UNIX history made easy

[Rahul Dhesi]

In article <11266 at smoke.BRL.MIL> gwyn at brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn) writes:
>...Newton, Einstein, Heisenberg, or Feynman...
...
>Remember, this thread started when somebody reported that his colleague,
>who billed himself as a professional computer scientist, said that he
>had no idea who Ken Thompson is or what he had done.  To me (and others)
>that is [comparable] illiteracy to a "physicist" not knowing the names I
>mentioned above.

The true test of greatness is how people remember you after you die and
for how long.  Let's give Ken Thompson some more time.  There is every
possibility that he will pass the test, but it will remain for another
generation to decide that.

I also tend to believe that the real *unsung* heroes of this saga are
the unassuming folks at Berkeley.  Thompson and Ritchie may be the
proud (and talented) biological parents of the child, but the teenage
UNIX really grew up on the west coast with foster parents where it
acquired some badly-needed training in how to survive in the real
world.

Rahul Dhesi <dhesi%cirrusl at oliveb.ATC.olivetti.com>
UUCP:  oliveb!cirrusl!dhesi