[TUHS] The Unix shell: a 50-year view -- feedback wanted

[John Cowan]

On Fri, Jul 9, 2021 at 12:50 AM Jon Steinhart <jon at fourwinds.com> wrote:

I not only found this paper offensive, but was more offended that
> ACM would publish something like this and give it an award to boot.
> I'm planning to send the authors and ACM what's below.  Would
> appreciate any feedback that you could provide to make it better.
>

I too would like to (virtually) sign this.

I also point out (not for inclusion in your piece) that the fastest path to
fame and what in academia counts as fortune is to write a paper with a
superficially plausible argument that some well-known fact or
well-established conclusion is wrong.  This immediately draws the mantle of
Galileo over the author, but instead of the author being imprisoned for
life by the Papal Inquisition, the paper becomes the subject of raves, the
author becomes a hero, and the discipline may even be said to have taken a
new turn as everyone rushes to follow and compete.

But often the little boy in "The Emperor's New Clothes" is either deluded
or trying to gain glory by daring to annoy the Emperor.
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