Unix co-creator Ken Thompson dumps Apple for Linux | Hacker News Reader

Unix co-creator Ken Thompson dumps Apple for Linux

theregister.com

21 pointsLorenDB8 comments

What's with people going with such odd distros? I mean Raspbian is alright, but why would you use it outside of the Raspberry Pi? I'm sure Ken Thompson knows what he's doing, but I see this sort of mistake all the time with Linux newcomers. They pick some random obscure distro and then wonder why "Linux sucks".

I wrote the above article, and I wrote this, too:

https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/11/raspberry_pi_desktop_...

RasPi Desktop is the x86 version of Raspbian. It's exceptionally lightweight, uses just 200MB of RAM at idle, and yet it's just Debian and will run any Debian tool or app.

It uses about 1/3 to 1/4 of the RAM of any Ubuntu flavour, and I've tested them all and published the results:

https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/18/ubuntu_remixes/

Some Redditor did the same for Debian with comparable results:

https://www.reddit.com/r/debian/comments/qmbizl/real_measure...

Raspbian PC's usage is lighter than stock Debian + LXDE, and it comes nicely preconfigured.

It's easier than Debian, smaller, and uses less resources. What's not to like?

I don't have any complaints for Raspbian specifically (in fact I really like it on the Pis), it just strikes me as odd for newcomers to go for the niche distros.

It's a fair point, but if you are in your 80s, mainly use Macs and stuff like like Plan 9, but you have more RasPis around than you can count, then...

... I reckon you're likely to take the path of least resistance and use the one that's right there and you know, rather than start learning something else.

Bear in mind his perspective: he's old, he has limited time left, and he's built not one but two better OSes that should have replaced the first OS he built: Unix.

So he probably is disinclined to spend time or effort on leaning a 3rd party knock-off of his 1970s work.

Linux literally is a 3rd party knock-off of his 1970s work.

Yes, that is exactly what I meant by my concluding line.

If you use RasPis, why bother to learn any other knockoff?

It's such a shame, because 15 years ago, Mac OS X made a great version of Unix for the masses. As a former academic, the marriage of Mac and Unix was a big part of what attracted me to the platform. Now Apple is flushing that all down the toilet, instead giving us an oversized overpriced locked down iPhone with a keyboard.

I had never heard the story about google trying to make Ken Thompson take a C proficiency test before, that is hilarious.

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