3 ms·

> The article stated why DEL is where it is (all ones) -- so that for punched paper tape, one could get a punch-out of every position... I saw an analogous use

> The article stated why DEL is where it is (all ones) -- so that for punched paper tape, one could get a punch-out of every position... I saw an analogous use of backspace on some OS I ran into 30 years ago cruising around either Tymnet or TELENET. (I wish I could remember the OS...) The password prompt assumed local echo. After entering a password the host would send a series of backspaces and various patterns of characters (####, **, etc) to overprint the locally-echoed (and printed) characters.

kmoser 2y ago
On the login to the first timesharing system I used, it would prompt for your password, then type eight M's, W's, and X's on top of each other (on paper, of course, since this was using a Teletype terminal), so when you actually typed your password the characters would be printed on top of those already obscured lines.