"Scanning through some of the Unix entries on
Wikipedia, I came across a fascinating essay written ten years ago
by Neal Stephenson, the real award-winning science fiction author
behind the pen name Stephen Bury. It's titled "In the Beginning was
the Command Line," but in addition to its core message it is a
concise sociological assessment of the state of the
Microsoft-Apple-Linux balance in that epoch.
"In Stephenson’s signature prose -- a rich mix of humor,
scholarship, and insight -- he zeroes in on the cultural forces
which, even more powerfully than technical merit and aggressive
advertising, have created the relative market share of the Three
Great Systems."