From: "John W. Kennedy" <jwkenne@...>
Date: 2005-12-31T20:04:21+09:00
Subject: Re: Path Separator and Windows

Bob Showalter wrote:
> Justin Johnson wrote:
>> Is there a reason File::SEPARATOR isn't set to \ to begin with for 
>> Windows?  Even if the Windows API accepts a /, \ is standard for the 
>> Windows command line and executing commands with / in paths passed as 
>> args fails.  Of course I can just do my own substitutions, but it 
>> seems like this could be improved.
> 
> I'm not sure why it works the way it does; perhaps Matz will weigh in. 
> If you look at the source (file.c), the whole business is really quite 
> messy.
> 
> How did DOS (and then Windows) ever decide to use backslash I wonder?
> 
> And a pox on "drive letters" while we're at it! :-)
> 
> The Unix approach seems so much more logical to me...

It was only with DOS 2.0 (1983) that they had the idea of trying to make 
a Unix clone. DOS 1.x (1981) was a CP/M clone, which in turn was a 
something-by-DEC clone. / was no longer available in 1983, because it 
had already been established as the command-flag delimiter.

-- 
John W. Kennedy
"But now is a new thing which is very old--
that the rich make themselves richer and not poorer,
which is the true Gospel, for the poor's sake."
   -- Charles Williams.  "Judgement at Chelmsford"