4 Jun
2020
4 Jun
'20
12:27 p.m.
John Gilmore <gnu(a)toad.com> wrote:
I just happened to open a binder today of old papers
about UNIX(tm),
including Ken Thompson's "Unix Implementation" paper, which says at the
bottom of the introduction:
"What is or is not implemented in the kernel represents both a great
responsibiity and a great power. It is a soap-box platform on "the
way things should be done." Even so, if "the way" is too radical, no
one will follow it. Every important decision was weighted carefully.
Throughout, simplicity has been substituted for efficiency. Complex
algorithms are used only if their complexity can be localized."
Words to live by. I remember reading that paper early on in my
career and that this statement certainly influenced my subsequent
thinking about programming in general.
Arnold