“If there’s nothing different about UNIX people, how come so
many were liberal-arts majors? It’s the love of words that makes
UNIX stand out.“
“In the late 1980s, I worked in the advanced R&D arm of the
Silicon Valley’s regional telephone company. My lab was populated
mostly by Ph.D.s and gifted hackers. It was, as you might expect,
an all-UNIX shop.”
“The manager of the group was an exception: no advanced degree,
no technical credentials. He seemed pointedly self-conscious about
it. We suspected he felt (wrongly, we agreed) underconfident of his
education and intellect. One day, a story circulated through the
group that confirmed our suspicions: the manager had confided he
was indeed intimidated by the intelligence of the group, and was
taking steps to remedy the situation. His prescription, though, was
unanticipated: “I need to become more of an intellectual,” he said.
“I’m going to learn UNIX.”
“Needless to say, we made more than a little fun out of this. I
mean, come on: as if UNIX could transform him into a mastermind,
like the supplicating scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz.” I
uncharitably imagined a variation on the old Charles Atlas ads:
“Those senior engineers will never kick sand in my face again.”