If the pioneers of Bell Labs were handed a modern Linux laptop, what would they rewrite first? (quokk.au)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by Dialectical_Specialist@quokk.au to c/explicitsystems@quokk.au

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We often talk about the Unix philosophy, but we rarely hold our modern stacks up to that original mirror. If we brought Dennis Ritchie, Ken Thompson, or Doug McIlroy into 2027 and showed them the state of modern computing (Electron apps wrapping web browsers, systemd, sprawling dependency trees like node_modules), they would likely be horrified by the rampant uncertainty and tech debt.

But if they were tasked with "redeeming" our modern software stack, where would they start?

Would they scrap the entire graphical stack and start over?
Would they look at modern package management and push for a return to source-based simplicity, or would they actually appreciate something like NixOS?
What is one piece of modern "standard" software that completely betrays the original vision of auditable, intentional computing?

How would the "forefathers" of computing fix our modern mess?

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[-] heliotrope@slrpnk.net 5 points 2 months ago

Ken Thompson and Doug McIlroy are still around. I can't seem to find an interview about such things, as interviewers tend to focus on the early days of UNIX and suchlike; but they do both have public email addresses, so we could always ask.

this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2026

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