IMO, the main takeaway from the article isn't that "those 70's developers lacked imagination", but that UNIX is far from perfect.
The author even states that UNIX was amazing when it came out, but that doesn't mean all its ideas make sense today.
The author even states that UNIX was amazing when it came out, but that doesn't mean all its ideas make sense today.
Saying that they lacked imagination is diminuitive and self-serving but certainly we can do better than those who came before us, and those who come after us will do better than us.