Re: SAGE calendar (biff, actually)

[Eric Allman <eric@reference.com>]

No, I don't think you are the only one.  The command, of course, was
named after Heidi's dog -- that's been well established -- but my
recollection is that the wags in the hallways decided it stood for
"bark if from found", so named after Biff's prediliction for barking
when the mail was delivered.  I checked with Kirk McKusick, and this
matches his memory as well.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to dig up any physical evidence for this;
apparently the grims got to it early.  Unfortunately, the SCCS audit
trail on the man page only goes to 4.1 BSD, and I haven't been able
to find a printed copy of the 4.0 manuals (I know I have them around
here somewhere...).

So, I guess it would be fair to say that biff both does and does not
stand for "bark if from found".

eric


============= In Reply To: ===========================================
: From:  Steve Simmons <scs@lokkur.dexter.mi.us>
: Subject:  Re: SAGE calendar (biff, actually)
: Date:  Wed, 1 May 1996 01:10:44 -0400 (EDT)

: Am I the only person spreading the rumor that BIFF stands for `Bark
: If ``From'' Found'?