The Unix Hater’s Handbook, Reconsidered

ESR missed the entire point of the Unix Hater's Handbook. He apparently couldn't be bothered to note who the authors were. The book isn't a "polemic" against Unix; it's an affectionate critique from people "in the family". The Unix Haters clearly think Unix is the worst OS out there, except for all the others, and they clearly understand Unix better than ESR claims to.

From the 'Preface' part: "I know and rather like some of the authors, so it actually makes me a little sad to report that fourteen years later, writing them off this way is easier than ever."

He knows who they are and what they were about. His point was not that it was a 'polemic' against Unix. It was that their wordplay was ineffective and is now dated and shortsighted, when they could have delivered a directed and informed critique that might have inspired more.

How do you write a Unix Hater's Handbook that isn't going to "date" itself? How does your reservoir of ideas run so dry that a review of a 14 year old book is your best one?

Hint: any book that comes packaged with a barf bag may not be taking the subject quite so seriously as you believe it is.

Yes, "The Unix Hater's Handbook" is outdated. Then again, it is 14 years old. Who wouldn't think it was obsolete.