Re: UNIX systems

cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:

Anyway, Plan 9, the operating system, was named in a similar
vein after the movie.  There are a few other historical movie
references associated with it, as well: the original window
system was named "8 1/2" (though using the Unicode code point
for the fraction 1/2), in reference to the Fellini film.  In
between the 2nd and 3rd Editions, the working name for the
system at the Labs was "Brazil", in homage to the Terry Gilliam
dystopian cult classic.  While the name was changed back to Plan
9 for the open source 3rd Edition release, a small reference to
this is left in the name of the current window system, "rio",
presumably a reference to Rio de Janeiro.

And now we have Peter Thiel highjacking the Tolkien world with
mil- and spook-tech Palantir (as well as Valar, Mithril, Lembas,
Rivendell and Arda.)

He's seems to have overlooked that in the story, it was a palantir
that Sauron used to totally corrupt Saruman and another to utterly
demoralize Denethor, Steward of Gondor.  It's not clear to me whether
Thiel thinks of himself as Sauron or as a more resilient Saruman.

       The 1920s were the last decade in American history during which
       one could be genuinely optimistic about politics. Since 1920,
       the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of
       the franchise to women -- two constituencies that are
       notoriously tough for libertarians -- have rendered the notion
       of "capitalist democracy" into an oxymoron.
                            -- Peter Thiel, in CATO Unbound

       I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.
                                           -- Peter Thiel

Okay, Sauron it is.

--
Mike Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada