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The Strange Birth and Long Life of Unix

spectrum.ieee.org Essays & writing Essays & articles Software engineering Candidate

Resurfaced independently across 3 calendar years, with breakout response in 2 of them.

submissions
3
submitters
3
observed span
2011–2016
peak thread · 35 comments
116 pts
latest 20+ return · 2016-06-09
108 pts

Submission timeline

2007–2026

One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.

First comments on top threads

HN comment order

The rebellious nature of Unix sharing in the early days taught an important lesson for would-be sharers today: either take pains to make sure your software can be used by anyone who wants to, or risk being shackled by lawyers and corporations who don't want it to be used.

fendrak·116-point thread·

I suspect unix at this point in time is a "my grandfathers axe" kind of thing. The concepts are there, and a lineage may be traced, but little of the original parts still exists. This because the basic concepts that define unix allows it to be modular and adaptable.

The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.

Breakout years
2

100+ points or 50+ comments

Total points
230

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Total comments
47

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Every submission

DateTitle as submittedByPointsComments
2011-12-01The Strange Birth and Long Life of UnixFirst breakout · Best threadnaish11612
2012-03-14The Strange Birth and Long Life of Unixllambda60
2016-06-09The Strange Birth and Long Life of Unix (2011)Latest 20+ point return_acme10835