> … *nix systems will still assume that you're on a 5 bit Baudot (uppercase only) teletype …
Akshully the original 1963 version of ASCII¹, which was a 7 bit code but did not include lower case. The Model 33 teletype² (one of the terminals used by UNIX developers³, and probably a contributing factor to two-character command names) was a 1963-ASCII device. Even after 1967 ASCII added lower case, popular low end video terminals⁴ did not include it so that they could get away with 6 bits worth of printable character ROM.
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