🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <C0JnLq.K2x@uceng.uc.edu> jpenix@uceng.uc.edu (John Penix) writes:

   In article <1iig7aINNtc@spim.mti.sgi.com> jackc@vermont.mti.sgi.com (Jack Choquette) writes:
   >
   >To me it seems like different endianess came about because of the way
   >humans like to see things listed out.  When humans make a list, they
   >like to make and read it top to bottom:
   >		0  ******
   >		1  ******
   >		2  ******
   >		 etc.
   rest deleted....

Good - it sounded good, but most of it was speculation, and wrong.

   I remember reading (and I'll hunt down the title if you'd like) that
   IBM's endedness came from a mechanical memory device that was something
   like a wheel.  

The consumate reference (IMO) is Danny Cohen's "On Holy Wars and a
Plea for Peace", IEEE Computer v14n10, Oct. 1981, pp 48-54.  I think
this floated around the net for a while (RFC?) before it was
published.

		  For the bytes to be read in in the proper order for
   processing the lower order had to come first.  They stuck with it due
   to their standards of backwards compatibility.  I don't recall them
   bringing in any linguists :)

Maybe because that was how you sorted on your IBM card sorter ;-)
--
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