> When I started using Unix in '85 or so I didn't find it especially user friendly so the first program I wrote was a little trampoline alternative to the login

> When I started using Unix in '85 or so I didn't find it especially user friendly so the first program I wrote was a little trampoline alternative to the login shell (/bin/sh in those days) that exec'd emacs as the terminal's controlling process. At least that way I could be an a more familiar environment. Interesting how things get reinvented every so often: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORVYL_and_WYLBUR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORVYL_and_WYLBUR > The names ORVYL and WYLBUR are often used interchangeably, but: > ORVYL is a timesharing monitor that supports a file system, command language, program execution and debugging, and provides supervisor services.[1] > WYLBUR is a text editor, word processor,[a] job submission and retrieval, and e-mail program designed to work in conjunction with ORVYL or with IBM's OS/360, SVS, and MVS operating systems.[2] and > MILTEN is terminal control software used by both ORVYL and WYLBUR for start/stop terminals.[1] > WYLBUR is not a full standalone operating system in the mold of Dartmouth Time Sharing System (DTSS) or Unix. Instead it runs on top of an IBM batch operating system (OS/360, SVS, MVS). It takes the form of an editor with a Remote Job Entry system and thus has much the same relationship to the IBM operating systems as Emacs does to Unix. For these reasons WYLBUR is often thought of as a text editor rather than a time-sharing system. However, whereas Unix does not need Emacs to provide text editing services, IBM's operating systems originally needed WYLBUR. Later innovations such as IBM's Time Sharing Option (TSO) made WYLBUR less relevant for IBM users and gradually replaced it. [snip] > ORVYL and WYLBUR first became available in 1967–68, before TSS/360, TSO, or any other official time-sharing solution from IBM. This was roughly the same time that third-party time-sharing systems such as MTS became available and the under the radar development effort of CP-67 at IBM's own Cambridge Scientific Center took place. WYLBUR had the additional advantage that it could be used in conjunction with IBM's mainstream operating system, OS/360. "Text editor as a primary user interface" is a design idea which pops up every so often. People pushing modern Emacs into being their widow manager (exwm) is a new reinvention.