UNIX history made easy

[Don Libes]

In article <1989Oct2.205642.5715 at esegue.segue.boston.ma.us> johnl at esegue.segue.boston.ma.us (John R. Levine) writes:
>So what's the real reason early versions printed a semicolon before login: ?

This question is answered by the monthly posting of "Frequently Asked
Questions about UNIX" which suggests that you read "Life With UNIX".
According to its index, ";login:" is explained on page 204.

Don Libes          libes at cme.nist.gov      ...!uunet!cme-durer!libes