Ghosts of Unix past, part 2: Conflated designs

“In the first article in this series, we commenced our
historical search for design patterns in Linux and Unix by
illuminating the “Full exploitation” pattern which provides a
significant contribution to the strength of Unix. In this second
part we will look at the first of three patterns which characterize
some design decisions that didn’t work out so well.

“The fact that these design decisions are still with us and
worth talking about shows that their weaknesses were not
immediately obvious and, additionally, that these designs lasted
long enough to become sufficiently entrenched that simply replacing
them would cause more harm than good. With these types of design
issues, early warning is vitally important. The study of these
patterns can only serve if they help us to avoid similar mistakes
early enough. If they only allow us to classify that which we
cannot avoid, there would be little point in studying them at
all.

“These three patterns are ordered from the one which seems to
give most predictive power to that which is least valuable as an
early warning. But hopefully the ending note will not be one of
complete despair – any guidance in preparing for the future is
surely better than none.”

Complete
Story