FarewellEtaoinShrdlu
Why Hacker News recommends it
Frequently recommended as an absorbing look at hot-metal typesetting and the end of the linotype era.
What it is
A documentary on the last day the New York Times was printed with linotype machines in 1978, following the process from the newsroom to the press. It marks the move to computerized typesetting.
Recommended by 6 HN commenters across 6 different months, 2017 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec avs733 · 2017-10 · on “Linotype Typesetting (1960) [video]”
If you want to see the entire workflow as implemented by the New York Times there is a great documentary about it. [this video] The documentary covers the last day that the NYT used a metal/linotype press and talks through the entire process that happened from newsroom to printing. It is a truly interesting way to spend 28 minutes.
Recommends oasisbob · 2018-02 · on “Typesetting and paste-up, 1970 style”
Somewhat related - there's a good documentary about the last edition of the New York Times published using the linotype process called "Farewell Etaoin Shrdlu" [1]. [1] [this video]
Recommends Agent766 · 2022-11 · on “Why do we call it “boilerplate code?””
As an aside, check out the 30 minute documentary "Farewell Etaoin Shrdlu" ( [this video] ) about the end of the linotype era. I'm amazed at the engineering that went into linotype printing.
Recommends lisper · 2023-03 · on “The Machine That Bankrupted Mark Twain”
There are lots of videos of Linotypes on YouTube. Really interesting stuff. This one is my favorite: [this video]
Recommends pfarrell · 2024-02 · on “The Last Linotype Newspaper (2022)”
There’s a neat documentary from the late 1970’s, “Farewell etaoin shrdlu”. It’s about the final day the New York Times was printed using their linotype machines. [this video]
Recommends ginko · 2026-07 · on “The Ever-Receding Pocket”
>It has the last master plate, and some photos of how it all looked on the last day. There is a photo of a technician sweeping up on presumably the last day before the plant was shut down. He looked distraught There's a pretty good documentary showing the last day of linotype typesetting at the New York Times. [this video]
Cites RichardCA · 2019-02 · on “Remembering a Programming Language That Helped Shape the Digital New York Times”
When I was a ten year old kid in 1973 my school did a tour. I remember looking at some programs running on green-screen terminals, and the guy doing the demo typed in commands using the keyword FOR so I assume it was all Fortran back then. You can get a rough idea if you watch this... [this video]