Thank you for the warm welcome!

Excellent write up venam and phil! I found your reviews helpful to recollect my thoughts. I wrote much less, here's what I prepared beforehand.

Ch. 1

I believe the 'accumulation of random genetic material' piece is spot on. Unix has collected many historical remnants and refuses to let go, taking decades to give it up. The saga of init systems comes to mind, or the slow march towards wayland. I think this is a result of how diverse the atmosphere is.


Ch 2

I had never come across the filename as flag example before. Had to give it a try and of course it worked as described. I'm not sure I believe that's an ideal scenario for unix, but here we are.

Ch 3

Sums up my experience nicely. I find man pages mostly useless except for something I already know is there, or searching for an obscure feature for fun. Thankfully the internet has been able to answer my queries for 'how to x'. I'm not sure I'd make it in a early 90's computer world.


Overall I find the book's complaints thus far about unix to be similar to problems I've directly experienced. I think the issues have improved over time, but still exist and are inescapable for anyone to avoid. Reading this is both infuriating and fun. Sorta like hate-watching a bad movie.