Meta key

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For now, some notes about the development of a "meta key" concept. Roughly in chronological order.

  • "Meta Hand" on the TX-2 keyboards.
  • META on the LINC keyboard.
  • ITS and its preceding PDP-6 software uses Teletype model 33 Altmode key as a command prefix.
  • EDIT on the IMSSS custom Datamedia keyboard for use with TVEdit.
  • META modifier on the SAIL keyboard.
  • META modifier on the Knight keyboard; used with EMACS as an alternative to the Altmode prefix. Also TOP.
  • META modifier on the Kulp "space-cadet" keyboard. Also TOP, GREEK, SUPER, HYPER.
  • Stanford SUN workstation proposal from 1980 mentions a META key.
  • Sun-2 keyboard has modifiers LEFT and RIGHT. Subsequent Sun keyboards have the diamond symbol.
  • The X Window System protocol has five "mod" bucky bits, of which the first is usually mapped to Meta and/or Alt.