[ Thanks to Jan
Stafford for this link. ]
“The true origins of Linux lie in the waning years of the Second
Age of Computing, the Age of Big Iron. Forged by coding-elves in
the sunless sub-basements of MIT, Linux was the mightiest of the
Utilities of Power.“Of the Utilities of Power, there were three dynasties. The
Seven Utilities–written in Algol and granted to the computer
scientists–have long been fading away. The original Nine–written
in COBOL and granted to business–consumed the souls of those who
used them and lurk now as invisible wraiths in legacy systems. Only
the Three Utilities of Power–written in C and entrusted to
Unix–survive unsullied: grep, make and yacc…”