[Python-ideas] ProtoPEP: A Standardized Marker for Mirroring the TTY to Other Devices

[Eric Snow]

I received this proposal from an interested party and am passing it
along for consideration.  I am concerned about a conflict of interest
as the author has ties to the paper industry, and thus could stand to
benefit financially from the proposal, but am willing to give them the
benefit of the doubt.

-eric

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PEP: 4XX
Title: A Standardized Marker for Mirroring the TTY to Other Devices
Version: $Revision$
Last-Modified: $Date$
Author: Michael G. Scott <michael at dundermifflin.com>
BDFL-Delegate: Barry Warsaw
Status: Draft
Type: Standards Track
Content-Type: text/plain
Created: 01-Apr-2013
Post-History:

Abstract

The history of computing offers a progression of text I/O devices,
most notably the Teletype machine [1].  This device had such an impact
that we still identify our terminals by "TTY".  Presently the terminal
text I/O in Python is facilitated through sys.stdin/stdout/stderr.
This is a proposal to facilitate mirroring the data passing across
these three objects to another device on the system such as a printer.
 The API to the do so would be through a new builtins special name:
__mifflin__.

Rationale

Dumping the TTY to a printer is a natural desire for anyone who knows
anything about computer history and an unrecognized longing for
everyone else.  Though perhaps no one remembers it this way, there was
a strong outcry to the introduction of monitors and keyboards as a
replacement for the teletype machine.  Everyone loved the teletype.
The lamentable fact that monitors and keyboards won out is due to the
efforts of the monitor-and-keyboard lobby and particularly to the
pathological (but successfully concealed) fear of teletypes of one
Thomas Watson, Jr. [2].

Why did people love the teletype?  Hard copies are much more
endearing.  Consider how lame e-books are.  A monitor will never give
you that fresh ink smell, that textured feel of paper in your hands.
You can't make an airplane out of a kindle or wad up your monitor into
a ball and throw it into a trash can.  People try to accomplish the
teletype's satisfying audible response to each keystroke with fancy
"retro" keyboards, but they will never be satisfied until they hear
the original.

Furthermore, look to the airline industry, a paragon of stability and
consistency.  In critical situations they mirror their TTYs to
printers.  This is because the hard copies are perfect for
chronological review, documentation, and reliable backup.  If it's
good enough for them, it should be good enough for us.

Usage

Much as you would with __import__, you will bind builtins.__mifflin__
to a Printer object (see below).  By default __mifflin__ will be set
to sys.printer (see below).

io.Printer and sys.printer

A new type will be added to the io module called Printer.  Printer may
be initialized with a file-like object that exposes an underlying
printer device (by default the system printer).  Printer will have a
write() method that takes a string and writes it out to the underlying
system printer.

A new attribute will be added to the sys module named "printer".
sys.printer will be a Printer object, with a default of a wrapper
around the system printer.

References

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tty_(Unix)
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Watson,_Jr.

Copyright

This document has been placed in the public domain.



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