Is Linux the computing Tower of Babel? | Linux Today

Is Linux the computing Tower of Babel?

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Aug 18, 2010

[ Thanks to Locutus
for this link. ]

“There is a story called “The Tower of Babel”. It is
based in ancient times where all people spoke the same language and
made a decision to build a tower to reach the heavens. Then,
according to the story, the big guy from above saw their hubris and
decided to scramble their languages and spread these people around
like Vegemite on toast. If you don’t know what Vegemite is then
beware of Australians offering sandwiches 🙂

“In the computing world there are many different languages. All
these languages have a single purpose. To make the hardware do what
we want. It gives a very powerful rush when we realise that, for
the first time, we have been able to command and bend to our will a
mysterious electronic brain. For some that rush never goes away and
they become programmers.

“Now a computing language is just that, a language.”


Complete Story

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

Linux Today Logo

LinuxToday is a trusted, contributor-driven news resource supporting all types of Linux users. Our thriving international community engages with us through social media and frequent content contributions aimed at solving problems ranging from personal computing to enterprise-level IT operations. LinuxToday serves as a home for a community that struggles to find comparable information elsewhere on the web.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.