)</a></i>. 23 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Ken Thompson, <i><a href="history/thompson_23_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpages & questions
regarding roff(1) history</a></i>. 23 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1972">
1972: <span class="cmd">nroff(1)</span> (<a href="#ossanna">Joseph F. Ossanna</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
<a href="#ossanna">Ossanna</a> took over the PDP-11 <a class="cmd" href="#x1971">roff(1)</a> and built
<span class="cmd">nroff(1)</span>, which focussed on outputting text onto terminals, for Version 2
AT&T UNIX. The exact motivations for this are unknown, but are vaguely agreed as evolving the
utility and language to support more advanced formatting.
</p>
<p>
Unfortunately, a source record of the original effort is entirely lost; however, later versions of the
PDP-11 source (for Version 6 AT&T UNIX) and manual page (Version 3 AT&T UNIX) are available.
</p>
<p>
<a href="#thompson">Thompson</a> mentions that <span class="cmd">nroff(1)</span> introduced the notion
of programmable macros. This is corroborated by the Version 6 AT&T UNIX source for <span
class="cmd">nroff(1)</span>, where files under the prefix <span class="file">/usr/lib/tmac.</span> are
parsed for macros (see <span class="file">nroff.8</span> in the Version 6 AT&T archive). This same
behaviour is not reproduced in the <a class="cmd" href="#x1971">roff(1)</a> sources from the same time,
so it makes sense that this is the first appearance of macros.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Joseph F. Ossanna, Dennis Ritchie, and Ken Thompson, <i><a
href="http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V1/man/man1/roff.1">roff</a></i>,
<i>UNIX Programmer's Manual</i>, First Edition, Section 1. November, 1971.
</li>
<li>
Douglas McIlroy, <i><a href="history/mcilroy_21_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history:
runoff</a></i>. 21 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Ken Thompson, <i><a href="history/thompson_23_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpages & questions
regarding roff(1) history.</a></i>. 23 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
<i><a
href="http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V3/man/man1/nroff.1">nroff</a></i>,
<i>UNIX Programmer's Manual</i>, Third Edition, Section 1. 15 January, 1973.
</li>
<li>
<a
href="http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V6/usr/source/s7">Version 6 AT&T
source listings</a>, hosted by the <a href="http://www.tuhs.org">UNIX Heritage
Society</a>.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1973">
1973: <span class="cmd">troff(1)</span> (<a href="#ossanna">Joseph F. Ossanna</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
<a href="#ossanna">Ossanna</a> started writing <span class="cmd">troff(1)</span> from his PDP-11 <a
class="cmd" href="#x1972">nroff(1)</a> sources for Version 4 AT&T UNIX. It's widely asserted that
the driving motivation was to create output for the <abbr title="Computer Assisted
Typesetter">CAT</abbr> phototypesetter.
</p>
<p>
Original sources for this version of AT&T UNIX are also lost; however, the manual still exists, and
records of the PDP-11 source exist in raw tape data for Version 6 AT&T UNIX (which apparently
couldn't be reconstructed).
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Brian Kernighan, <i><a href="history/kernighan_23_10_2011.txt">Reconstructing UNIX
manpage history: ditroff(1)</a></i>. 23 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
<i><a
href="http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V4/man/man1/troff.1">troff</a></i>,
<i>UNIX Programmer's Manual</i>, Fourth Edition, Section 1. 6 November, 1973.
</li>
<li>
Ken Wellsch's <a
href="http://minnie.tuhs.org/Archive/PDP-11/Distributions/research/Ken_Wellsch_v6/">Version
6 AT&T UNIX tape archive</a>, hosted by the <a href="http://www.tuhs.org">UNIX
Heritage Society</a>.
</li>
<li>
<a
href="http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V6/usr/source/s7">Version 6 AT&T
source listings</a>, hosted by the <a href="http://www.tuhs.org">UNIX Heritage
Society</a>.
</li>
<li>
Douglas McIlroy, <i><a href="history/mcilroy_21_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history:
runoff</a></i>. 21 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1979">
1979: <span class="cmd">ditroff(1)</span> (<a href="#ossanna">Joseph F. Ossanna</a>, <a href="#kernighan">Brian Kernighan</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
In around 1975, <a href="#ossanna">Ossanna</a> re-wrote <a class="cmd" href="#x1973">troff(1)</a> in the
C-language. However, in 1977 this work was discontinued and sources were untouched for nearly two years
until resumed by <a href="#kernighan">Kernighan</a>:
</p>
<blockquote cite="history/kernighan_23_10_2011.txt">
<p>
After Joe <a href="#ossanna">Ossanna</a> died in late 1977, <a class="cmd"
href="#x1973">troff</a> was static for probably close to two years, since no one had the time
and courage to touch it. It was entirely in C at that point, somewhat over 9000 lines as I
remember. I simply modified it, gradually getting around some of the limitations on fonts,
making use of dynamic memory, and generating "device-independent" output for devices whose
properties were specified in dynamically loaded files.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
The result is the first intact UNIX <span class="cmd">troff(1)</span> source. By Version 7 AT&T
UNIX, both <span class="cmd">nroff(1)</span> and <span class="cmd">troff(1)</span> are built from the
same C sources, separated by preprocessor conditionals, while <span class="cmd">roff(1)</span> was still
built in its PDP-11 assembly. The <span class="cmd">ditroff(1)</span> name origin is unknown. <a
href="#kernighan">Kernighan</a> writes, <q cite="history/kernighan_23_10_2011.txt">I'm pretty sure that
I only talked about a "device independent troff"; the name "ditroff" came from somewhere else, and I've
never been fond of it.</q>
</p>
<p>
<a href="#kernighan">Kernighan</a>'s device-independent <span class="cmd">troff(1)</span> was repackaged
in commercial AT&T (and derivative) UNIX systems for years to come. In circa 1978, the <abbr
title="Documenter's Workbench">DWB</abbr> featured <span class="cmd">troff(1)</span> as its mainstay;
later, the <abbr title="Writer's Workbench">WWB</abbr> bolted on many additional word-processing
utilities. These applications were repackaged in 1989 by <abbr title="Unix System
Laboratories">USL</abbr>, a subsidiary of AT&T Bell Laboratories. The DWB tools were then bought by
SoftQuad in circa 1978, which rebranded <span class="cmd">troff(1)</span> as <span
class="cmd">sqtroff(1)</span>.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
B. W. Kernighan, M. E. Lesk, and J. F. Ossanna, <i><a
href="http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/bstj/vol57-1978/articles/bstj57-6-2115.pdf">UNIX
Time-sharing System: Document Preparation</a></i>, AT&T Bell System Technical
Journal, Vol. 57, No. 6. July 1978.
</li>
<li>
L. E. McMahon, L. L. Cherry, and R. Morris, <i><a
href="http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/bstj/vol57-1978/articles/bstj57-6-2137.pdf">UNIX
Time-sharing System: Statistical Text Processing</a></i>, AT&T Bell System Technical
Journal, Vol. 57, No. 6. July, 1978.
</li>
<li>
B. W. Kernighan, M. E. Lesk, and J. F. Ossanna, <i><a
href="http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/bstj/vol57-1978/articles/bstj57-6-2115.pdf">UNIX
Time-sharing System: Document Preparation</a></i>, AT&T Bell System Technical
Journal, Vol. 57, No. 6. July, 1978.
</li>
<li>
<a
href="http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V7/usr/src/cmd/troff">Version 7
AT&T source listings</a>, hosted by the <a href="http://www.tuhs.org">UNIX Heritage
Society</a>.
</li>
<li>
Nils-Peter Nelson, <i><a href="history/nelson_24_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage
history</a></i>. 24 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Nils-Peter Nelson, <i><a href="history/nelson_30_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage
history</a></i>. 30 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
Brian Kernighan, <i><a href="history/kernighan_23_10_2011.txt">Reconstructing UNIX
manpage history: ditroff(1)</a></i>. 23 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
<i><a
href="http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V7/usr/man/man1/troff.1">troff</a></i>,
<i>UNIX Programmer's Manual</i>, Seventh Edition, Section 1. 11 January, 1979.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1992">
1991: <span class="cmd">troff(1)</span> (<a href="#kernighan">Brian Kernighan</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
The Plan 9 operating system, initially released in 1991 from AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill, is a
research system extending the UNIX model. It included <a class="cmd" href="#x1979">ditroff(1)</a>,
which was steadily improved by <a href="#kernighan">Kernighan</a> to include features such as <abbr
title="UCS Transformation Format">UTF</abbr> encoding. The <span class="cmd">troff(1)</span> for Plan 9
was not free software until the Third Edition in June, 2000, when sources were licensed under the Plan 9
license. It was again re-licenced in 2002 under the Lucent Public Licence 1.02.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Joseph F. Ossanna and Brian W. Kernighan, <i><a
href="http://plan9.bell-labs.com/sys/doc/troff.pdf">Troff User's Manual</a></i>, Second
Edition.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://cm.bell-labs.com/sources/plan9/sys/src/cmd/troff/">Plan 9 from Bell Labs
source listings</a>, hosted by <a href="http://plan9.bell-labs.com/plan9/">Plan 9 from
Bell Labs</a>.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x2005_troff">
2005: <span class="cmd">troff(1)</span> (<a href="#ritter">Gunnar Ritter</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
In 2005, Sun Microsystems published an CDDL-licenced variant of their Solaris operating system called
OpenSolaris. This included a re-licenced descendant of <a href="#x1973" class="cmd">troff(1)</a> as
imported into AT&T UNIX System V UNIX in 1983. <a href="#ritter">Ritter</a> incorporated this
software into the Heirloom project in August, 2005.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://heirloom.cvs.sourceforge.net/heirloom/heirloom-doctools/">Heirloom
doc-tools source listings</a>, hosted by the <a
href="http://heirloom.sourceforge.net/index.html">Heirloom Project</a>.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
</dl>
<h3 id="renaissance">
Renaissance
</h3>
<dl>
<dt id="x1989_groff">
1989: <span class="cmd">groff(1)</span> (<a href="#clarke">James Clarke</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
The GNU <a class="cmd" href="#x1979">troff</a> is popularly considered to be the most wide-spread in
modern UNIX installations. It's bundled by default on most GNU/Linux operating systems. This port,
renamed <span class="cmd">groff</span>, was written by James C. Clarke in 1989 specifically for the GNU
project. At this time, no open-source implementation existed.
</p>
<p>
The <span class="cmd">groff</span> port was based purely from <a href="#x1979" class="cmd" >troff</a>
documentation as shipped with SunOS 4.1.4, and was written in C++ on Sun 4/110 (initial implementations
of the GNU C++ compiler were on Sun, making it an ideal starting point).
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<i><a href="http://groff.ffii.org">GNU troff</a></i>. Homepage.
</li>
<li>
James Clarke, <i><a href="history/clarke_28_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history:
groff</a></i>. 28 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
<li>
GNU troff <a href="ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/groff/old/">historical releases</a>, provided
by the <a href="http://groff.ffii.org">GNU troff</a> project.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1991_awf">
1991: <span class="cmd">awf(1)</span> (<a href="#spencer">Henry Spencer</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
In 1991, <a href="#spencer">Spencer</a> sent a terse mail to USENET comp.sources.unix indicating that
he'd written an interpreter in the AWK language for the <i>man</i> and <i>ms</i> macro packages
documented in Version 7 AT&T UNIX <a class="cmd" href="#x1972">nroff(1)</a> and <a class="cmd"
href="#x1979">ditroff(1)</a>.
</p>
<blockquote cite="http://doc.cat-v.org/henry_spencer/awf/">
<p>
This is awf, the Amazingly Workable Formatter – a "nroff -man" or (subset) "nroff -ms"
clone written entirely in (old) awk.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
According to <a href="#spencer">Spencer</a>, <span class="cmd">awf</span> was necessary for the
portability of C News, a USENET news server written by Spencer and Geoff Collyer in 1987. The project
wished to distribute manpage sources, but since <a class="cmd" href="#x1979">ditroff(1)</a> sources were
still license-encumbered, needed to guarantee portability to un-licensed UNIX systems.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://doc.cat-v.org/henry_spencer/awf/">Usenet comp.sources.unix message</a>,
hosted by the <a href="http://doc.cat-v.org/">Cat-v Document Archive</a>.
</li>
<li>
<a href="ftp://ftp.isc.org/usenet/comp.sources.unix/volume23/">Usenet comp.sources.unix
volume 23 sources</a>, hosted by the <a href="ftp://ftp.isc.org/">ISC Usenet newsgroup
archives</a>.
</li>
<li>
<a href="ftp://ftp.cs.toronto.edu/pub/c-news/c-news.tar.Z">C News source listings</a>,
hosted by the University of Toronto <a href="http://web.cs.toronto.edu/">Computer
Science Department</a>.
</li>
<li>
Henry Spencer, <i><a href="history/spencer_22_10_2011.txt">UNIX manpage history:
awf</a></i>. 22 October, 2011. Email to Kristaps Dzonsons.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x1991_cawf">
1991: <span class="cmd">cawf(1)</span> (<a href="#abell">Vic Abell</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
<a href="#abell">Abell</a> ported <a class="cmd" href="#x1991_awf">awf(1)</a> to C in 1991 while at
Purdue. The motivation of this port was to <q cite="ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/cawf.zip">[produce]
a C language version that would run on small systems, particularly MS-DOS ones</q>.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/cawf.zip">Cawf source listing</a>, hosted by <a
href="http://www.itap.purdue.edu/">Information Technology at Purdue University</a>.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
<dt id="x2008_mandoc">
2008: <span class="cmd">mandoc(1)</span> (<a href="#dzonsons">Kristaps Dzonsons</a>, <a href="#schwarze">Ingo
Schwarze</a>)
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Like <a class="cmd" href="#x1991_awf">awf</a>, <span class="cmd">mandoc(1)</span> primarily reads <a
class="cmd" href="#x1979">ditroff(1)</a> macro files (not general <a class="cmd"
href="#x1979">ditroff(1)</a> input), although it has some capability for generalised input. It is the
first fully semantic parser for manpages, exposing the annotated content of parsed documents. <a
class="cmd" href="#x1989_groff">groff(1)</a> manuals were the predominant basis for this port.
</p>
<p>
<b>Disclaimer</b>: the author of this document originally wrote <span class="cmd">mandoc(1)</span>.
</p>
<div class="sources">
<p>
Sources:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://mdocml.bsd.lv/cgi-bin/cvsweb/?cvsroot=mdocml">CVS source archive</a>,
hosted by the <a href="http://bsd.lv/">BSD.lv Project</a>.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</dd>
</dl>
<div id="people">
<h2>
People
</h2>
<dl>
<dt id="abell">Abell, Vic</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Wrote <a class="cmd" href="#x1991_cawf">cawf</a> while at Purdue University. Homepage: <a
href="http://people.freebsd.org/~abe/">people.freebsd.org/~abe/</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt id="canaday">Canaday, Rudd</dt>
<dd>
<p>
May have ported <a class="cmd" href="#x1964_RUNOFF">RUNOFF</a> to the GE-635 while at AT&T Bell Labs, Whippany.
</p>
</dd>
<dt id="capps">Capps, Dennis</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Wrote <a href="#x1974_compose" class="cmd">compose</a> while at Honeywell.
</p>
</dd>
<dt id="clarke">Clarke, James</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Wrote <a class="cmd" href="#x1989_groff">groff(1)</a> for the GNU project, <a
href="http://groff.ffii.org">groff.ffii.org</a>. Homepage: <a
href="http://www.jclark.com/">www.jclark.com</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt id="dzonsons">Dzonsons, Kristaps</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Wrote <a class="cmd" href="#x2008_mandoc">mandoc(1)</a>, <a
href="http://mdocml.bsd.lv">mdocml.bsd.lv</a>. Homepage: <a
href="http://kristaps.bsd.lv/">kristaps.bsd.lv</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt id="kernighan">Kernighan, Brian</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Completed <a class="cmd" href="#x1979">ditroff(1)</a> while at AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill. Homepage:
<a href="http://www.cs.bell-labs.com/who/bwk/index.html">www.cs.bell-labs.com/who/bwk/</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt id="madnick">Madnick, Stuart</dt>
<dd>
<p>
While at Honeywell, ported <a class="cmd" href="#x1964_RUNOFF">RUNOFF</a> to the <abbr
title="International Business Machines">IBM</abbr> CP67/CMS and renamed it <a class="cmd"
href="#x1967_SCRIPT">SCRIPT</a>. Homepage: <a
href="http://web.mit.edu/smadnick/www/home.html">web.mit.edu/smadnick/www/home.html</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt id="mcilroy">McIlroy, Douglas</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Ported <a class="cmd" href="#x1964_RUNOFF">RUNOFF</a> to <abbr title="General Electric
Comprehensive Operating Supervisor">GECOS</abbr> GE-645 while at AT&T Bell Labs, Murray
Hill. Homepage: <a href="http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~doug/">www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~doug</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt id="morris">Morris, Robert</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Possibly ported <a href="#x1964_RUNOFF" class="cmd">RUNOFF</a> to a <abbr title="General
Electric Comprehensive Operating Supervisor">GECOS</abbr> GE-635.
</p>
</dd>
<dt id="ossanna">Ossanna, Joseph F.</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Worked on the PDP-11 assembly-language <a href="#x1972" class="cmd">nroff(1)</a> and <a
href="#x1973" class="cmd">troff(1)</a> (also converted the latter to C) while working at
AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill.
</p>
</dd>
<dt id="ritchie">Ritchie, Dennis</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Wrote the PDP-11 assembly-language <a class="cmd" href="#x1971">roff(1)</a> while working at AT&T Bell
Labs, Murray Hill. Homepage: <a
href="http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/dmr/">cm.bell-labs.com/who/dmr</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt id="ritter">Ritter, Gunnar</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Maintains the <a href="http://heirloom.sourceforge.net/index.html">Heirloom Project</a>,
including their re-licenced <a class="cmd" href="#x2005_troff">troff(1)</a>.
</p>