[patrickg-zill]

Decent article, but I think that Joel should have worked in a reference to Neal Stephenson's "In the Beginning Was the Command Line" as well.

[blasdel]

Thank god, as that's easily the worst thing Stephenson's ever written -- like a rambling inept Slashdot comment, but stretched to 160 pages -- it's even structured around an extended simile between user interfaces and fictional automobiles, for fuck's sake!

On top of all that, it has the misfortune of being written at the worst possible point in time:

  * too long after mainframes, minicomputers, or basic micros
  * right before the death of BeOS (which he was infatuated with)
  * right as Apple is about to die from its own bullshit
  * long after NeXT has faded from relevancy but before the buyout
  * In Linux's middle-aged (~2.2) years when a lot of things were bogged down
    in wank -- well after the initial excitement, but well before BK and git

[rbanffy]

I'll take the worst Stephenson over the best Spolsky any day, thanks.

[angusgr]

Thanks for referencing that, I'd never actually heard of it: http://artlung.com/smorgasborg/C_R_Y_P_T_O_N_O_M_I_C_O_N.sht...

[socillion]

  Linux = Tanks (made by hippies)
  Win '95 = Commie
  Win NT = Intended for *industrial users*
  "Apple" = Black Box
  BeOS = Batmobile

  Browser = Reagan.

What? He could maybe work on some of the metaphors, though I got a good laugh out of it.