From: westin*nospam@graphics.cornell.edu (Stephen H. Westin)
Newsgroups: alt.sys.pdp8,alt.sys.pdp10,alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Hierarchical file systems (was: Filenames, shells, remote file access ...)
Date: 24 Mar 2000 12:09:24 -0500
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Lars Poulsen <lars@silcom.com> writes:

> Who did have the first hierachical file system, by the way ?

I would bet on MULTICS. At least it seems to be the first in the
Boston lineage (CTSS, ITS, MULTICS, TOPS-10, Unix, ...)

> What kind of filename syntax did it use ?

I think it was

<top-dir>down>down>file

May be wrong about the leading "<"; my direct contact was with PRIMOS,
which copied the scheme.

-- 
-Stephen H. Westin
Any information or opinions in this message are mine: they do not
represent the position of Cornell University or any of its sponsors.

######

Newsgroups: alt.sys.pdp8,alt.sys.pdp10,alt.folklore.computers
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Subject: Re: Hierarchical file systems (was: Filenames, shells, remote file access ...)
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ITS did not have a hierarchical file system.
It had one level of directories, with files underneath that.

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Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000 11:25:37 -0800
From: thvv@multicians.org (Tom Van Vleck)
Newsgroups: alt.sys.pdp8,alt.sys.pdp10,alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Hierarchical file systems (was: Filenames, shells, remote file access ...)
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Stephen H. Westin wrote:

> Lars Poulsen <lars@silcom.com> writes:
> > Who did have the first hierachical file system, by the way ?
> I would bet on MULTICS. At least it seems to be the first in the
> Boston lineage (CTSS, ITS, MULTICS, TOPS-10, Unix, ...)
> > What kind of filename syntax did it use ?
> I think it was
> <top-dir>down>down>file
> May be wrong about the leading "<"; my direct contact was with PRIMOS,
> which copied the scheme.

Multics absolute path names began with > as in
  >udd>SyaAdmin>VanVleck>VanVleck.mbx

Relative pathnames didn't have the leading > similar to UNIX pathnames.
When Ken and Dennis presented UNIX, one of the things I really liked
was the choice of / as a pathname separator, because it's in the
same place on almost all keyboards, and it doesn't require a shift.
Keyboards have standardized a lot now, but back in the late 60s,
there were a lot of alternative locations for < and > and they weren't
always lowercase.