[TUHS] Favorite unix design principles?

M Douglas McIlroy m.douglas.mcilroy at dartmouth.edu
Tue Jan 26 12:06:02 AEST 2021


It might be interesting to compare your final list with the two lists in
the 1978 special issue of the BSTJ--one in the Foreword, the other in the
revised version of the Ritchi/Thompson article from the CACM. How have
perceptions or values changed over time?

Doug


On Mon, Jan 25, 2021 at 7:32 AM Steve Nickolas <usotsuki at buric.co> wrote:

> On Mon, 25 Jan 2021, Tyler Adams wrote:
>
> > I'm writing about my 5 favorite unix design principles on my blog this
> > week, and it got me wondering what others' favorite unix design
> principles
> > are? For reference, mine are:
> >
> > - Rule of Separation (from TAOUP <
> http://catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/>
> > )
> > - Let the Machine Do the Dirty Work (from Elements of Programming Style)
> > - Rule of Silence (from TAOUP <http://catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/
> >)
> > - Data Dominates (Rob Pike #5)
> > - The SPOT (Single Point of Truth) Rule (from TAOUP
> > <http://catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/>)
> >
> > Tyler
> >
>
> 1. Pipes
> 2. Text as the preferred format for input and output
> 3. 'Most everything as a file
> 4. The idea of simple tools that are optimized for a single task
> 5. A powerful scripting language built into the system that, combined with
> 1-4, makes writing new tools heaps easier.
>
> -uso.
>
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