from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
ed
n.
"ed is the standard text editor." Line taken from the original {Unix}
manual page on ed, an ancient line-oriented editor that is by now used
only by a few {Real Programmer}s, and even then only for batch
operations. The original line is sometimes uttered near the beginning
of an emacs vs. vi holy war on {Usenet}, with the (vain) hope to
quench the discussion before it really takes off. Often followed by a
standard text describing the many virtues of ed (such as the small
memory {footprint} on a Timex Sinclair, and the consistent (because
nearly non-existent) user interface).
from
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Ed
witness, a word not found in the original Hebrew, nor in the
LXX. and Vulgate, but added by the translators in the Authorized
Version, also in the Revised Version, of Josh. 22:34. The words
are literally rendered: "And the children of Reuben and the
children of Gad named the altar. It is a witness between us that
Jehovah is God." This great altar stood probably on the east
side of the Jordan, in the land of Gilead, "over against the
land of Canaan." After the division of the Promised Land, the
tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, on
returning to their own settlements on the east of Jordan (Josh.
22:1-6), erected a great altar, which they affirmed, in answer
to the challenge of the other tribes, was not for sacrifice, but
only as a witness ('Ed) or testimony to future generations that
they still retained the same interest in the nation as the other
tribes.