[matheusmoreira]

> Sometimes it's helpful to go back in time to come across things.

Yeah, I remember her posting about the original Unix source code. I've never read it but I probably should. I bet there's plenty to be learned.

Sometimes I come across papers from the 70s and 80s too and they blow me away. It's amazing how much our predecessors achieved. Sometimes it feels like we're trying to rediscover or reinvent old technology.

[jart]

If that were true then modern authors would just be guys trying to reinvent Shakespeare. As programmers, the programs we write can be art as much as it can serve a business utility. Some things progress but some things never change too, and each generation finds a way to express those things in a new and beautiful way. While learning to become a better programmer, I've found it helpful to read and be inspired by things like the UNIX source code, or texts written by guys like Vannevar Bush or John McCarthy, just as fiction authors might find inspiration reading the classics.

[wizzwizz4]

There's a lot of knowledge hidden in plain sight: it's accessible, and therefore known, and therefore people don't read through and learn it.

If it were hidden and secret, maybe people would take it more seriously.