From: eugene.leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
Date: Wed Sep 20 2000 - 13:09:51 PDT
From: gkm@blackdown.org (glen mccready)
Forwarded-by: Nev Dull <nev@sleepycat.com>
Forwarded-by: Dave Glowacki <dglo@ssec.wisc.edu>
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=00/09/20/027209&cid=84
> I'd wager that most of the folks who care about OS-X as end-users
> don't care that it is based on a UNIX-like OS: they just want their
> Mac to run. The credit for the stability of OS-X will go to Apple,
> not to BSD, for the most part (even if that is inaccurate)."
This is true, up to a point. But in some ways, a general ignorance of
Unix seems to help drive a certain romantic ideal -- an ideal that keeps
the word "Unix" in very active circulation even outside of geek circles.
To the typical Mac end-user, Unix is mysterious, and ancient, and
strong. It's made of cast iron and the bones of heroic programmers of
old. Unix is like a brawny Soviet on a Constructivist poster, swinging
his hammer for his comrades. We don't know why it's good, but damn if
our hearts aren't stirred by the weighty, solidly angular goodness of
it all.
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