Blit (computer terminal)
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In computing, the Blit is a programmable bitmap graphics terminal designed by Rob Pike and Bart Locanthi of Bell Labs in 1982. Acting initially as a "glass Teletype" ASCII terminal, after logging into a Unix system a window manager could be downloaded, with each window attached as a separate pseudo-terminal on the host system (multiplexing the serial-line connection). Each window initially ran a terminal emulator, which could be replaced by a downloaded interactive graphical application. The resulting properties were similar to those of a modern Unix windowing system; however the interactive interface and the host application ran on separate systems — an early implementation of multiprocessing.
The Blit was commercialized as the AT&T/Teletype model 5620, followed by models 630 and 730. (The Jargon File states that the folk etymology from "Bell Labs Intelligent Terminal" is incorrect, and that its creators liked to claim that BLIT stood for "Bacon, Lettuce, and Interactive Tomato." Actually, "bit-blit" was a common name for the bit block transfer operation that is fundamental to the terminal's graphics, and the original nickname was the "jerq", inspired by Three Rivers' PERQ graphic workstation.)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Rob Pike, The Blit: A Multiplexed Graphics Terminal (gzipped PostScript file)
[edit] External links
- Bart Locanthi, Rob Pike: Blit, the classic animated short about the windowing terminal project (it was necessary to explain how mice worked back then; this was 1982, two years before the Mac) (MPEG)
This article is based in part on the Jargon File, which is in the public domain.
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