Ctrl-Alt-Del Inventor To Retire From IBM

wherley writes "AP reports that IBM'er David Bradley, who came up with the (in)famous Ctrl-Alt-Delete key combination, is retiring. The article mentions: 'At a 20-year celebration for the IBM PC, Bradley was on a panel with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and other tech icons. The discussion turned to the keys. 'I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,' Bradley said. Gates didn't laugh. The key combination also is used when software, such as Microsoft's Windows operating system, fails'." We featured a story on Bradley a few months back.

Comments

Why only that combination?

[Pranjal]

The question is what was special about that combination. He could have used CTRL+SHIFT+DEL, CTRL+BREAK...why only that?

Re:Why only that combination?

[Pranjal]

I RTFA and here is why he chose that...He chose those keys specifically as it's not a key sequence that can be struck by accident. This straight from the previous slashdot article.

Re:Why only that combination?

[SweetAndSourJesus]

For one thing, it's damned near impossible to hit those three keys simultaneously on accident. Other than that, there's nothing special about the combination.

On the Mac, the sequence is Command-Option-Escape.

Re:Why only that combination?

[sycotic]

I am glad you asked, I was just thinking about that too! Here is an excert from an interview not so long ago:

"Bradley chose the control and alt keys because he needed two shift keys to make the operation work, and he chose the delete key because it was on the opposite side of the keyboard. He didn't want people to hit control-alt-delete by accident."

link the article mentioned on slashdot earlier

Re:Why only that combination?

[siliconbunny]

From what I recall (but can't substantiate by a link now) those keys were originally a good way apart on the keyboard, so they couldn't be hit accidentally.

Then, I believe, users clamoured for more convenience, so keyboard manufacturers started duplicating the ctrl and alt keys (and/or moved the del key) so that the salute could be performed one-handed.

Just think how much more time would be wasted if you had to perform a two-handed salute each time windows crashed... It certainly would add up (and I know I'm opening myself up regarding what constitutes a two-handed salute, but hey :-)

Re:Why only that combination?

[I'mJVC]

Why not?

Re:Why only that combination?

[commodoresloat]

This straight from the previous slashdot article.

Well, then, it must be true.

Re:Why only that combination?

[Anonymous Coward]

But somehow "Force Quit or Cancel" isn't quite as fun as the Task Manager, "Quit anything you want from programs to processes, see what the proc is up to, put babies on spikes...".

Re:Why only that combination?

[Anonymous Coward]

It took me exactly 10 tries to non-accidentally get a succesful CTRL-ALT-DEL just now, by smacking the keyboard with an open palm. I tried to emulate the shape of a hand that would be snatching at something you wouldn't want to spill/drop, that being an open hand, fingers outstretched, with the ball of the hand being the first part of the body to touch the dropped object. This allows the fingers and thumb to wrap around the falling object immediately upon contact, especially if there is a strong tendancy of motion TOWARDS the falling object. With my hand held thusly, the ball of my hand was able to perfectly impact the CTRL key as my thumb and forefinger crash into the ALt and Delete keys.

And on attempt 10, the W2K Ctrl-Alt-Del menu appeared.

Re:Why only that combination?

[a.koepke]

CTRL+SHIFT+DEL I can easily put my finger between the CTRL and Shift Key, pressing down both at the same time. Now say I accidently do that when using CTRL-DEL to do a Cut operation. Ooops I just reset my computer.

Re:Why only that combination?

[kasperd]

Then, I believe, users clamoured for more convenience, so keyboard manufacturers started duplicating the ctrl and alt keys (and/or moved the del key) so that the salute could be performed one-handed.

Actually some keyboards have gone a bit too far along that road. I have seen a keyboard, where you could do CTRL+ALT+DEL with just a single keypress. Yup, they really added an extra key to do just that. Some people must have used CTRL+ALT+DEL too much.

Re:Why only that combination?

[sudohnim]

He chose those keys specifically as it's not a key sequence that can be struck by accident.

Its even harder to type on a Sun Type 6 keyboard with only one hand.

(Why? Think SunPCi.)

Re:Why only that combination?

[!3ren]

You would think it would be difficult to hit accientally, but my cat appears to be the exact length for just that on my keyboard... _and_ she likes to walk towards the numpad afterwards, hitting enter.
I think she has noticed how my head turns red and I leap around now. Stimuli->Response!

Re:Why only that combination?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oye looking at my laptop that puts those bloody keys right next to each other (well insert is seperating them) and since it's a dell that runs xp we'll call it a feature ;). Okay XP isn't that bad but still it's a feature ;).

Re:Why only that combination?

[maitai]

Look at an original 84 key keyboard (which is what the original PC shipped with), Control and Alt weren't duplicated on the right side of the keyboard (for that matter, control was where we expect capslock now). It would have been really hard to hit it with a single hand.

Re:Why only that combination?

[localhost00]

CTRL+Break was used to abort the execution of Autoexec.bat back in the days of Win3.1

Re:Why only that combination?

[Anonymous Coward]

CTRL+SHIFT+DEL I can easily put my finger between the CTRL and Shift Key, pressing down both at the same time.

Oh yea? Well when I'm done wacking off I frequently let my shlong drop on the keyboard and this often results in a reboot. It kind of adds to the experience: "Your gone bitch". I smoke a cig while my machine reboots.

Re:Why only that combination?

[Anonymous Coward]

I could see someone doing a 'stop a' on a sun box though.

Re:Why only that combination?

[JVert]

Oh of course, You can easily hit the CTRL+SHIFT on accident but not CTRL+ALT because the windows key is in the way. Wow, they were a smart thinkers 20 years ago.

Re:Why only that combination?

[flewp]

Because Shift+A would result in too many unwanted reboots.

Re:Why only that combination?

[Anonymous Coward]

"CTRL+SHIFT+DEL I can easily put my finger between the CTRL and Shift Key, pressing down both at the same time. Now say I accidently do that when using CTRL-DEL to do a Cut operation. Ooops I just reset my computer."

Oooops maybe you should upgrade. DOS is good, but there are newer OSes out that do not RESET when you press ctrl-alt-del or this hypothetical ctrl-shif-del.

BTW, the reason why some keyboards have single key ctrl-alt-del is because Windows NT/2K login uses that combination too, not to mention unlocking screen savers. It's not just instability of the OS or lazyness of people. It's practical.

Re:Why only that combination?

[DotNM]

Hmmmm... many of us seem to be "talented" in "finger/typing usage"

Re:Why only that combination?

[Anonymous Coward]

They do that with these newer computers because you end up hitting control-alt-del all the time. Dont be suprised to see this as one button in the future =P.

Re:Why only that combination?

[addaon]

Score: 3, Insightful?

I'd be more accepting of Score: 2, Contrived.

Re:Why only that combination?

[Magada]

Ctrl+Break was used to abort any and all batch jobs

Re:Why only that combination?

[alek202]

have a look at the old ps/2 keyboards. don't have a look at your current keyboard.

if you think about it, you'll never ask this question again :)

Re:Why only that combination?

[ChaoticLimbs]

I think I will remap my bindings to make shift-a the reboot command. That pretty much means this will be my last successful slashdot post. Farewell!

Re:Why only that combination?

[Apple Acolyte]

Actually, that's not entirely true. Command+Option+Escape displays the Force Quit pane, and it has never worked to reboot the machine. The gesture you're thinking of is probably Command+Control+Power (keyboard power key). That used to be the equivalent, until the advent of the iMac and its USB keyboard that no longer carried the power key functionality. It still works on iBooks and PBs, however. And recently, with OS X, Apple has turned the eject key into a pseudo power key. Pressing Command+Control+Eject on at least a desktop Mac will now issue a graceful shut down command. Of course, that's of little use when graceful shutdowns aren't an option. Incidentally, over the years the Command+Control+Power convention has come and gone and come back again. It usually wasn't functional on machines that featured hardware reset and interrupt switches. Here's hoping it will make its return some day. Not that OS X needs it (being rock solid), but it would be nice for nostalgia sake. I guess I think way too much about these things, but that's why I'm Apple Acolyte!

Re:Why only that combination?

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree with parent maybe its time to move out of cave troglodyte and get a OS thats newer than DOS say one that uses Ctrl-Alt-Del or something not as moronic as Ctrl-Ins/del, Shift-Ins/del

Re:Why only that combination?

[zoney_ie]

The right hand "Alt" key isn't strictly speaking the same, being "Alt Gr" - Alternate Graphics. (Try using the left-hand Alt to get Euro symbol, Vertical dashed bar or accented characters) Nevertheless, Windows doesn't seem to care about using Alt Gr for the Ctrl-Alt-Del sequence. I'm not so certain that Alt Gr worked for DOS.
I beleive in any case the right hand Ctrl key isn't quite a duplication, S/W can tell if you've pressed the R/H or L/H Ctrl key.

And if I've got my left and right mixed up again, then this post makes no sense, sorry!

Re:Why only that combination?

[weave]

Right. Back before the IBM PC, a big bitch about the apple was that there was a single reset button too close to the keyboard and it was easy to hit it accidently. Cats on keyboards can't do Ctrl-Alt-Del -- which is a good thing.

Re:Why only that combination?

[n3k5]

Oh of course, You can easily hit the CTRL+SHIFT on accident but not CTRL+ALT because the windows key is in the way. Wow, they were a smart thinkers 20 years ago.

10 years ago, where the windows key is now, there was a gap -- CTRL and ALT were not next to each other so you could accidentially hit both when you intended to hit only one. 20 years ago, however, CTRL was where caps lock is now. So, this has absolutely nothing to do with the windows key.

Re:Why only that combination?

[bhtooefr]

However, on later Apple ][+s, they made Reset a LOT harder to push, and they made the default to requiring a Ctrl with the reset. Also, in almost all apps (except Pascal and copy-protected apps), Open Apple had to be hit with Ctrl-Reset on the //e and later systems.

Re:Why only that combination?

[AndroidCat]

My Heathkit PC clone supported a few other combinations. CTRL-ALT-INS would either get the ROM monitor program or the ROM copy of debug. (It's been a while.)

Re:Why only that combination?

[vasqzr]

On many keyboards, the CTRL and ALT on the right side will not cause a reboot. Only the left side.

Maybe it's not a keyboard issue and a PC/BIOS issue. My Dell at work doesn't have this behavior, but my IBM and eMachine do.

Re:Why only that combination?

[BoomerSooner]

Open Apple - CTRL - Reset on the Apple //e
Just reset on the Apple ][

The good old days!

Re:Why only that combination?

[CrazyTalk]

ctrl-shift-delete is easier to hit - at least looking at my keyboard, shift and ctrl are right next to each other while the windows key is between ctrl and alt. Of course, there was no windows key 20 years ago - anyone have an older keyboard handy?

Re:Why only that combination?

[jafac]

I'm still waiting for the keyboard that has a ctrl+c (copy) ctrl+v (paste) ctrl+b (bold) ctrl+i (italics) keys.

Talk about commonly-used combinations! Way more frequently used that SysReq or Scroll Lock. Probably way more used than the Windows key on MOST keyboards.

Re:Why only that combination?

[treke]

Sun has a keyboard with copy and paste keys. Don't think it had bold and italics though.

Re:Why only that combination?

[Lifewolf]

Dont be suprised to see this as one button in the future =P.

Future nothing, this is already a standard feature on tablet PCs.

Re:Why only that combination?

[mjpaci]

If you popped the lid off there was a switch you could hit to make reset Apple-RESET (or whatever the mod key was) or just plain RESET. Plus the reset button had a pretty tight spring in it to keep it from being rolled over by a finger.

--Mike

Re:Why only that combination?

[mabhatter654]

I always thought it was actually an accident of the original electrical layout of the keyboard that allowed those keys [+ their internal contacts] to pull up the reset line....but this guy was the first to realize that and codify it?

Re:Why only that combination?

[kasperd]

Way more frequently used that SysReq or Scroll Lock.

I use SysRq sometimes. Unfortunately I have multiple keyboards where SysRq doesn't work reliably. Just because some systems doesn't use the key, they shouldn't start producing keyboards where the key doesn't work.

The Scroll Lock key is the most functionally overloaded key on my keyboard. It is used as hotkey for my KVM switch and it is also used to stop scrolling. It is really annoying when you start shutting down one computer, and as you are switching to another you accidentially stop scrolling and thereby preventing the computer from shutting down.

The Windows keys are some of the least used keys on my keyboard, they really serves no purpose at all. And BTW I don't want a single key to do Ctrl+C - killing the running program isn't something you want to do by accident.

Re:Why only that combination?

[saskboy]

"Cats on keyboards can't do Ctrl-Alt-Del -- which is a good thing"

That sounds like a challenge issued by Martha Stewart. I'm going to teach my cat to do that now, if the government doesn't do it first.

Re:Why only that combination?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's interesting, because I always thought ctrl-alt-delete was inspired by the control-apple-reset combination on the Apple //e. That was itself an extension of control-reset, which had been added to the ][ line to prevent accidentally hitting the "reset" key alone (it already had a thicker spring in it which gave it a different feel and made accidental pressing difficult, but it was apparently still possible for some people). So creating a single key really goes full-circle, all the way back to the Apple ][ with its single reset key. ;)

Control-apple-reset forced a warmstart (reset/control-reset only jumped to the reset vector, which could be changed), so it really was equivalent to control-alt-delete. Does anyone know if Bradley took the idea from the ][, or if it was independently arrived at? I'm sure he must have seen it; the PC team had to have been aware of the features of their main competition (and impetus).

Re:Why only that combination?

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, my sun keyboard doesn't have *any* hands! Did I get ripped off?

Wait, what does a keyboard need to hold/grab/... ?

If it weren't for this guy

[Idou]

I would be staring at blue screen all day at work.

Thanks . . . I think . . .

Re:If it weren't for this guy

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not laughing since he's clearly not responsible for those. Don't even know what the funny part is. I need to upgrade (or downgrade?) to Humor 2.0 I guess. :-(

Re:If it weren't for this guy

[rffmna]

Well you certianly can unplug the PC, can't you?

Re:If it weren't for this guy

[Net_Wakker]

Wow. So Bradley saved bussinesses all over the world some US$30000000000gazillion thanks to prolonged productivity!

Re:If it weren't for this guy

[Joel Carr]

You wouldn't be thanking him if he stopped you staring at a blue screen like this!!

---

Re:If it weren't for this guy

[dbingamon]

If it weren't for this guy, Microsoft would have had to get it right in the first place.

if only it always worked

[dbrower]

don't you hate it when it's so wedged that even that doesn't work, and you need to pull the plug? -dB

Re:if only it always worked

[tankdilla]

I hate computers that don't have a reset button and pressing the power button doesn't always turn the computer off. So that when it's really stuck like that, and ctrl-alt-del doesn't work, you gotta pull the plug. I'd get really mad, it almost became personal, as if the computer was saying "You can't restart until I'm good and ready." Thank goodness for the reset button, for saving the effort of reaching behind the computer.

Re:if only it always worked

[Micro$will]

What's even better is a misbehaving laptop; pull the plug, then flip it over and yank the battery.

Re:if only it always worked

[Drakonite]

I hope you realize that for most home computers that only have a power button, holding the power button down for 5-10 secs is the equivalent to hitting a reset button.

It's possible for this to have been disabled in the BIOS, however the only PCs I've ever seen with no support for this at all are some old low spec Compaqs.

Re:if only it always worked

[cmacb]

"I hate computers that don't have a reset button and pressing the power button doesn't always turn the computer off. "

I guess if Microsoft ever succeeds in getting manufacturers to use WinCE we will have to have little reset buttons on just about everything!

(sorry I couldn't resist)

Re:if only it always worked

[Hes Nikke]

i've seen computers get so stuck, that even holding the power button does nothing. some of these even had reset buttons that didn't work at those times....

Re:if only it always worked

[PacoTaco]

Sometimes computers become so wedged that even pulling the power cable won't work. You have to open the case and pull the processor off the motherboard when that happens.

Re:if only it always worked

[Anonymous Coward]

Sometimes you even have to smash the processor with a sledgehammer otherwise it just keeps on running.

Then dowse the room in petrol and set a match to it.

Re:if only it always worked

[tankdilla]

The processor might burn though. I pour water on it first, just to be safe.

Re:if only it always worked

[Hes Nikke]

you should try removing the laptop battery before the CPU ;)

Re:if only it always worked

[ChaoticLimbs]

I immerse the entire computer in liquid nitrogen as fast as I can in order to keep the processor from overheating. Then I pick up all the little pieces and put them back through the holes in the case they came out of and shake gently.

Re:if only it always worked

[Anonymous Coward]

And then, just to piss you off, when you replace the battery it will restart into the bluescreen again -- hooray for sleep mode and APM!

Re:if only it always worked

[zoney_ie]

I don't understand why we can't have REAL power buttons still. It's quite satisfying to punch the button, hear/feel the click and instant power off.

Of course, voice activated Windows with customisable commands would be seriously fun... Plenty of inventive ways to say "shut down". Or even "damn you , you stupid computer, I want to smash you into a million pieces and scatter your components to the four winds". Or somesuch.

Re:if only it always worked

[natd]

You lucky lucky bastard...

...oh...what's the point....:)

Re:if only it always worked

[Anonymous Coward]

Pah, you've got to clean them properly first. Aqua Regia gets all that gunk off quite well.

Re:if only it always worked

[n3k5]

I don't understand why we can't have REAL power buttons still. It's quite satisfying to punch the button, hear/feel the click and instant power off.

Usually you do hear and feel a click when you press a power button. And you can tell your BIOS that you want the machine to switch off instantly. You won't be able to tell the difference. But anyway, it still makes more sense to have a REAL power button that cuts the power to monitor, scanner, printer and speakers as well, so they don't burn energy in sleep mode.

Re:if only it always worked

[cocotoni]

I've found that the holy water is the best for BSODs.

Re:if only it always worked

[Anonymous Coward]

I've found that the holy water is the best for BSODs.

Yeah, BSD's make me think of innovative things to do with holy water as well.

Why does tux have to be a fat penguin anyway?

Re:if only it always worked

[neko9]

for example - connect all equipment to surge protector. one REAL power button for all.

Re:if only it always worked

[Lifewolf]

I hope you realize that for most home computers that only have a power button, holding the power button down for 5-10 secs is the equivalent to hitting a reset button.

Find an old IBM Aptiva with Rapid Resume. On those accursed beasts, the power button is merely a polite suggestion, often ignored.

Re:if only it always worked

[erick99]

Open the pod door, HAL. HAL, open the pod door..... Sleepily, Erick

Re:if only it always worked

[RetroGeek]

I used to do that.

Until the switch on the power bar fused (after 4 years of on/off).

Re:if only it always worked

[Anonymous Coward]

Yah, true - THESE days.

Back in the day, before ATX power supplies and compliant motherboards (why does that sound *wrong*?), pressing the power button did just that - flipped a switch that actually cut power to the computer, instead of just shunting a power good signal to ground (apologies to those who know how this works *exactly*; I admit to being a slacker and looking it up when I really need to know...).

So yeah. It used to be the NORM that when you hit the button, the computer turned off

Re:if only it always worked

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope you realize that for most home computers that only have a power button, holding the power button down for 5-10 secs is the equivalent to hitting a reset button.

Wrong. Holding the power button down for 5-10 seconds switches the computer off. And everyone know s that switching off / switching on the computer very quickly will do much more harm than just using the Reset button.

Re:if only it always worked

[neko9]

my apc surge arrest after 5 years is still chugging along. on/off i used maybe only 3 times or so. maybe thats why its still alive.

Re:if only it always worked

[RetroGeek]

I ended up wiring in a big amp relay through a small power supply. You turn on the switch to the power supply and it kicks in the relay.

It also gives you an OOPS factor. The power supply had a rather large capacitor. You could turn off the switch and the capacitor would take 2-3 seconds to drain off enough to release the relay.

So, hit the switch, ..., OH SHIT - hit the switch, and nothing had yet turned off. Saved me a couple of times.

Re:if only it always worked

[neko9]

few times too early or accidentaly i pushed power switch on my old computer (non atx) - with one hand still pushing switch and other hand on keyboard i was giving commands to os to shutdown. and if couple of programs was open with work in progress...

Ownership...

[telstar]

Don't worry ... even if Bradley invented it, and Gates made it famous ... someone will be granted a patent for it a few years from now.

Re:Ownership...

[eyeknowkungfu]

I don't get it? I know it is funny for some of you, but for the rest of us you know the ones that don't rtfm.... please give us some reference.

Re:Ownership...

[roman_mir]

I am sure he has violated SCO's IP by using a keyboard, the CTRL key, the ALT key and the DEL key, as well as by using these keys in a sequence.

Re:Ownership...

[Anonymous Coward]

The joke is that something as obviously stupid as Ctrl-Alt-Del -- despite being both obvious & prior art -- *COULD* be patented in todays ass-backwards IP climate of broad software patents.

One-click, etc. Don't you read the news, moron?

Re:Ownership...

[momerath2003]

Boy, Gates' reaction after he made that comment....

No wonder this guy is "retiring."

Re:Ownership...

[pimpinmonk]

and someone else will claim ownership and charge you $699 per use...

Re:Ownership...

[Dick Faze]

....in a related story, the color Blue today sued Bill Gates for Defamation of Character.

Re:Ownership...

[nyseal]

There isn't one? QUICK...TO THE PATENT OFFICE!!! Wait...I still have to re-start? Shit.

Salute!

[Bombcar]

Creator of the Three-Finger-Salute, we salute thee!

(Anyone else get bit by the Linux will reboot with CRTL-ALT-DEL, but Win NT 4-XP will ask for Logon? I've rebooted machines on KVM switches by accident many a time, especially if I can't remap the salute like I usually do!)

Re:Salute!

[tankdilla]

Didn't Bill Gates purposely make the logon for Win NT use ctrl-alt-del as a sort of joke, as a way of saying to the computer world, "i know this is used all the time to reboot, but now windows is so good, it will handle ctrl-alt-del the way i want it to", or something to that effect? I heard this from someone but not sure if it's true or not.

Re:Salute!

[prockcore]

(Anyone else get bit by the Linux will reboot with CRTL-ALT-DEL, but Win NT 4-XP will ask for Logon? I've rebooted machines on KVM switches by accident many a time, especially if I can't remap the salute like I usually do!)

You mentioned remapping the salute, but it was vague on which OS you meant, so I thought I'd just clarify.

You can change the program that is run when you press CTL-ALT-DEL on Linux by editing /etc/inittab

Re:Salute!

[Mmmrky]

I think it's because ctrl-alt-del creates an interrupt request. It goes straight to the OS and can't be intercepted by random software.

Safer login--you know you are logging into the real deal and not some fake password box.

Re:Salute!

[Anonymous Coward]

Any key generates an interrupt request -- MS chose Ctrl+Alt+Delete because it was/is considered "special" by PC users.

Re:Salute!

[cscx]

Uhh, the entire keyboard fires teh same interrupt, if I remember correctly.... int 09h I believe.

Re:Salute!

[Anonymous Coward]

The question is why Linux Distros still ship with this set to restart the computer. DOS is Dead!

Re:Salute!

[Anonymous Coward]

Huh? You still using Slackware or something? I haven't seen a modern distro shipped with those defaults since like, 1995. :p

Re:Salute!

[doorbot.com]

Anyone else get bit by the Linux will reboot with CRTL-ALT-DEL, but Win NT 4-XP will ask for Logon?

If you run Linux on non-x86 hardware, the CAD combo still reboots the box... which can be a bit wierd on Apple or Sun boxes, for example.

I always comment out the CAD in /etc/inittab, but I just wish the Debian installer would ask you if you wanted CAD enabled.

Re:Salute!

[Thyrhaug]

Actually, MS DOS is very much alive. It's still used alot on install disks and similar, since it's small and not too powerfull (which often means bigger size).
Here at work we use a modyfied win98 boot disk to install a DOS ICA client, and I must say - it works like a charm.

Re:Salute!

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't this Bill's family some 40 years back?

Re:Salute!

[Prof.Phreak]

And to add to that, Dell ships FreeDOS ready systems :-)

Re:Salute!

[AuMatar]

Yes, but that is the reason MS gives for using that keystroke. You expect MS to make sense?

Re:Salute!

[piranha(jpl)]

You mentioned remapping the salute, but it was vague on which OS you meant, so I thought I'd just clarify.

You can change the program that is run when you press CTL-ALT-DEL on Linux by editing /etc/inittab

To actually change the key sequences, change what gets mapped to 'Boot' in your kernel keymaps file. On Debian, this is /etc/console/boottime.kmap.gz; I'm not sure about others.

Re:Salute!

[shadowmas]

just guessing here but maybe its bcuz non of the existing software at the time used these key combination as a hotkey. so it wouldnt break any existing application.

Re:Salute!

[samhain_tm]

In addition, this was used to prevent the standard BIOS hard reset from being called to eliminate breaking out of screen savers and such. If someone locked their workstation and left, someone else couldn't come up and ctrl-alt-del the system and gain access unless they had sysadmin rights. Doesn't really help with a full powerdown though...

Re:Salute!

[PSandusky]

Interesting that the three-fingered salute to the machine thanks to this fellow has given people so much reason to present a one-fingered salute to Bill Gates.

Something of a distillation, isn't it?

Re:Salute!

[Anonymous Coward]

Learn how to spell first. n00b

Re:Salute!

[Brummund]

Also known as the Vulcan Nerve Pinch

Re:Salute!

[rnash]

in case noone already wrote it :

in /etc/inittab

# Trap CTRL-ALT-DELETE
# ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now
ca::ctrlaltdel:/bin/echo "reboot only from a shell"

Re:Salute!

[spectasaurus]

You haven't been looking then. Redhat still uses this to reboot.

Re:Salute!

[4of12]

Anyone else get bit

I once got bit by the using sequential plus signs (I think it was some stupid comment line) while logged in over a dial-up connection on an ADM terminal many moons ago.

+++ means goodbye, for those too young to have dealt with ATDT and all that.

Re:Salute!

[jafac]

. . . . with the one-finger salute?

Actually, I prefer Left-Shift+Right-Shift-Alt-Escape.

Novell Debugger.

THAT'S power man!
Netware 3.x and 4.x were funky-ass Operating Systems, but if your boss is looking over your shoulder while your're at the console, editing NCF files or poking through the stack, your job was guaranteed. Try THAT with your stinky Microsoft OS.

You can't debug without installing a massive (and massively expensive) IDE, which totally alters the set of libraries on the machine, which means you're now troubleshooting a fundamentally different machine.

Re:Salute!

[buckinm]

Actually, +++ means swtich to command mode. Sending ATH while in command mode means hangup.

Re:Salute!

[kiwimate]

Here is what seems to bite a lot of my users (on W2K). Imagine this...you're going out to lunch or stepping away from your desk for some reason, so you have to lock your workstation. Easy -- press CTRL-ALT-DEL, the resultant dialog box has options such as Lock computer and Change password..., but you just need to press the ENTER key as the Lock computer button is the default. CTRL-ALT-DEL, ENTER. No worries.

Unless one of the most commonly used pieces of software in your organization is a stupid document management system that, when you press the DEL key with a document highlighted, asks you to confirm the deletion and, in stark contrast to good practice, has the Yes, I really DO want to delete this crucial document button as the default, rather than the somewhat safer NO NO NO NO NO, NOT THAT DOCUMENT, ANYTHING BUT THAT ONE!!! button.

Presto -- quick keypresses on automatic pilot, slip and mistakenly not press all three required keys (but they always manage to get the DEL key, oh yes, of course it's that one they never fail to press), still on automatic pilot to press the Enter key, and, oh look, document goes bye-bye.

Thanks for all the support calls I have to face right around lunchtime, stupid DMS manufacturer. Thanks a whole bunch. One of these days I'm going to forward my desk phone to your 1-800 support number, I swear I will.

Re:Salute!

[Pieroxy]

On Debian, this is blah blah I'm not sure about others.

That is exactly why Linux is not ready for the desktop and the average joe. Don't even go looking for something in X, KDE or anything else.

Re:Salute!

[TrickyRick]

This reminds me.
I always wondered, why Slackware Linux is configured so that Ctrl-D doesn't log out?

It's not like it's easy to hit Ctrl-D by accident.

Re:Salute!

[glesga_kiss]

It's not like it's easy to hit Ctrl-D by accident.

I used to think that when I worked for a company that had Ctrl-D disabled in it's default shell. However, after re-enabling it I noticed I did do it by accident now and then, for example when exiting from a FTP shell or a sub-shell, you could do it twice and get logged out. Or, the app you want to send the ctrl-d to might close itself just before you do it.

Re:Salute!

[Fjord]

Because the average joe often wants to remap the ctrl-alt-delete key sequence? When they do this in Windows, what wizard do they use?

Sorry, this isn't "exactly" anything except maybe exactly why linux is an operating system that offers more choice.

Re:Salute!

[nharmon]

Try holding the windows key and pressing L.

Re:Salute!

[RetroGeek]

And to quickly test a MODEM (external):

copy con com1:
ATH1
ATDT911
ATH0
^Z

You also get to test the emergency services :-))

Re:Salute!

[Pieroxy]

Although you are probably just trolling, I'll still bite it.

The problem is not how to remap the Ctrl-Alt-Del, as I didn't even mention it in my post! The problem is that from one distro to the other, things are different. Unix in general and Linux in particular is a very modular system, which means that everything has its own module/executable.

This in effect makes it easy to have a robust system, since making every little piece bulletproof is way easier than trying to make a whole huge piece of code bulletproof.

On the other hand, all these little utilities/executables are not consistent, because of being very often developped by different people. And every distro takes a sadistic pleasure in moving some of these little piece in some other place than most of the other.

As a result, answering a simple question as "where is my shell in Linux" is not possible, because bash is (or may be) in different places in different distros.

Thus a level of complexity increased for the average joe that has spent the last two weeks getting his hands dirty with GenToo and looking for infos on the internet assuming that he has "Linux".

Note here that he his only halfway wrong. He has Linux. He doesn't have "Linux" as an OS though. As far as the OS is concerned, he has "GenToo".

So to the question: "When will Linux will beat Windows on the desktop", I'd respond: "Linux is a Kernel, Windows an OS, how could Linux beat Windows?".

We'll have to wait for someone to define something more than a Kernel to really define what "I have Linux" means.

Re:Salute!

[Fjord]

Neither of our posting history lends itself to trolling so I don't understand why you would think my post as such.

While I agree that different distros have different places for things (your post was so terse as to not really convey that message. The thread started as on how to remap ctrl-alt-del), I still feel that this is all arcana that an average joe should never know. Average Joe shouldn't even know what a shell is, let alone ask where it is. Average Joes just don't use the command line and they certainly don't edit text files under /etc/. It doesn't matter to Average Joe that on win98 their system files are under /WINDOWS and on win2k it's under /WINNT/system32.

What we do need is more graphical configuration tools that abstract away having to know where under /etc/ that file is. More and more of these are coming out. Then we'll keep our shells and arcane paths for those of use who want to reboot with ctrl-alt-insert instead.

restart?

[spearway]

There is an intersting concept here why do we need to restart a computer. Why not devise devices that just work when solicited.

Re:restart?

[Anonymous Coward]

> There is an intersting concept here why do we need to restart a computer. Why not devise devices that just work when solicited.

Because complex devices like reprogrammable computers, being designed and built by humans, will have errors. Said errors may be sufficient to really wedge up the machine where only a reset/restart will undo the error.

If all you're asking for is an abacus, then I'm sure you can be satisfied. Modern computers are just *slightly* more complex, and would be unaffordable if built to 'just work' all the time like a knife and fork.

Re:restart?

[0x1337]

Hack your /etc/inittab, you can disable/remap Ctrl-Alt-Del.

Cheers :-]

Re:restart?

[Felinoid]

I changed it to turn the computer off...

(I was a 3B2/300 user before using Linux... Instead of an on-off switch it has an on-shutdown switch... shutdown sends a software signal to run shutdown and the computer turns itself off when it's done.)

This way I hit cntr+alt+del when I'm done and walk away.

Re:restart?

[Anonymous Coward]

You know how the embedded hard-to-maintain systems (fly-by-wire computers, mars rovers etc) are built?

They are actually programmed to reset themselves once in a while or if there is even the slightest indication that something's wrong with the system. This is done because these hardcore developers understand that it is impossible to build a system "that just works". If it's man-made it will have bugs.

Re:restart?

[PoorCoder]

Yeah... I have remapped CAD keys to start blue screen of death screensaver. It works beautiful!

Re:restart?

[neko9]

i configured my mandrake box to do shutdown with ctrl-alt-del. why do i need to reboot linux box? maybe only after kernel update? ...that i'm not done yet :-)

Re:restart?

[drsmithy]

There is an intersting concept here why do we need to restart a computer. Why not devise devices that just work when solicited.

Because of the development time - and, more importantly, cost - involved in that level of testing for software as large and complex as a general purpose operating system.

*jealous*

[SinaSa]

This is the only guy on the planet who can pick up girls in an internet cafe. Just walk in, smooth tone, slow walk.

"You know I invented CTRL ALT DEL?"

Re:*jealous*

[Anonymous Coward]

Especially if he tells them: "I used this combination because it is easy to do with one hand. I can even do it in the dark."

Re:*jealous*

[gad_zuki!]

>"You know I invented CTRL ALT DEL?"

You just know that when he does try that line the girl will either be a mac user or still be running Win98 and the inevitable explanation will be even dorkier. Best to stick with, "I'm highly paid in the tech sector." Avoid saying 'programmer,' wear clean pants, and shower!

Re:*jealous*

[Anonymous Coward]

That would be just as smooth as a friend of mine who got a flower tattoo on his arm so he could go over to women and say "Hey baby, I brought you flowers" and then flex.

Re:*jealous*

[laejoh]

and then the girl goes to www.google.com just to be sure!

Re:*jealous*

[BluedemonX]

I thought that was Al Gore.

Re:*jealous*

[nyseal]

Or....the preferred response from a woman...."You invented what? Ctrl..Alt..Del...? What's that?" Tech support for life (unless you just want to get laid; but good enough).

Thank you David......

[vwjeff]

I three finger salute you for your influence on my day to day computing.

... then hit Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart X.

[lunar_legacy]

And who is the inventor of Ctrl-Alt-Backspace?

Re:... then hit Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart X.

[Anonymous Coward]

Dunno, but I'd like to hang the moron who decided to make some odd powersaving feature in the BIOS which will shut down the whole machine with that exact key combination. (which I used relatively frequently to shut down X up to that point)

Re:... then hit Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart X.

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually in my bios, CTRL-ALT-Backspace shuts the computer off/on. To kill X (it respawns) I use:

kill `ps aux | grep "X :0" | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}'`

works like a charm.

Re:... then hit Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart X.

[Ice_Balrog]

Or who invented the supreme uber-god of all three-finger-salutes, Alt-SysRq-B?

(For those who don't know, Alt-SysRq-B instantly reboots your Linux system. It is roughly the same as hitting the reset button on your box. So be sure to precede it with Alt-SysRq-S and Alt-SysRq-U to prevent filesystem damage.)

Re:... then hit Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart X.

[ari_j]

First off, that won't restart X. It will kill the X server. It's up to init to respawn it. As far as I know, Ctrl-Alt-Backspace is an XFree86-specific command, as well. It sure doesn't work on SGI's X server, and I don't remember it working anywhere else, either.

I'm sure you could trace this back to an early XFree86 developer who wanted to be able to kill the damn thing when it locks up during development, without having to waste time getting to a terminal, looking up the PID, and executing the kill command. Not to mention that a locked X server could mean no way to get to another VT and too much CPU load or even network traffic to get in via telnet.

Re:... then hit Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart X.

[Anonymous Coward]

or kill `/sbin/pidof X`

Now

[Popageorgio]

So Bill, in a clever move, made us push this combination when we log into Windows, conditioning us to expect good things.

Wait, when we push it, it puts me in Windows...so I'm still associating bad things here.

It's also used

[ObviousGuy]

To log in to Windows NT.

Re:It's also used

[Anonymous Coward]

Ach, Windows Never Tested!?!?

The tested versions don't work too well either, but those ones based on that there never tested technology seem to work quite well, after all that paid for corporate beta testing of course.

Yeah Yeah Yeah

[smu johnson]

Yeah... I lost my job cause we were trained to use CTRL-ALT-DELETE to get into some S$S+3M hacking tools for NT but tried it on Linux for a web server computer and not only lost the company a lot of money, but my job as well... :(

Re:lets all grow up

[dbrower]

you mean the system where you need to remember L1-A and then type "boot" to kick it? After ctl-alt-del had already been around for a few years?

-dB

Credit

[decipher_saint]

He should also be credited with solving thousands of Windows support calls...

"Well, I just don't know... Have you tried rebooting?"

Just Imagine

[Anonymous Coward]

Just imagine if he had patented that keystroke combination. He would probably be living very well off the royalties.

Re:Just Imagine

[AdamTheBastard]

If he had patented it MS would have chosen a diffent combination? Why the hell would they pay roylaties when there are so many key combinations that could be used for the same something?

New Windows Keyboard

[patdabiker]

You know you rely on the ctrl alt del keys if you use windows. About time someone made a keyboard fit to your needs.

Re:New Windows Keyboard

[Anonymous Coward]

HAHAHAHAH!!!! taht is teh funnny and is teh just 2,341 times i haven seen IT!!!!1!!

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

and on teh macc homepage??? HAHAHAH@!!!! IRONY!!!!! HAHAHAHA1!!!!!

Re:New Windows Keyboard

[Anonymous Coward]

you win

Re:New Windows Keyboard

[Joel Carr]

About time someone made a keyboard fit to your needs.

Or alternatively made a tool fit to your keyboard.

---

invented the three finger salute?

[jnana]

Holy shit, this guy invented the shocker?! Somehow, I thought the guy who invented that would have been younger!

Ctrl-Alt-Del Movie

[Rufus211]

I don't remember where I got it from, but I have an ASF of the movie. Decided to throw it up on my CMU webspace so lets see if we can /. andrew =)

CtrlAltDel.asf

Oh, the movie doesn't start 15 seconds for some reason. Wasn't me.

Re:Ctrl-Alt-Del Movie

[MyFourthAccount]

Thanks for that. I'd never seen it. It's funny, but by far the funniest thing is the look on Gates's face.

Re:Ctrl-Alt-Del Movie

[Anonymous Coward]

fscking priceless, thanks

Re:Ctrl-Alt-Del Movie

[jez9999]

I got a 'server full' message a few times, so just in case that site gets Slashdotted, here's a mirror.

HAHAHAH

[Anonymous Coward]

Of all people, he bluntly told Gates that he made CTRL ALT DEL Famous?!?!?!
HAHAHAHAHAHAH, MWAHAHAHAHHA LOLOLOLOGASM!!!

Re:HAHAHAH

[Anonymous Coward]

There's an R in "LOLOLOLORGASM!!!" Just wanted you to know that.

Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous

[Anonymous Coward]

'I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,' Bradley said.

Note that Bradley claimed to be referring to the NT logon procedure. Full quote is from this video.

I Hope...

[nathanh]

... that he gets a three-finger salute when he leaves the building.

Re:I Hope...

[Tablizer]

... that he gets a three-finger salute when he leaves the building.

And a BSOD cake.....with 3 finger holes in it....and then take him bowling.

Three finger salute...

[John Seminal]

If only Gates knew how many times I had to give it to his windows os.

I was under the impression....

[Ozone Depletion]

Gates didn't laugh.

For some reason I thought Gates had a sense of humor.
Too bad he can't even laugh at himself.

169% O\X/NED!

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone needs to update the definition of "owned" on UrbanDictionary.com to include this. While we're at it, don't forget PWNED.

Open Apple, Control, Reset

[Anonymous Coward]

How is this invention any different from Open Apple, Control, Reset, that was the reset combination on the Apple II, which had to be around before 1980-1981 (when he said he invented Ctl-Alt-Del)?

Re:Open Apple, Control, Reset

[Anonymous Coward]

In 1981, Apple had no "Apple" keys -- they had a big Reset button right above the Return key, where it was easy to hit by accident.

Ctrl+Apple+Reset was inspired by the PC and added few years later.

Why that order?

[midshipman_geek]

Why not Alt-Ctrl-Delete or Delete-Alt-Control?

Not that we can change it now...

Re:Why that order?

[Capt'n Hector]

Because if you were in a text editor, stuff would start deleting until you hit the "Alt" key.

Re:Why that order?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, that's a big problem when you're rebooting your computer. You don't wanna accidently lose five letters of your text document when everything disappears into binary oblivion.

Re:Why that order?

[Capt'n Hector]

I wouldn't know, I'm on a mac, but I do believe that the key command does a lot more than reboot the computer.

Three Finger Salute?

[Xiar Prime]

The most I ever give to Windows is one finger.

My question is...

[andy55]

Ok, so this guy "invented" it, but anyone know any mroe history on it? I mean, is there a story beind? Why those keys? Was there a precursor? (no punn intended).

Andy

Re:My question is...

[pillendraaier]

I rememeber hearing the following explanation. - I'm think it was in the early mac days, that the power key was on the keyboard as a single button.
Beacause it was TOO easy to press it by accident, they decided it was safer to use a key combination that was not presseble by accident. CTRL and ALT are close to each other, but most people have two use their other hand to press the DEL.
pretty inconvenient for disabled, don't you think.

Re:My question is...

[bluesbrosfan]

Ok, so this guy "invented" it, but anyone know any mroe history on it? I mean, is there a story beind?

I was lucky enough during my undergrad days to have taken an introductory EE course from Bradley; he was an adjunct at my university. He told the class the story - there's not much to it, really.

If I recall correctly, in the early days of the IBM PC Bradley worked with the team that wrote the BIOS. (or maybe he WAS the team that wrote the BIOS). At one point, somebody got sick and tired of having to do a hard shutdown whenever they wanted to reboot, so they asked Bradley to figure out a way to do a soft reset. He chose CTL-ALT-DEL because it was simply an obscure key combination that would not be hit by accident.

Re:My question is...

[Anonymous Coward]

i've developed a little one-hand roll across the keys to hit them, i do it so fast most people just think i'm tapping enter.

pinky on the right alt,
thumb on the right ctrl,
pointer on delete.

Roll your hand across them, going from left to right, in a nice fluid motion... Trademark of a repair benchmonkey if you have to fix windowsME/XP boxes all day.

State of computing

[Lord_Dweomer]

"Bradley was on a panel with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and other tech icons. The discussion turned to the keys. 'I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,' Bradley said. Gates didn't laugh."

And thus sums up the state of computing today.

Re:State of computing

[Anonymous Coward]

"Bradley was on a panel with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and other tech icons. The discussion turned to the keys. 'I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,' Bradley said. Gates didn't laugh."

And thus sums up the state of computing today.

That is the funniest thing I've seen all day. I think this calls for making it into a "got Linux?" commercial.

Re:Anyone else get bit by the Linux will reboot...

[helzerr]

Take some time to read the inittab (5) man page and you'll learn that you can specify exactly what a Linux system does when it receives a CTRL-ALD-DEL.

Does this mean...

[Anonymous Coward]

... that he's getting the old Alt-F4?

NT used it for logging on.

[Rolman]

I remember Dave Cutler (the man in charge of WindowsNT, also the main VMS developer for DEC), when asked on why did MS use the CTRL-ALT-DEL keyboard combination to log on an NT machine, he said something like: "this combination is sure to be never used by any application". This was taking advantage of the tradition of using it to reboot the computer as everything in the DOS era was running in real mode, so nobody would use it for an application and the NT architecture enabled for the system to intercept it and use it in a supposedly better way. It was thought to be a neat idea.

Still, I think it was not really clever to teach the end-users such an important keyboard combination. I also remember some users back then thinking it would work the same in 95 as in NT, since both systems' GUI looked so similar.

Re:NT used it for logging on.

[|DeN|niS]

Actually it is a hardware signal and unprivilidged programs have no way of intercepting it. Contrast to "type your password and hit enter" where a fake login screen could trick people. Good luck writing a fake "press ctr-alt-delete to log in" app :-)

Re:NT used it for logging on.

[addaon]

It is not a hardware signal. It is a software interrupt, an exception.

Re:NT used it for logging on.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not true - there's nothing special about ctrl-alt-delete at the hardware level. However the IBM PC BIOS interprets the combination as a reset request, and the Windows keyboard driver handles it as a special case and forces the login program on to the screen. So you're right that this combination has special status and that this special status is related to security - however it is software, not hardware, that takes care of this.

Re:NT used it for logging on.

[Anonymous Coward]

The real reason it that no application can accept that keypress, so you know when you press it, it goes directly to the operating system. Thus it was impossible for anyone to write a program to make a login screen appear when you typed in that combination, so it was impossible to spoof the login program (as can happen on Unix boxes where the login is a simple program). It's a security thing, and it was actually a good idea (this was back when Windows "for Workgroups" was a good looking VMS as opposed to an unnaturally tweaked OS buried under a massive compatibility layer)

Re:NT used it for logging on.

[0x0d0a]

Note that Microsoft did not add this because of some heartfelt desire to improve security. It is a specific bullet point required to get the C2 security rating that NT 4 recieved.

Re:NT used it for logging on.

[poot_rootbeer]

I also remember some users back then thinking it would work the same in 95 as in NT, since both systems' GUI looked so similar.

You mean it didn't?

In NT-based systems, pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del during a session brings up the Task Manager window. In 95-based systems, it brings up a simpler window that just has a process list and halt/reboot/logout buttons. The specifics are different, but the general idea is the same.

Of course, most of the time if an app died under 95 the system would be so hosed that your key combo would be met instead by a BSOD or a total lockup, but...

Re:NT used it for logging on.

[Anonymous Coward]

In NT-based systems, pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del during a session brings up the Task Manager window.

Only on XP, out of the box, so that it works like 9x.

Windows NT's traditional behavior was to put up the "Security" dialog.

Re:NT used it for logging on.

[glesga_kiss]

You can use ctrl-shift-esc to go straight to the Task Manager on W2k and NT.

Re:NT used it for logging on.

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait, so you're saying that by pressing Control Alt Delete, there is no hardware signal?

Yeah, I believe that! EVERY keystroke sends a hardware signal.

XP's killed the glory...

[Rallion]

On your typical XP install the salute just brigs up the task manager. Nothing more, nothing less. Doesn't even halt (or even take precedence over, as far as I can tell) other processes.

I take issue with that, really. I need something a bit more forceful when the program I write does NOT do what it's supposed to.

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Anonymous Coward]

16 bit windows did the same, it brought up a task list that wasnt always on top.. so xp is just going back to the win3.x style

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Anonymous Coward]

I take issue with you being a fucking retard. Just turn off the welcome screen... it is ghey anyway

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Rallion]

Unfortunately I appreciate Fast User Switching, which I actually use, strange as it may be. Thanks for playing, though.

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Malc]

What else do you want it to do? In this situation on the previous versions of NT, people would hit Ctrl+Alt+Del and then hit the Task Manager button so that they can kill their app. NT5.1 has removed an unnecessary step!

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[PacoTaco]

Ctrl+Shift+Esc will bring up the task manager directly without having to go through the security box.

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Dave2 Wickham]

XP home (what the OP's referring to, I believe) has no security box - it goes straight to the task manager. (Yeah, I used XP home on my laptop before I put Linux on it. Yeah, it sucks for networking...)

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Haeleth]

In this situation on the previous versions of NT, people would hit Ctrl+Alt+Del and then hit the Task Manager button so that they can kill their app. NT5.1 has removed an unnecessary step!

Yeah... except that the Win2k version at least gives you a privileged "Shut down" button which provides some way to escape from a program that's taking 100% CPU time.

What I don't understand is why starting the task manager in an emergency doesn't give the task manager any priority. Sure, it's "High" by default, but that doesn't make it load in less than five minutes when anything "Normal" or above is hogging cycles. They have this lovely screen you get to by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del that appears in an instant and suspends all other applications... and then when you click "Task manager", in order to close the flipping app that's basically hanging your computer, it goes back into Windows and carries on churning away!

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Malc]

That's not true. I've had to wait five or more minutes on occasions after hitting Ctrl+Alt+Del under Win2K. If you want better performance, use a dual CPU box. Keep Taskmgr.exe running at all times - I launch it minimised and no taskbar icon from my Startup group (been doing that since NT4 days).

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but it's retarded that you can't have the "correct" WinNT ctrl+alt+del behavior and Fast User Switching at the same time.

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Jmstuckman]

16 bit windows did the same, it brought up a task list that wasnt always on top.. so xp is just going back to the win3.x style

Actually, in 16-bit Windows (Windows 3.1), pushing CTRL-ALT-DEL would bring up a bluescreen. If an application had frozen it would say something like "(Application name) is not responding...press ENTER to terminate the application, push ESC to return to Windows and wait, or push CTRL-ALT-DEL again to restart your computer." The task list was invoked with CTRL-ESC.

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Slack3r78]

XP Pro doesn't either in its default config. It only does so when you have the login and networking options set to do so.

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Anonymous Coward]

don't be a tool, RTFM. Taskman has a base priority of HIGH so it takes precedence over all those buggy windoze apps.

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[zrail]

I can't seem to google up how to do this. Think you could share?

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Malc]

Just create a normal shortcut. Edit it and change it's settings to run minimised. Move the shortcut to your startup group. When Taskmgr is running, modify it's settings to hide when minimised.

Another taskmgr tip: use the "at" command to schedule it to run 1 minute in the future (it mustn't already be running). When it launches, it will have elevated priviledges and you will be able to use it to kill missbehaving services, etc.

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Carnildo]

don't be a tool, RTFM. Taskman has a base priority of HIGH so it takes precedence over all those buggy windoze apps.

Assuming by that you mean "high priority class, normal priority", that only puts it at a base priority of 13. It can be blocked by foreground applications with "normal priority class, normal priority" under some circumstances, and can be blocked by applications of any priority class with "time-critical priority". Ideally, Taskman should be running at either "high priority class, time-critical priority" to be on a par with other time-critical priority threads, or be running as a "realtime priority class" application with its own keyboard driver, in order to be at a higher priority than anything else.

Re:XP's killed the glory...

[Foolhardy]

Oh but you CAN have fast switching at the same time.
1. Disable the welcome screen(from control panel).
2. Open the registry editor.
3. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
4. Find the DWORD value AllowMultipleTSSessions.
5. Set it to 1.
6. Reboot.

Now you can use the users tab of task manager to switch between sessions: Right click the current user and select 'disconnect' to get back to the logon screen without logging off. From there you can create new sessions or connect to existing ones. If current user is a member of 'Remote desktop users' then they can also see what other users are logged on in the users tab. Selecting connect from the right-click context menu will prompt for that user's password so you can connect to that session.

It's not officially supported by MS, but I have been using it for a long time, with many concurrent sessions with zero problems. It is, after all, the same way that WS2003 manages multiple sessions.

screw that - give me Mac OS X

[commodoresloat]

Command-Control-Power. Now that's a three-finger salute! The force reboot is where the manliness of the Mac really shines through -- all three keys signify dominance. Linux and windows users have to use the hippy-dippy "alt" key, as in alt.sex and alt.drugs, combined with the "delete" or "backspace" key to signify a total lack of confidence in their own decisions. You wussies don't even have a command key!!!

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[Anonymous Coward]

That's not the only embarrassment for Linux. It's the only operating system where "man tail" is an actual command.

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[manly_15]

Macs have another great keyboard combo: Command-Option-Escape! On old-school macs it would generally not help, but on OS X it's the friendliest GUI to kill -9 I have ever seen.

That also reminds me, on OS 9, you could press command-power, and escape to a prompt. The only command I know of was 'go', which would take you to the Finder. Great on the older installs of At Ease :)

Does CMD-Power work on OS X? Here goes....

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[Justin205]

You wussies don't even have a command key!!!

As a OSX lover, I should laugh...
As a Linux lover, I should be slightly ticked off...
As a Windows disliker, I should roll on the floor while laughing...

So I'll settle for a cross stare, while I laugh (2x) and roll on the floor.

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[Hes Nikke]

that prompt sucked, what needed to be installed was , then you could do all sorts of fun commands in the OS wide debugger :D

the great thing about MacsBug is that it automatically invokes itself when anything even thinks about crashing. my server (runs OS 9) has MacsBug installed along with a script that will log debug information and then restart the computer.

speaking of... that log must be getting pretty full after 4 years of this configuration... /me runs to his server to parse the debugger log

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[Hes Nikke]

(stupid preview and submit buttons being right next to each other.... *grumble*)

that prompt sucked, what needed to be installed was MacsBug, then you could do all sorts of fun commands in the OS wide debugger :D

the great thing about MacsBug is that it automatically invokes itself when anything even thinks about crashing. my server (runs OS 9) has MacsBug installed along with a script that will log debug information and then restart the computer.

speaking of... that log must be getting pretty full after 4 years of this configuration...

*runs to his server to parse^H^H^H^H^H^H delete the debugger log*

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[piranha(jpl)]

My favorite mnemonic for that key combination is Control-Flower-Power.

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[prockcore]

You wussies don't even have a command key!!!

That key is, was, and shall always be the "open apple" key.

and I paint little closed apples on my option keys too.

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[NuShrike]

And all the Mac people owe it to the original Apple I? and II which used Control-Open Apple-Reset.

This became, Control-Command Propellor-Reset on the Macs, and the Solid Apple button became "Option".

So which computer was first with the 3 finger salute?

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[salimma]

Macs have another great keyboard combo: Command-Option-Escape! On old-school macs it would generally not help, but on OS X it's the friendliest GUI to kill -9 I have ever seen.

Something like KDE's CTRL-ALT-Escape then :)

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[ralmeida]

Even worse: man mount!

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[Anonymous Coward]

You wussies don't even have a command key!!!

No. We have real computers.

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[dead_penguin]

Feminist OS:
man bash

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[Anonymous Coward]

The Apple II didn't have Open Apple keys. The Apple I didn't even come with a keyboard (it was a kit). The IIe was the first of the II line that did have that key (although I believe the III was the first Apple computer to have it).

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[Hes Nikke]

speaking of... that log must be getting pretty full after 4 years of this configuration...

interestingly, i only had 6 entries in that crash log... 4 of them were when i was trying to set up Apple Remote Desktop. (it crashes when i launch the setup app :\ ) the other 2 are from when the (buggy, and unstable) VNC server took down the OS.

Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X

[Monkey Angst]

You know, I do tech support for Macs, and I'm stunned how many people refer to it as the "open apple" key when they're clearly too young to remember the open-apple/closed-apple dichotomy...

to be pendantic...

[eidechse]

...that sequence was chosen for security. From http://www.xfocus.net/articles/200103/winnt.pdf :

"After the SAS [Security Attention Sequence] is triggered in Windows NT, all user-mode programs stop. No program can trap the SAS sequence; it is the sole property of the security subsystem. If a user presses Ctrl+Alt+Del, he can be assured that his information is secure."

Re:to be pendantic...

[pla]

"After the SAS [Security Attention Sequence] is triggered in Windows NT, all user-mode programs stop. No program can trap the SAS sequence;

Yeah? Tell that to a misbehaving MSIE or Media player that has decided to arbitrarily start thrashing disk and doing something that on a very old 'nix system I would call a fork() bomb... Press the three-finger salute, and it merely ignores you.

Of course, both of those, as MS programs, no doubt have special exemptions to any sort of rules keeping normal user-mode code in check. So this doesn't really surprise me (or even entirely mean MS lied about nothing having the ability to trap it - They just mean nothing they didn't write).

Re:to be pendantic...

[divide overflow]

>Yeah? Tell that to a misbehaving MSIE or Media player that has decided to arbitrarily start thrashing disk and doing something that on a very old 'nix system I would call a fork() bomb... Press the three-finger salute, and it merely ignores you.

Actually, my understanding is that situation is typically caused when a program disables interrupts and subsequently gets stuck in a loop. Most recently I've seen this happen with buggy drivers.

Take a look at your keboard...

[helzerr]

From left to right, what order do you see the keys in?

ObSimpsonQuote

[commodoresloat]

"Well, you didn't think I got rich by writing checks did you?"
--Bill Gates

Three keys

[Anonymous Coward]

PrtScn SysRQ
ScrLk
Pause Break

Anyone can tell me what these do???

Re:Three keys

[Gwala]

PtrScrn - Used to be used to send the current screen of characters to your printer. Now copies the equivilent of the windows framebuffer to the clipboard.

SysRq - Not sure on this one, never used it, - possibly from mainframe terminal keyboards.

Pause - Paused the exeuction of the running program (remember: this was before OS's capable of multitasking), still used occasionally in games.

Break - killed the current program, well at least it was supposed to. You had to add a CTRL to it when pressing. I believe it originally came from when mainframe terminals were popular.

Re:Three keys

[alchemist0405]

Hmmm, google is your friend. This page covers all three keys, but here is a little description of each:

The main intent of the Scroll Lock key was to allow scrolling of screen text up, down and presumably sideways using the arrow keys in the days before large displays and graphical scroll bars. You can see where this might have been handy in the DOS era, when screen output typically was limited to 80 characters wide by 25 rows deep. For some types of programs, spreadsheets being the obvious example, it's still handy now.

In layman's terms [...], "You can make a multitasking program manager monitor a specific location in your computer's hardware so it can do something cool, such as letting the user switch tasks, when the SysReq key is pressed." As it turned out, the developers of Windows didn't use SysReq when implementing task switching. Some new keyboards no longer feature this key, and its days seem numbered.

The Pause/Break key was used in the DOS command line environment to pause scrolling of text on the screen, which could, depending on the program and its method of text output to the screen, have the effect of pausing program execution.

Re:Three keys

[LittleBigLui]

SysRq - Not sure on this one, never used it, - possibly from mainframe terminal keyboards.

SysRq has some special application on linux kernels (if compiled with support for it) - quote from Remote Serial Console HOWTO (not that magic sysrq key has much to do with remote serial consoles, just the first page that google gave me for "magic sysrq"):

The "magic SysRq key" is a key sequence that allows some basic commands to be passed directly to the kernel. Kernel software developers use this interface to debug their software. Under most circumstances it can also be used to uncleanly reboot the computer, something that is otherwise difficult or expensive to do remotely.

Re:Three keys

[PacoTaco]

Alt-PrintScrn will copy the active window to the clipboard. This is often more useful than taking a snapshot of everything.

Re:Three keys

[foniksonik]

It's old school. If this was modded funny I'd ignore it but I'll answer in hopes that it'll never come up again.

PrtScn == Print Screen and did just that back before there were scroll bars and windows and the mouse...

ScrLk == Screen Lock and in the olden days it would lock the screen on your console as huge amounts of data would scroll by so you could take a closer look at something. I think you can still use it with some X Windows clients to do the same while looking at a terminal window.

Pause Break is similar to Screen Lock but would pause the data dump and break the output to a new source... useful if your storage medium only holds 32 kb or is going to tape or a punch card and you need to pause it for a minute to put a new punch card in. also useful if you want to PrtScn!

SysRQ damn I don't know. System Request? Maybe it presents a new command line prompt? or shows you a system dump of processes for debugging purposes?

If I got anything wrong, please correct or improve upon.

In any case these keys do absolutely nothing useful in Windows and I have no idea why they would persist....

Re:Three keys

[meowsqueak]

Well, PrintScreen (PrtScn) works in Windows - it makes a copy of the desktop in the clipboard. Paste into a Word document or a paint program to see. And I think Alt+PrtScn does the same but just for the active window. I used to use this a lot when compiling assignments in matlab...

Re:Three keys

[zhenlin]

The Magic SysRq key makes a Request to the Linux System -- Alt + SysRq + (on x86)

For more details, study /usr/src/linux/Documentation/sysrq.txt

Very useful. Far more convenient than pressing some chord that brings up a GUI screen with buttons to press. The framebuffer may be corrupted, for instance, or the mouse non-responsive, or the GUI server frozen, etc.

Re:Three keys

[shri]

Scrl Lock works the same in Excel as it did in the good old days on 1-2-3.

Re:Three keys

[Haeleth]

Yeah, but you have to compile that into the kernel yourself. Don't expect it to work on any random Linux system you find yourself using.

Re:Three keys

[Skater]

Also, there was a time when hitting "Print Screen" (in DOS) would actually print the current screen on your printer.

--RJ

Re:Three keys

[WWWWolf]

PrtScr, in DOS days, sent the contents of the (text mode) screen to the printer. In Windows, it copies the contents of the display to clipboard (some games also map this to internal screenshot command, saving a screenshot to file). In Linux, um, it can be bound to whatever command you need in Hotkeys application or its ilk. I use it to save a screenshot to /tmp/sshot.png.

SysRQ was supposed to be a funky command switching / task management key in any of the cool future PC operating systems. Nobody bothered, except perhaps the Linux developers who envisioned "Magic SysRQ key", useful for tasks like rebooting the computer cleanly if X11 or something has once again messed up the console completely.

Scroll Lock is used to switch the cursor keys to "scroll mode" in modern apps. Or, to pause terminal output in Linux. Or something similar. Pause/Break is probably so obscure that even the inventors didn't yet know what the heck those were supposed to be used for - "future expansion" in case something needed to be paused or broken, more likely.

Re:Three keys

[archen]

The main intent of the Scroll Lock key was to allow scrolling of screen text up

This is what it does in FreeBSD which can be pretty handy at times, and somthing I tend to miss when I work with Linux. Another interesting FreeBSD feature is shift+break which turns on the console screen saver.

Re:Three keys

[easter1916]

"CompSci & Bible Major"
Nothing wrong with it and certainly no offense intended, but only in America...

Re:Three keys

[alchemist0405]

Hahaha,

I know. They are on opposite sides of the spectrum I will admit...

But what I realy wanna do in life is go into ministry, but I'll never graduate if I don't take all these CompSci classes to raise my GPA!

Re:Three keys

[back_pages]

The best use of Pause/Break on a Windows machine is that WindowsKey+Pause/Break will bring up the System program/menu thing from the control panel. When I worked as a PC tech, it was my most frequently used shortcut.

I also use ScrollLock in MIDI/Digital recording software. In default mode, the screen will follow the musical playback and scroll through the piece. If I want to make a quick change to a small section, though, I don't want a constantly moving screen. Pressing ScrollLock detaches my screen from the playback and lets me make that change without stopping the music. It's probably not a vital key, but hey it has a purpose.

Re:Three keys

[Anonymous Coward]

If one wants to go in the ministry, isn't the usual major "Theology"? Majoring in "Bible" sounds really retarded.

Re:Three keys

[alchemist0405]

I am using the technical term which my university chooses to describe my degree plan by. We offer 6 degrees (just counting undergrads) which could theoretically fall under the category of theology. "Theology" is just too broad a term to be used to specify a degree plan at a Christian university.

Old developers don't retire ...

[Dukael_Mikakis]

... they just reboot.

Re:Old developers don't retire ...

[Just Some Guy]

... or shutdown (if you don't believe in an afterlife).

Re:Old developers don't retire ...

[thered]

I thought they just went off to the big BSOD in the sky.

The stuff legends are made of!

[Tokerat]

"I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous," Bradley said. Gates didn't laugh.

Wow, my hero!

Ctrl+Alt+Del and keyboard weathering

[armando_wall]

Back when I used Windos 95 and 98, I used "Ctrl" "Alt" and "Del" so often that my fingers rubbed them off.

Thanks, Bradley, for your contribution to ruining my keyboard!

Using a different OS nowadays, strangely enough the affected keys are now "W", "S", "L", "A", "H", "D", "O", "T", "R" and "G". The "." is already gone!!

Thanks, UPTSO, McBride, RFID tags, Eugenia, Mars, Goatse and RIAA!

Re:Ctrl+Alt+Del and keyboard weathering

[commodoresloat]

Using a different OS nowadays, strangely enough the affected keys are now "W", "S", "L", "A", "H", "D", "O", "T", "R" and "G". The "." is already gone!!

Most browsers have this cool feature called bookmarks that allows you to get to slashdot using a single mouseclick rather than typing all that out!

Re:Ctrl+Alt+Del and keyboard weathering

[StrifeCX]

You used a single keyboard long enough for the keys to rub off? My average life expectancy is about 3 months.

Re:Ctrl+Alt+Del and keyboard weathering

[Anonymous Coward]

slashdot.org is so deeply ingrained in my muscle memory it wouldn't save me a whole lot of time to use the bookmarks.

Re:Ctrl+Alt+Del and keyboard weathering

[Anonymous Coward]

You know you're not supposed to cum on the keyboard?

Re:Ctrl+Alt+Del and keyboard weathering

[BlacKat]

I have *two* keyboards that I've not only worn the letters off the keys, but have actually worn a HOLE into the left shift key on one and am almost through on the other one. ;)

Yes it's time for a new keyboard, but I am waiting 'till I get my next system to do that as I'm switching to OS X. :)

Re:Ctrl+Alt+Del and keyboard weathering

[Anonymous Coward]

He's probably a Linux user... Bookmarks are user-friendly and therefore EVIL!!!

Re:Ctrl+Alt+Del and keyboard weathering

[Fjord]

You type the www? http://slashdot.org is the proper URL (thus giving the joke H-T-T-P-colon-slash-slash-slashdot-dot-org).

Re:Ctrl+Alt+Del and keyboard weathering

[mph]

Most browsers have this cool feature called bookmarks that allows you to get to slashdot using a single mouseclick rather than typing all that out!

Give him a break. He's just following orders.

Three hands, three middle fingers.

[Anonymous Coward]

Now, if only I had a third hand, I would give windows the three finger salute it deserves sometimes..

Re:better yet...

[eyeknowkungfu]

ooohh! I want to be (me != /.);

Bad thing is

[melted]

He doesn't give a flying fuck (pun intended) about the girls anymore.

The Origin

[aynrandfan]

I suppose "control-alt-delete" was chosen as "work-you-fucking-program!" took to long to type in.

Re:Bill may not laugh,

[nnnneedles]

there's a video of this around you know.

I don't have a standard keyboard...

[raehl]

You insensitive clod!

http://www.keyalt.com/keyboards/datahand.htm

Only in Windows...

[mark-t]

The OS where you press Ctrl-Alt-Del to log in, and use the "Start Menu" to shut down.

Re:Only in Windows...

[oshy]

When you install some of their software, you pick a pile of options then press "Finish" to start the installation.

Re:Only in Windows...

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't understand.. Don't you want to start the shutdown?

Take it easy Bill!!

[Anonymous Coward]

"The discussion turned to the keys. 'I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,' Bradley said. Gates didn't laugh"

It is quite okay that your company is not quite
innovative ( though it occassionally comes up witn
original ideas like .NET etc ). Also seems like
you are in the illussion that windows never farted, and gets upset when people talk about it.
It is okay, it was what it was like.. You
like it or not. The whole world heard it :-)

More precisely...

[Ayanami Rei]

it can't be handled by any input APIs (Win32/DirectInput)... it gets handled directly by the keyboard driver.

This kind of keystroke is called SAK (Secure Attention Key), as it's not specific to Windows NT.
SAK is an keystroke (or other event, for example sending "break" on a Sun serial port) that the OS guarantees only the Operating System can ever handle.

Re:More precisely...

[Anonymous Coward]

"SAK is an keystroke (or other event, for example sending "break" on a Sun serial port) that the OS guarantees only the Operating System can ever handle"

Sure. The operating system runs is installed on hard disk, right? So, what files do I need to change?

Re:More precisely...

[Anonymous Coward]

Also, in Windows NT, when the OS receives this key combination it also disables any system-wide keyboard hooking and isolates the subsequent keystrokes in a subsystem apart from the Win32 subsystem to prevent password nabbin'.

Re:More precisely...

[Dr. Evil]

Yeah, the end result is that in theory, you can't do the console-nabbing trick of putting up a login screen from your account and waiting for people to login.

People used to do this all the time with terminals in shared environments... like.. oh... university labs :-)

"Welcome to blah VMS blah blah, ^MUsername: ^MPassword: ^M^M Sorry, our administrator disabled silly 'su'ing, so it's too tough to spoof the login environment from my terminal account. Because of this decision, logins are not available. Please go away and try a different terminal so I can harvest more passwords."

Yes, it's silly. A hardware hack would blow the security just as easily. I think MS does the SAK thing only because it is part of that government security requirement, but for stuff like university labs, it really does add a layer of security in that if somebody wants to harvest passwords, they have to really break the rules.

Re:More precisely...

[CTho9305]

it can't be handled by any input APIs (Win32/DirectInput)... it gets handled directly by the keyboard driver.

Close, but not exactly correct. It gets handled by "msgina".dll, which is loaded before logon, before anything else. msgina hooks the keyboard IO, and then traps any ctrl+alt+del presses before they reach other running programs. Modified versions of msgina.dll can be used to allow other programs to receive ctrl+alt+del presses.

This page gives a brief explanation of how things like Novell catch ctrl+alt+del, by replacing msgina.dll.

Re:More precisely...

[IGnatius T Foobar]

This kind of keystroke is called SAK (Secure Attention Key), as it's not specific to Windows NT. SAK is an keystroke (or other event, for example sending "break" on a Sun serial port) that the OS guarantees only the Operating System can ever handle.

And this is rather pathetic, because IBM put the SysRq key on their keyboards ever since the original PC for exactly that purpose. Leave it to Microsoft to completely ignore the way things are supposed to be and play in their own, Not-Invented-Here universe instead.

Re:More precisely...

[Dun Malg]

And this is rather pathetic, because IBM put the SysRq key on their keyboards ever since the original PC for exactly that purpose. Leave it to Microsoft to completely ignore the way things are supposed to be and play in their own, Not-Invented-Here universe instead.

Quoted from /. blurb: "AP reports that IBM'er David Bradley, who came up with the (in)famous Ctrl-Alt-Delete key combination, is retiring. "

It appears it wasn't Microsoft's invention. If IBM didn't use SysRq, why would MS change that after years of continuity?

Re:More precisely...

[buckinm]

The SysRq was added on the IBM AT. The original IBM PC and XT did not have that key.

Re:More precisely...

[Anonymous Coward]

IBM put the SysRq key on their keyboards ever since the original PC for exactly that purpose.

IBM put SysRq on the keyboard for use with terminal emulators -- for PC hardware it functions as "PrintScrn".

And MS couldn't use SysRq for the NT SAK because it would break those terminal emulators. As others pointed out, they could be pretty sure that Ctrl+Alt+Del was not used by any applications.

Re:More precisely...

[nigelc]

AFAIK the main purpose for a SysRq key on the IBM PC was so that you could use it as an SNA or Bisync terminal. To quote from somewhere obscure in the world of terminal protocols:

VTAM issues a Bind Session Command (BIND) to the terminal. The terminal is now connected to the application. The terminal operator can issue a command (System Request) to terminate the connection with the application (UNBIND) and reconnect to VTAM so that a different application can be selected.

Real Linux Administrators

[codepunk]

One of the first thing a "REAL" linux administrator does is to disable that functionality in the hint, "inittab" . Change the binding to something like echo "Simulating stupid MCSE computer repair"

Re:Real Linux Administrators

[Anonymous Coward]

One of the first thing a "REAL" linux administrator does is to...

Talk down to Linux Users when they ask "stupid" questions such as this!

Billy better not laugh

[djupedal]

but Bill made it famous

• blue screen
• DLL hell
• Outlook mail virus
• and then it crashed, and I wasn't doing anything!
• guess I have to reinstall the system
• do you really, really, really want to quit?
• where do you want to go today?
• and then Windows just quit!
• I only use Windows at work
• I hate Windows
• microsoft sucks

Re:Billy better not laugh

[Anonymous Coward]

oooh...you forgot "plug 'n' pray"

myself, i like SGI's "Vulcan Death Grip". Nothing like trying to dance your fingers around an SGI keyboard to do a reset.

Re:Billy better not laugh

[n0dez]

You've forgotten the XP thing. It was kind of "Error. Can't delete that file. It's being used by someone." As far as I remember the only way to avoid that was waiting hours or rebooting. It should be really annonying for Windows users.

Re:Billy better not laugh

[Anonymous Coward]

It still is.

Re:Billy better not laugh

[kingkade]

blue screen

As opposed to a kernel panic? Hint: blue screen is usually due to a shitty driver 95% of the time.

DLL Hell

As opposed to RPM Hell. (Your line is: "Everyone should compile from source")

guess I have to reinstall the system

You've got a point here.

I only use Windows at work

Also, for most games...

Re:Billy better not laugh

[Anonymous Coward]

DLL Hell

As opposed to RPM Hell. (Your line is: "Everyone should compile from source")

DLL Hell actually results in application crashes, because DLLs generally don't contain the information needed to detect binary incompatibility.

Lisp machines

[Anonymous Coward]

Lisp machines were using a 5-key chord for reboot way before IBM PC. The chord LCtrl-LMeta-RCtrl-RMeta-Del was used on TI-Explorer. The meta key is the alt equivalence in lisp machines.

Re:Lisp machines

[Dachannien]

Space Cadet keyboard

Re:Lisp machines

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah, so now we know where Emacs got its inspiration from!

Re:Lisp machines

[Scarblac]

This combination lives on in Emacs, where it means "move cursor right".

Re:Lisp machines

[Lxy]

WTF? You know about Ti-Explorers? I have a TI Network Explorer, you're the first person I've seen that has ever heard of such a beast. Would you be willing to help me out?

Re:Lisp machines

[Anonymous Coward]

OMG, it was 20 years back, i was in university then. Surprise that it is still around. I used it regularly for four years until 1989. My memory of it has faded. Email me if you think i can be of any help: joel@commontown.com

It was the very first "OpenSource" machine with the OS and Emacs (Zmacs actually) source code all inclusive. But i bet because it has no compiler.

He's not retiring

[K-Man]

He's just rebooting.

Re:He's not retiring

[ciupman]

Thank you!! .. you just made my morning happier ;)

Re:He's not retiring

[plams]

or as they say:

Real hackers don't die. Their TTL just expires.

Funny

[iswm]

"Gates didn't laugh"

I find this very humorous.

Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous

[Smthng]

Note also that he was clearly being very sarcastic, which Bill appropriately acknowledged with a polite right-now-i-hate-you forced smile.

No Power

[ce25254]

There's no Power Button on the keyboard anymore.
*sigh*
It's just hold down power button on CPU for five seconds.
Or just never reboot...which is almost possible now...

Re:No Power

[addaon]

Control-Apple-Power works with the power button on the main computer, although it may require more-than-average contortionary skills (or, alternately, more-than-average desk design skills).

Re:No Power

[Anonymous Coward]

"Eject" doubles as the "power" key now. Due to the use of USB, Apple can't safely include a power key anymore.

Command + Control + EJECT! That does sound series. :)

Novell Netware

[cscx]

Alt-Shift-Shift-Esc... now that's a toughie.

Thanks a lot.

[Onikuma]

If he hadn't come up with this, just maybe, Bill Gates would have had to write software that was somewhat reliable.

Re:Thanks a lot.

[poot_rootbeer]

Bill Gates would have had to write software that was somewhat reliable.

Are you saying Altair BASIC 1.0 wasn't reliable?

Re:Isn't quite as fun as the Task Manager

[http]

hold on, have you used MacsBug? command-power drops you into assembly language level debugging, with symbolics, and audio cds carry on playing. then type 'Scream' to look at individual threads...

Is it just me or...

[chatgris]

Did anyone else when first reading about the creator of Ctrl-Alt-Del immediately think of http://ctrlaltdel-online.com/ ?

Re:Is it just me or...

[JoeError]

I thought www.ctrl-alt-del.com but when I pushed ctrl-alt-del alls it did was bring up the Task Manager

Not quite right

[SuperKendall]

It makes up for that with the raw energy of "man kill".

But of course it's not the only OS, OS X includes all those as well! Ahh, the joy of a commercially widespread desktop that ships with man...

Celebrities for Open Source

[Anonymous Coward]

How can we convince the old men of IT history to commit themselves to Open Source projects? We should assume that they do not need to work any more and that they have all the time they want to spend on Free projects.

How would the world benefit from their insights and contacts?

What would motivate them?

Would a "mentor" scheme help to organise OS projects? Would it work?

Perhaps he would have put them right next together

[Idou]

if he had anticipated how many times I push that sequence in a day.

However, it is a cooler sign to flash to the MSCE gangsters that hang out at my company for some reason . . .

Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous

[billscarwasher]

Ctrl-Alt-Del was chosen for the Windows login because it's a hardware interrupt. It's extremely difficult to override. So basically, you can be ensured that if you hit that combo, you're getting a legit login prompt rather than some spoofed password sniffer.

Bill?

[Idou]

Maybe if you learned to laugh at Windows' mistakes, you could be happy all the time?

Re:Bill?

[ahknight]

Because it's just damned funny when you lose work due to crashes, time due to corruption/rebuilding, sanity due to everything looking like a damned web browser, and productivity by sorting through 60 program options for the one thing you use daily.

A lot to laugh about, sure.

I laugh because I have a Mac with none of those problems. I laugh at people with those problems now. Those people are not laughing, in general.

Re:Bill?

[Anonymous Coward]

My Mac kernel panics far more frequently than my windows box, are you laughing at me?

Re:Bill?

[ahknight]

Yes.

Re:Bill?

[Anonymous Coward]

I just love how Mac users try to take the piss out of PC users. Dude, your hardware is slow, you paid way too much for it and you don't have nearly as many hardware or software options. That's why I laugh at you.

Your little G4/G5 can eat my P4's (or my Opteron's, take your pick) dust. Even if I run Windows, XP doesn't crash. Sure, applications may from time to time, but XP is an extremely fast and stable system and I'm not afraid to admit that. Perhaps you are?

Re:Bill?

[Anonymous Coward]

My uptime is 80 days, and that due to an OS upgrade. I really don't have any problems and am confident enough in my choice to not start a penis-size war with a fool. :)

Have a nice day.

Destroy microsoft.

[www.sorehands.com]

If he got a patent on it, and microsoft was charged $.01 per use, Microsoft would be out of business from all the crashes.

Re:Destroy microsoft.

[daveashcroft]

i cant believe someone modded your obviously tongue in cheek comment as interesting.........+1 funny yes...but INTERESTING? If only there was a way to ensure people had to be at least 18, or at the very least have an IQ over 90 before they recieved moderator points!

Re:Destroy microsoft.

[TrickyRick]

Maybe they thought it was interesting because Micro$oft wants to charge all of those digital camera, and flash drive manufactures for using the FAT filesystem.

Prior art

[Felinoid]

Reset + Run/Stop (Commodore Vic20, 64 and C128)

Control + reset (I forget... just poped in my head)

The idea is that with one key you could accadentally hit this reset key and be roially screwed... But a complex keyboard combo spaced out works wonders...

Note it's not just Control Alt Del.. you gotta use the control and alt on the opposate side of the keyboard from del.

Run/Stop and reset on the Commodore 8 bits was the same way.. Reset on one side of the keyboard Run/Stop on the other.

The Commodore 128 had a hard reset button sunk into the case to be difficult (but not impossable) to hit by accadent.

Woe be it to those of us with a home made reset button on the back of an XT with a kid brother or sister who thought it was funny to sneak up and reboot.

Re:Prior art

[rossdee]

"Control + reset (I forget... just poped in my head)"

The Apple ][+ had that combination. (1980-81)

Re:Prior art

[meadowsp]

Shift + Break on the BBC Micro & Acorn Electron

Re:Prior art

[Anonymous Coward]

actually, the key is called 'Restore' on the Commodores, not 'Reset'.

FYI.

Re:Prior art

[TrickyRick]

Actuall on the Commodores it was RUN/STOP + RESTORE.

Holy Shit!

[dbCooper0]

If you actually use one of those I bow before you. I'm not worthy!

Actually in the closest proximity to me are my main board - IBM model M, and my second box has a Northgate Omnikey 101 (1993).My favorite is broken - Omnikey with function keys on the left circa 1989. It has Ctrl where God intended: left of the "A".

Re:Holy Shit!

[iantri]

Get a Gateway Anykey It has the left-hand side function keys (a set at the top, too), and is completely reprogrammable so you can put CTRL wherever you want.

Re:Holy Shit!

[dbCooper0]

Oye, I think I saw one and tried it. Northgate and Gateway were competitors at one time (late 80s?) and as I recall, the Anykey wasn't quite as tactile...a little spongy.

I can't remember what company bought the Northgate technology, but a gal at a place I worked wore her Omnikey out, and paid ~$200 for a very good repro.

Re:Holy Shit!

[iantri]

You're right, the tactile feedback isn't as good as I'd personally like either.

I don't use one; I know people who do. There's plenty of other good programmable keyboards, though.

Re:Holy Shit!

[dbCooper0]

Realistically, unless I spill/spew beer in this model M (and have to get one online for $15) I can deal with absent-mindedly setting caps on when cutting or pasting...I've had to deal with it for 7-8 yrs now.

Ooops! That just gave it away - my main box runs win2k...I'm soooo ashamed!

As far as not having the Fkeys on the left, the weaning period was about that long ago, when I was still using WordPerfect 5.1!

It took Bradley five minutes to write the CTRL+ALT

[msg1825]

here is another short article about this.

you've forgot

[LittleBigLui]

• ...and it was like, beep beep beep beep beep beep beep...

Re:you've forgot

[djupedal]

oh, sure....she was great!

So, Time To Retire The IBM-Compatible PC, Right?

[schalliol]

The guy who invents CTRL-ALT-DELETE retires, so why not retire the technology and let all of those machines just go back to the Earth where they came? Out of that matter will rise a new super computing structure that will take over the world!! Mwwhahaha MWWHAHAA!

Got me in the biz!

[dbCooper0]

My first encounter with *paid* IT was with a Tandy 286, 20mb ST-225 HD that was having brain farts. They kept locking up, and using the 3 finger salute...I was a hero for running chkdsk /f - DOS 3.0 :))

Hey, $25 /hr in 1986? Don't knock it 'til you tried it...

HA HA HA

[dnahelix]

David Bradley gets an honorary +5 Funny!

and then there was the PRAM reset...

[dsb]

So you think your logic board is failing, or your combo drive is not recognized, or you got the perpetual spinning beach ball, you've repaired permissions, etc., what do you do? You reset the PRAM while holding down the Command+option+p+r Now thats an exercise in keyboarding dexterity and fustration control.

Re:and then there was the PRAM reset...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, it's even worse on non US keyboards, because the firmware only knows American keymaps. Try typing OF commands on a French mac laptop.

On a Spanish one like mine, things are a bit better since at leasst the letters are in the same place, but for punctuation marks, parenthesis and other characters are in completely different locations.

Re:and then there was the PRAM reset...

[Net_Wakker]

You know of course that a pram is a tit in dutch?

Re:and then there was the PRAM reset...

[jsebrech]

I've spent so much time figuring out how to set the belgian be-latin1 keyboard layout on half-installed linux systems that I now know the US keyboard layout by heart. If for some reason the localised keymap doesn't load (which happens surprisingly often given my tendency for tinkering) I can still get work done.

The inability of computers to ask the keyboard for what layout it has is something that baffles me. Nowadays the keyboard, mouse and monitor are pretty much the only parts that don't get automatically recognized by the system, and they happen to be the ones that are most crucial to actually using the system.

Why is that? Are hardware designers such asshats?

Re:and then there was the PRAM reset...

[Anonymous Coward]

You know of course that a pram is a tit in dutch?

I like looking at tits.

And in case you STILL didn't get it . . .

[DongleFondle]

"The key combination also is used when software, such as Microsoft's Windows operating system, fails'."

Oh, and Bill Gates, one of the other icons on the panel, is the CEO of Microsoft.

You see, by saying that Bill 'made it famous' he's really insult-

Oh. You get it.

Sorry.

tired and old tho' it is...

[cliveholloway]

this reminds me of the old, old joke...

Three engineers are in a car. An electronics engineer, a mechanical engineer and a Microsoft Certified engineer. The car breaks down.

"Hmmm", says the electronics engineer, "Let me check the wiring".

Off he goes. Five minutes later he returns saying, "Hmmm, well I'm stumped".

The mechanical engineer then says, "Let me take a look". He pulls up the hood and prods away, but eventually, he admits defeat.

Then the Microsoft certified engineer pipes up.

"Hey guys. Let's close all the windows, get out of the car, get back in the car and open all the windows. Maybe that will work".

boom (wait for it) boom.

cLive ;-)

Look at original 83-key keyboard...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's obvious that ctrl-alt-delete was NOT intended to be triggered automatically on the original model keyboards. Definitely a two-handed operation:

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/kb/layout/std_XT83.htm

Re:my story with slash-dot

[JoeError]

I don't know what's worse, that I visited the anti-slash website, or that I punched it into a new browser window so it wouldn't look like I clicked the link she/he/they presented me with.

What a man...

[ctrl-alt-elite]

To him I owe my entire existence. Three cheers for David Bradley!

I still use the pause key

[rsilvergun]

to pause a booting system so I can read/write down useful info like bios versions. Just hit enter when your done and away you go.

Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous

[addaon]

Umwhat? In what way is ctrl-alt-delete a hardware interrupt? It's branched out of the standard key handler earlier than other keys, and generates a (different) software interrupt, if that's what you meant... but it sure ain't what you said.

Re:So, Time To Retire The IBM-Compatible PC, Right

[JoeError]

You linux users have been saying that for years. Off-topic: This is the most I've ever posted, I bet they all get modded-down

Totally agree with parent

[Raul654]

...and then the guy tried to back out by saying he was referring to the NT logon. Yea right.

Re:So, Time To Retire The IBM-Compatible PC, Right

[schalliol]

Linux user, I am not (OS X). I was referring to IBM-Compatible PC, not Windows...since there's really no IBM PC OS anymore. Was that not clear?

What - no patent?

[lars_boegild_thomsen]

Ha, ha - at least Microsoft tried to patent ctrl-alt-del. Why not I wonder? Already SCO IP?

Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous

[Anonymous Coward]

I think he must have meant that int 9 is an external hardware interrupt.

The full handler was: int 9, al = scan code -> calls kb translator: int 15, ah = 0x4f, al = scan code, on return al = modified scan code. The resulting scan code is looked up and dealt with as a special case or passed on up to higher level software.

Hooking this interrupt was a first dos asm program for lots of us in the old days - I haven't poked around at that level in a while so I don't know if NT had some sort of scheme to prevent those sorts of hijinks, and if so why any other key sequence would not have worked just as well.

Microsoft keyboard

[gtog]

Microsoft keyboard

Couldn't help but wonder...

[PSandusky]

I read this story and couldn't help wondering if Bill ended up helping to make the technique famous not only by advancing software that made it vital, but by demonstrating it himself -- didn't he need this to restart the machine during an OS crash that happened most precipitously while he was bragging at a trade show?

At least he was demonstrating the software as it would work... or wouldn't... in real life.

Re:Couldn't help but wonder...

[hawaiian717]

Yes, he was demonstrating a pre-release Windows 98 at Comdex. The blue screen came up when a USB scanner was connected to the computer.

CNN has QuickTime video here: http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9804/20/gates.co mdex/

Key combinations are for wimps

[Bigman]

I remember back in 1980 when I had my swanky new Commodore Pet 2001-8 that to reboot it (because I'd crashed it running hand-assembled machine code routines) I used a specially bent paper clip on the edge connecter ("Expansion port") that stuck out the right hand side of the machine. I'd always intended to fit a switch, even bought it.. just never got round to drilling the hole!

Re:Key combinations are for wimps

[WWWWolf]

Ha. I actually built a reset switch. (Okay, so my father did the soldering.) Too bad it was connected to the serial bus. It worked just fine for VIC-20, but on Commodore 64, it rebooted the disk drive instead, not exactly what we intended. We later used the plug to build a PC printer port cable to "burn D64 images" on floppy =)

For C64, I use The Final Cartridge III which has a nice reset switch, just like all other turbo carts of the day.

it was chosen cos you cant inadvertantly press it

[Anonymous Coward]

NT

Typical

[Flyboy Connor]

It's typical for the state of affairs in "litigation country" that even a simple key-combination is called "an invention".

kill -9

[n0dez]

This guy invented the CTRL+ALT+DEL combination and Microsoft bought it and included it on Windows. BTW, has kill -9 been ported to Windows? Sometimes the magic combination doesn't work.

Windows' keys!

[zoney_ie]

I would just like to know, does ANYONE use the "right-click" or "context menu" keyboard button? Or the second "Start" key. In fact, does anyone even use one Start key that often?

Besides, when faced with no mouse, I tend to fall into old habits - Ctrl-Esc to bring up Start Menu, etc.

(Yes, perhaps it's a good idea to just reboot when faced with no mouse - but sometimes one has to meddle with Device Mangler etc. beforehand).

I have never used Scroll Lock, though I think I toyed with using it in a program I was designing. (It lights an LED after all!).

Pause I do end up using sometimes to pause games, or EVEN to interrupt stuck processes (I can't remember what - I think it was a Win32 console process that I hit the break key out of frustration).

Print Screen is invaluable.

I seldom use Function keys nowadays.

Where's the ANY key, that's what I'd like to know.

Often still stuck with BSOD.

[zoney_ie]

Except that at blue-screen stage, Ctrl-Alt-Del often doesn't work!

Ah there's nothing as hideous as the NT core-dump "blue screen of death".

Can that info actually be used or have they subjected end users to years of "sights wot they dare not look upon" for no good reason.

What I loathe MOST though, is individual Apps crashing and Windows asking either to "Close or Debug" (Yes, the latter is a VERY annoying thing to accidently select when one has a full set of development tools installed), or more recently "Send an error report". NO NO NO NO NO. JUST GO AWAY. I NEVER WANT TO USE YOUR APPLICATION AGAIN. Well, until I restart it at any rate.

Re:Often still stuck with BSOD.

[Anonymous Coward]

You can disable the "send error report" very easily.

Also you can disable the "Close or Debug" option without much effort.

Its really quite obvious that you aren't very good with computers, otherwise you would have worked out how to solve these little problems....

Re:Often still stuck with BSOD.

[Anonymous Coward]

Its really quite obvious that you aren't very good with computers, otherwise you would have worked out how to solve these little problems....

Just like it is quite obvious that you aren't very good with people, otherwise you wouldn't be spending your time trolling and insulting others on slashdot.

MOD PARENT DOWN

[grouse]

As other posters have noticed, this was clearly sarcasm. Bradley was _not_ talking about the NT logon procedure.

I heard that ...

[Lazy Jones]

Microsoft intended to replace the ctrl-alt-delete combination with dedicated "Windows" keys, but one of the marketing guys thought it was a bad idea, so they decided to use those new keys for other, less frequently used functions.

Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous

[phiwum]

Note that Bradley claimed to be referring to the NT logon procedure. Full quote is from this video.

Note as well that he was obviously joking when he said he meant the NT logon procedure. See the video.

Smart for DOS, stupid for Windows

[Spoing]

The first x86 computer I owned -- an 8086 lugable -- had a keyboard that linked directly to the CPU and no virtualization hardware. Pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL was handy on that system, and over time moving on to 286s, and 386s it still had a function till both the hardware and the operating systems started to trap it. At that point, CTRL-ALT-DEL stopped being a reliable override and started to become a function of software.

When Windows NT came out, touting that it supported MIPS and Alpha processors, the system boards for those chips did not have even a hint of this original hardware design. I thought that it was reasonable to drop support for that keyboard combination entirely on the software side, and special case trap it for any of the remaining hardware under x86. Drop it as a historic oddity and move on.

Instead, it was retained as a "security" feature in the NT line for logging in to a machine and locking the machine as if there were something special about pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL on all hardware -- if the keyboard even had those keys or they mapped to anything resembling the hardware on Windows NT came out, touting that it supported MIPS and Alpha processors, the system boards for those chips did not have even a hint of this original hardware design. I thought that it was reasonable to drop support for that entirely on the software side, and special case trap it for any of the remaining hardware under x86.an x86!

This alone was a big red flag to me that Microsoft didn't get it. Add to it the heavy x86 virtualization used on the other hardware and it was clear MS wasn't entirely serious about portability let alone real security.

With that, can anyone give a good reason to keep CTRL-ALT-DEL around for any function except as an old-time legacy habit for DOS/Windows users? Is there a technical reason why that combo is more valuable? I can't think of one...

Re:Smart for DOS, stupid for Windows

[Chester K]

With that, can anyone give a good reason to keep CTRL-ALT-DEL around for any function except as an old-time legacy habit for DOS/Windows users? Is there a technical reason why that combo is more valuable? I can't think of one...

It's difficult to hit by accident, and it's the only key combination that existing Windows applications are guaranteed not to try to map a function to.

On MIPS and Alpha, the latter is a lesser reason since there were no legacy Windows apps on those platforms, but it IS still a reason since Microsoft was hoping that Windows developers would port their apps freely between the platforms.

The former is an important reason as well. It should be difficult, or impossible to hit the key chord to enter the OS's Trusted Path by accident -- and it should be a key combination that's difficult to mis type as well.

Ctrl-Alt-Del fulfills that purpose. Possibly the deciding reason was that there was no real reason to use anything else. It wasn't a "big read flag that Microsoft didn't get it" unless you can come up with some compelling reason not to use Ctrl-Alt-Del in favor of some other, less-arbitrary key chord that might have been more appropriate and not already with its own meaning across all the platforms NT supported.

Re:Smart for DOS, stupid for Windows

[Spoing]

Why use it to login? Why use it to lock the computer?

ctrl-alt-del is hard to type, hard to mistype, so why insist that it be used by novice and expert, making both familiar with this?

Re:Smart for DOS, stupid for Windows

[Chester K]

Why use it to login? Why use it to lock the computer? ctrl-alt-del is hard to type, hard to mistype, so why insist that it be used by novice and expert, making both familiar with this?

It's the entry into what's called the Trusted Path. By having a keystroke that there's no API or possible way for an application to intercept, you can be sure that after hitting it, you're talking to the OS itself, so you can safely enter your username and password and be sure you're not giving it to some trojan horse designed to look like a login box.

NT isn't the first operating system to implement the concept of a Trusted Path, but its certainly the most popular -- and arguably, a Trusted Path is a requirement for a secure computer system. (You can configure Linux to use Ctrl-Alt-Del as an entry to a Trusted Path -- see /etc/inittab)

Re:Smart for DOS, stupid for Windows

[Spoing]

Yes, I know that. There's nothing special about that keyboard combination, though. Another combination could be used just as easily...and there's no real security benifit from using it.

Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous

[ch-chuck]

Well, CTRL-ALT-DEL was famous to PC users long before NT3.1 came out - sounds like the worlds best known 'easter egg' - but there's plenty of times you need to 'warm boot' w/o having to go thru a complete bios hw init and memory test, like when your tuning your startup files.

Retired

[ch-chuck]

So what is he going to do now? Travel the college lecture circuit? "Tonight at 8PM in Simpsons Hall: The Man Who Invented CTRL-ALT-DEL"

Or his last performance review at IBM: "I know you invented CTRL-ALT-DEL, but what have you done for us lately?"

At least now he has time to spend in the garage on his latest invention, SHIFT-ESC-HOME.

Re:Retired

[Slackrat]

He has been an adjunct professor at NCSU for a while now. I had the privelege of taking Data Structures with him... good times. I hope he'll stick with teaching because he's a great lecturer.

Alt-S, Enter

[DrWhizBang]

Thanks Dave...

(stupid display drivers...)

yes, you can do that.

[twitter]

Well you certianly can unplug the PC, can't you?

With all the improvements in XP and 2003, sometimes that's the only thing that works. Who says GUI tools are always better than keystrokes?

That's why I prefer the free software. My new favorite keystorkes are CTRL-ALT-Fn and CTRL-ALT-Backspace. I don't miss not needing to use the one with delete in it as much. With all the improvements in X autoconfiguring, I won't miss needing my new favorites much either.

Re:yes, you can do that.

[Short Circuit]

I've been having trouble with X lately, where even if I start the X app (after setting the display variable) in a vt, I lose usage of my keyboard. Rather frustrating, really. I'm trying to get reliable, reproducible errors so I can submit a bug report, but even attaching gdb causes it to behave differently.

sigh...

Re:yes, you can do that.

[Anonymous Coward]

I heard CTRL-ALT-DEL was being patented. Anyone know the truth to the rumor? Keystroke patents may be the next ripe patent territory.

Re:yes, you can do that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Moderators: Please note that "twitter" is a known fanatical psycophant whose obnoxious offtopic rants are legend here on Slashdot. It doesn't matter what the topic is, he'll find a way to scrape in some pointless Microsoft bashing. While nobody expects us to love Microsoft in any way, his particularly tepid style of calling anyone he replies to "troll" or "liar" because he happens to disagree with whatever they're saying is well documented and should not be rewarded. If anything, twitter is the type of person that should not be part of the open source/free software community. He is an anathema to all that is good about free software.

I'm posting this so that you (the moderator) have some context to consider twitter and not mod him up whenever he posts his filler preformatted rants about installing Knoppix or whatever that unfortunately get him karma every single time and allow him to continue posting his trademark toxic crap (read on) day in and day out. You may consider this a troll - I consider it community service. And I ain't kidding.

If you're a /. subscriber, I invite you to look through some of his posting history. I guarantee that you'll be hard pressed to find someone that is more "out there" than twitter. You'll also probably notice he's got quite an AC following. Don't just read his posts, make sure you go through the replies.

For example, in this recent post twitter not only calls the OP a troll but attempts to "tell it like it is" while making some vague argument about "GNU". Yes, if you're confused, you're not alone. The reply (modded +4) proceeds to simply destroy his bogus argument. You will notice he did not reply. This is what some people call "drive-by advocacy". A sort of I'll just leave you with my thoughts here and move on to the next flamebait kind of deal. In fact, he almost never replies because he knows that his fanatical arguments simply do not hold up to any sort of discussion. It's not that he's chosen the wrong cause - he's just going at it in a completely wrong way.

More? Just read though this post and the subsequent replies. I guess this stands on its own.

More? Bad spelling in astounding conspiracy theories, more offtopic FUD and uninformed "I'm right, look at me" rants, promptly proven wrong. Worse even, twitter wants to be RMS, apparently (that first one is a winner). I mean, really. You think?

FUD, FUD, FUD, FUD, offtopic FUD, and more FUD. This guy is like the Monty Python SPAM skit, but with FUD and more FUD instead of canned meat. Amazed

Re:yes, you can do that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh yeah, the fun begins when Ctrl-Alt-Backspace doesn't work!

Re:yes, you can do that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Man, if you think Twitter's bad, you should get a load of this Anonymous Coward asshole. We should work on getting rid of him, too.

Re:yes, you can do that.

[Pharmboy]

I heard CTRL-ALT-DEL was being patented. Anyone know the truth to the rumor? Keystroke patents may be the next ripe patent territory.

Yes, by Microsoft. They are also patenting the term "Windows", forcing dramatic changes for the building industry which now has to use the term "Those glass things that sit in walls" instead.

Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous

[Anonymous Coward]

Plenty of times? Try every time, if you had an IBM XT. A cold boot meant waiting 2 to 3 minutes for "640 KB OK" to appear before the bootstrap would load.

Dexterity? Bah!

[Anonymous Coward]

I can do it with one hand:

Pinky on 'P'
Index on 'R'
Thumb on Cmd & Opt.

But then, I'm Apple certified. Maybe I should add this disclaimer:

"Kids, don't try this at home. I'm a trained professional."

Re:Dexterity? Bah!

[big_a]

Argh, my hand! You bastard!

HP Calculators

[Detritus]

Many HP calculators have their own version of ctrl-alt-del, which can be used to reset the calculator to a known state, as it was when shipped from the factory. Try pressing and holding the key in the lower-left corner, and then simultaneously press the key in the top-left corner and the key in the top-right corner.

Re:HP Calculators

[TheRealFixer]

The original GameBoy, I remember, could be reset by pushing all the buttons at the same time.

Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous

[Killio]

Somebody's humor function is buggy. Or is English not your first language?

Great quote at the bottom

[The Fun Guy]

Down at the bottom of TFA is a quote from Bradley about what exactly led to the PC hardware revolution, i.e. cheap, interoperable, expandable hardware. First was IBM's decision to outsource development of the OS (Microsoft) and CPU (Intel) [giving them expertise which they later used to markey directly to clone vendors].
Bradley: "Second, we made it an open system. We published a user manual that made it easy for other people to develop software."

The parallels with the prospects for a PC software revolution are obvious.

Another quote (by Grove): "It's hard 20 years later to realize how drastic a departure this was from the computer industry's standard practices. Computer companies at that time tended to base everything on differentiation. My software will run only on my platform. The thinking was, 'If I don't differentiate, I'm just in a commodity business.' ... if IBM senior management had fully understood what it was unleashing in 1981, I don't think it would have done this.""

I think Microsoft realizes exactly what happened with IBM... they lost control of the PC hardware business, but the open platform they originated blossomed in a hundred creative directions. MS has no intention of losing control of the PC OS business.

Re:Great quote at the bottom

[Anonymous Coward]

I think you are seeing a bit optimistically. IBM didn't give up control with out a fair bit of kicking and screaming. I seem to remember some legal battles with the first few clone makers.

I wouldn't go portraying IBM as some embracer of open technology. Like any company they will embrace it when it helps their bottom line, or when they simply have no choice.

Don't touch my msgina! I need an adult!

[FatSean]

heh.

holy f*cking shit!

[Ender Ryan]

That video is absolutely priceless! The look on Gates' face... Goddam, what a fucking asshole! He has absolutely no humour about himself; it's like he expects everyone in the entire industry to be subservient to him.

Thanks for posting that! :D

Re:holy f*cking shit!

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, he was pretty damn funny when they were demoing Windows 98 in that old video and it crashed. Guy has a good sense of humor, just doesn't show it often.

Form the horse's mouth

[pbrinich]

I had Dr. Bradley for a course at NCSU a couple years ago and when this subject came up he said that it wasn't something that he obesessed for days on end about. They were three keys that would be unlikely to hit in a normal usage situation. Sure, there maybe better combinations or whatever, but that's what he decided on.

my daughter used it early on

[DarkClown]

When my daughter was about 18 months she managed to do a tapdance on a machine's keyboard (running linux) and hit ctrl-alt-del.

/Obvious

[cyranoVR]

For those of you about to retire, we three-finger salute you!

Hah IRIX wins!

[Anonymous Coward]

left-shift + left-ctrl + F12 + numkey-/

All with a PS/2 keyboard too...

Never get the blue screen.

[Cutting_Crew]

can you get this in WINXP? i never have gotten it nor have i ever locked up. on my old win98 machine i can remember getting the blue screen a few times, mainly because i was programming and i would make a boo-boo programming with linked lists. its all it how much you take care of your system. back to the subject briefly of why windows is preferred is b/c its much easier for the average user but at the same time these same users dont know how to protect their machine. even as "simple" as the windows OS might seem, the user still have to get a nice firewall with virus protection, put more than a measly 128 MB Ram on it and keep ur temp files empty and just the every-so-often maintenence to keep it in shape. Most users dont even think of this. firewall? whats that? they just check their mail, chat and browse the web for the most part. this is just begging for the blue screen.

Haiku,

[atcurtis]

There is no fury,
Whenever a PC dies.
Control-Alt-Delete.

Not really

[Mr. Underbridge]

I hope you realize that for most home computers that only have a power button, holding the power button down for 5-10 secs is the equivalent to hitting a reset button. It's possible for this to have been disabled in the BIOS, however the only PCs I've ever seen with no support for this at all are some old low spec Compaqs.

A lot of time, if the thing's completely locked, that's not responsive either, as that switch connects only to the MOBO. I prefer an actual *switch* that goes only to the power supply.

I've seen computers that could only be reset by unplugging the damned things. Newer ones, too.

What if that fails?

[mdarksbane]

My girlfriend's system was so fubared that Ctrl-Alt-Delete brought up "The program failed to run." What do you do when the Task Manager crashes?

Needless to say, that box now runs Gentoo.

Thank goodness for Ctrl+Alt+Delete

[t0ny]

The key combination also is used when software, such as Microsoft's Windows operating system, fails

Seems to me that you use it when Windows succeeds. Many other operating systems just go into an unrecoverable state, leaving you a one-key option (the hardware reset button).

Since Windows keeps parts of memory protected, and uses VMs, you can have an application crash without effecting the OS itself or any other applications running. I just remember all that time spent fixing Netware servers which would crash because one little thing changed...

Regarding "Bill did not laugh"...

[bonch]

"Bill did not laugh." Oh, come on. You make it sound like he was pissed. If you've seen the video, he smiles light-heartedly at him and takes the joke.

He's not some evil guy--he's human like everyone and can take criticism in good fun from colleagues.

Re:Regarding "Bill did not laugh"...

[Anonymous Coward]

You are WRONG WRONG WRONG! Everyone knows that Bill Gates spelled backward yeilds.... "The Devil". In fact, you rearrange his name again and you get: "Satan" and "Prince of Darkness". You may think he's just "smiling light heartedly" but really he was thinking "Reminder to self: Once this guy dies, ensure he has to use Microsoft Bob for eternity".

Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous

[s_wardman]

Hehe, if you were English you would have spelt humour correctly.

Mod me down, I'm British.

If I ever have kids...

[Jorkapp]

I'm going to name my kids Control, Alt, and Delete.
If they ever get to be a problem I'll just hit them all twice.
Problem solved.

Re:If I ever have kids...

[Bassman59]

Does your sig:

void main()
{
printf "Jorkapp is a Programmer";
main();
}

actually compile???

Re:Old programmers don't die...

[dogugotw]

They just GOSUB without RETURN

(stolen from some posting somewhere)

So what did Bill invent....

[tiger99]

We now know most of what he did not invent, which leaves just what?

IMHO, the only thing he ever invented was a new way of creating an Illegal Monopoly. There is not the slightest trace of any technical innovation anywhere. It was all prior art, shamelessly copied, stolen or bought at an artificially low price by deception.

Maybe I am wrong, no-one has yet confessed to inventing the BSOD, so perhaps we should give him credit for that one, unless anyone knows differently. Of course, they are supposed not to happen.....

Is it proper to change the quote when it's quoted?

[media_Assassin]

The summary says:
"I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous," Bradley said.

Reading the article, he says:
"I may have invented control-alt-delete, but Bill Gates made it really famous."

When you remove and change words in a quote, can you get away with saying "Bradley said" after it?

Re:Old programmers don't die...

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought they decompiled

Thanks!

[awtbfb]

The key combination also is used when software, such as Microsoft's Windows operating system, fails

I was trying to remember what that key combination was used for...

-1, Troll

[Anonymous Coward]

Reliable like Windows NT? Windows 2000? Windows Server 2003? Windows XP Professional?

Reliable like MS-DOS, whose gentle floppy teats most Gen-X Linux users suckled at in their youth?

Reliable like Office, the dominant standard of the business world?

If you had written something similarly truthful (as in, not at all) about Linux or Linus Torvalds, you would have been modded into the wastebasket in a heartbeat.

My favorite Bill Gates video moments

[gregarican]

Bill getting cream pied while in Europe.

Bill getting slammed about the three-fingered salute

Bill at the Windows 98 premiere watching the demo blue screen

I'd almost feel sorry for the guy, but he's worth more than most countries and can do whatever the hell he wants.

Print Screen still used!

[hellfire]

Hit the print screen button and open up word and then "paste." You'll get a screenshot of the entire screen from when you hit the button. Hold down ALT while hitting print screen and the paste into a word document and you'll get the contents of the active window.

Pasting into a word document is not required, print screen simply dumps the screen contents into the clipboard for later use.

I use this frequently with customers who need to give me screenshots.

Now that he has retired...

[Kaishaku255]

do we all have to stop using it?

In other news, SCO has just announced that Bradley didn't invent Ctl-Atl-Del it was stolen from their code. They are now starting a lawsuit against everyone who ever used this key combination.

My favorite Ctrl-Alt-Delete story: Deadlock

[Rick Genter]

Back in the '96-'97 timeframe I used to love playing Deadlock on Windows 95/98. Deadlock is a turn-based strategy game where you control one of up to 7 alien races vying for control of a planet. During the game, your opponents would taunt you (via movie clip with audio). One of the opponent races was the Tarth, consisting of large, brutish creatures who weren't very bright. One day I was playing and my Tarth opponent comes on the screen and blurts out:

"You're losing! Hit Control-Alt-Delete!"

It was a good 10 minutes before I could stop laughing long enough to resume playing the game.

MOD ABUSE!

[Anonymous Coward]

You might not think it's funny, but it's clearly an attempt at humor on something related to the current article (which is all about 'the three fingered salute'), and not offtopic.

It started with a gesture

[kristonf]

I think it is appropriate that you make the British gesture of displeasure with the left hand.

Then make the American gesture of displeasure with the right hand.

Then rootate both hands 180 degrees and press the famous keys.

Ultimate Power

[PDAToday]

Wow, Bill G didnt look amused. In an unrealted news report after the interview these guys gave David Bradley a visit.

How the hell is this a troll?

[BoomerSooner]

I used an Apple ][ way before the IBM's even came out! I was simply recalling the fondness of Bard's Tale and Open Apple - Ctrl - Reset as my Ctrl - Alt - Delete.

I love moderators that just strike posts down. May you lose all your mod points forever!

The thing that bugs me is...

[UrGeek]

...when the ole third finger salute became the command to LOG ON to an NT server!!

BAKAS!!!!!!!!!

CTRL ALT DELETE

[Jackie_Chan_Fan]

This is sad...

Its like the inventer of "the middle finger" passing away.

CTRL ALT DELETE to me, is always followed by...

"AH YOU'RE FUCKING KIDDING ME!@#~!@#!.. FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING COMPUTER... BILL GATES.. AH FUCK IT.. I HOPE I SAVED."

Ah.. yes... he'll be missed :) This guy should be given a nobel peace prize... Because NOTHING is more satisfying than slaming on those 3 keys as your pc explodes... Even if it doesnt do a dam thing in XP now.

LOL @ IRONY

[Anonymous Coward]

you got modded down for posting shit about other posts need to be modded down.

the irony is delicious. you lose!

How novel.

[Niacin]

An easter egg to get rid of another easter egg (bsod)...

Three fingers...

[JohnDoe.Slashed]

Is the retirement his "three fingers salute"?

Too late, it's already used to take screenshots.

[Ayanami Rei]

They could have chosen Ctrl+Alt+PrnScr/SysRq, but since people were used to the three finger salute causing a system trap, they kept the legacy convention (they wouldn't expect any application to want to bind to it)

Actually..

[raehl]

I just have the Gateway Anykey. It's the sole remaining piece of equipment that after 8 years of piecemeal upgrading of my computer.

Other Names for CTRL-ALT-DELETE?

[kinaole]

Any other good euphemisms? Like
Vulcan Nerve Pinch or 3-Finger-Salute?

Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous

[WTFRUDOINBiotch]

Thanks for pointing that out, Bill.

Re:Anyone else get bit by the Linux will reboot...

[Anonymous Coward]

i dont have mod points, but i just wanted to give you a thanks for that bit of info. thats will be extremely helpful to know for those situations described by the parent.