1.3M views · Jul 6, 2018 · 10:07 · 1 HN recommender · 4 mentions · discussed 2018–2020
Brian Kernighan explains how grep came to be, written overnight by Ken Thompson, and how it got its name from the ed command g/re/p. He also covers the lineage from QED to ed that led to it.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN commenters point to it as a short, charming first-hand account of Unix history from someone who was there.
“My favourite BWK video is about grep.”HN comment, 2020
“My favourite BWK video is about grep.”
Kernighan on grep's origins, with a memorable closing line
My favourite BWK video is about grep. this video The last part is very quotable: "They had one grave disadvantage, none of them were Ken Thompson"
“Brian Kernighan has a great video about the origins of grep.”
Kernighan's account of the origins of grep
Slightly off-topic, but Brian Kernighan has a great video about the origins of grep. If you know anything similar for awk, I'd enjoy watching it! this video
“The UNIX text editor was called 'eee-dee'”
Kernighan on the origins of ed and QED
From the video [1]: "The UNIX text editor was called 'eee-dee' - it's not pronounced 'ed', at least by those in the know - it's pronounced 'eee-dee'. This was written by Ken Thompson, and I think it was basically a stripped down version of an editor called QED" [1] this video
“Where GREP Came From" by Brian Kernighan from Computerphile”
Kernighan explains where grep came from
"Where GREP Came From" by Brian Kernighan from Computerphile: * this video For those unfamiliar, Kernighan is the "K" in K&R C and the "K" in AWK: * link
