This article has some research into possible origins of the name: https://nickm.com/post/2010/01/a-note-on-the-word-zork/comme...
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Zork name origin got an update on Wikipedia
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Re: Zork name origin got an update on Wikipedia
#12The edit distance form work to zork is 1. For this, and because of tab completions (perhaps tab completions post-date zork, but nonetheless) I find the work:zork story compelling. I have used the first letter is replaced by "z" trick many times (z-tab, done!), and that pre-dated any contemplation of the zork mystery.
Also, W and Z are switched in the AZERTY keyboard. So maybe someone mistyped work on the wrong layout??
I can't imagine there were lots of AZERTY keyboards kicking around MIT?
Re: Zork name origin got an update on Wikipedia
#13The edit distance form work to zork is 1. For this, and because of tab completions (perhaps tab completions post-date zork, but nonetheless) I find the work:zork story compelling. I have used the first letter is replaced by "z" trick many times (z-tab, done!), and that pre-dated any contemplation of the zork mystery.
Also, W and Z are switched in the AZERTY keyboard. So maybe someone mistyped work on the wrong layout??
This is mentioned in the article "A Note on the Word 'Zork'", linked right above the 'pterodactyl chopper':
https://web.archive.org/web/20100112110305/https://nickm.com...
Re: Zork name origin got an update on Wikipedia
#14[dead]
Re: Zork name origin got an update on Wikipedia
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also, W and Z are switched in the AZERTY keyboard. So maybe someone mistyped work on the wrong layout??
I can't imagine there were lots of AZERTY keyboards kicking around MIT?
Maybe a French or Canadian person typed it wrong often and complained about the weird location of the w. Don't think it is the reason but there are more than one way to explain there lines of thought.
Re: Zork name origin got an update on Wikipedia
#16According to Wikipedia, all of the original programmers are still alive.
Wouldn't it be possible to contact at least 1 of them, and settle the question? Story says author tried... Try again, ask around.
Story & comments read a lot like speculation. Why settle for that when original source(s) still exist?
Re: Zork name origin got an update on Wikipedia
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can't imagine there were lots of AZERTY keyboards kicking around MIT?
Maybe a French or Canadian person typed it wrong often and complained about the weird location of the w. Don't think it is the reason but there are more than one way to explain there lines of thought.
No québécois would be caught dead with an azerty layout.
Re: Zork name origin got an update on Wikipedia
#18According to Wikipedia, all of the original programmers are still alive. Wouldn't it be possible to contact at least 1 of them, and settle the question? Story says author tried... Try again, ask around. Story & comments read a lot like speculation. Why settle for that when original source(s) still exist?
The original programmers might settle the question, but Wikipedia wouldn't allow the answer.
Something similar happened a decade ago with the page for the Unix command `cron` — it contained a made-up backronym (‘command run on …’) that had once appeared in print somewhere, and the guardians of Wikipedia zealously rejected correction (it's from ‘chrono‐’) from the original author, Brian Kernighan.
Re: Zork name origin got an update on Wikipedia
#19According to Wikipedia, all of the original programmers are still alive. Wouldn't it be possible to contact at least 1 of them, and settle the question? Story says author tried... Try again, ask around. Story & comments read a lot like speculation. Why settle for that when original source(s) still exist?
The original programmers might settle the question, but Wikipedia wouldn't allow the answer. Something similar happened a decade ago with the page for the Unix command `cron` — it contained a made-up backronym (‘command run on …’) that had once appeared in print somewhere, and the guardians of Wikipedia zealously rejected correction (it's from ‘chrono‐’) from the original author, Brian Kernighan.
The person would need to be interviewed by a 'reliable news source' or maybe just a 'reliable source' I guess. It is kind of silly, yet at the same time, without identify verification + attestation, how can they the person is who they say they are?
And if they do that, they're now becoming journalists or researchers.
(I know you likely know this, but just clarifying a bit for others to what I think the logic is)
Re: Zork name origin got an update on Wikipedia
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
The original programmers might settle the question, but Wikipedia wouldn't allow the answer. Something similar happened a decade ago with the page for the Unix command `cron` — it contained a made-up backronym (‘command run on …’) that had once appeared in print somewhere, and the guardians of Wikipedia zealously rejected correction (it's from ‘chrono‐’) from the original author, Brian Kernighan.
The person would need to be interviewed by a 'reliable news source' or maybe just a 'reliable source' I guess. It is kind of silly, yet at the same time, without identify verification + attestation, how can they the person is who they say they are? And if they do that, they're now becoming journalists or researchers. (I know you likely know this, but just clarifying a bit for others to what I think the logic is)
Not necessarily. Primary sources are allowed on Wikipedia in many cases, they're just not preferred. In fact, a direct quote from an interview would be as much of a primary source as a Tweet.