🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1990Oct1.2...@opusc.csd.scarolina.edu>, k...@opusc.csd.scarolina.edu (Ken Sallenger) writes:
  In a diagnostic program on the Apollo DN series, circa 1985, typing "?"
  elicited a response of:
      You must be from Prime.  Type [control-something-or-other] for help.

That was in the boot shell, and it wasn't for help, it was for backspace (or
maybe delete line).  Some of the early developers at Apollo came from Prime,
where '?' was the backspace key (can you believe it?).  That message was
intended to de-program their fingers.

This was in every Apollo shipped until about 1986, when some humorless
customer supposedly submitted a bug report on it.  The "offending" code was
apparently completely excised, not just commented out, because I can't find
it in the sources any more.

My favorite Apollo error message is the text that goes with status code
220009:  'unit will not fit thru 25" hatch (OS/magtape manager).'  This
refers to a civilian contractor (not Apollo) that lost a bid on computer
equipment for installation on a submarine when the tape drive wouldn't fit
through the 25 inch round hatch on the boat.  The mistake wasn't caught
until the equipment was finished and actually being installed (so the story
goes).