The regex thing doesn't make any sense as the asterisk isn't even a wildcard. I think the only system he's likely to have used at that time which used the aste

The regex thing doesn't make any sense as the asterisk isn't even a wildcard. I think the only system he's likely to have used at that time which used the asterisk as a wildcard is CP/M. It was definitely less ubiquitous as it is today.