Unix is like a toll road on which you have to stop every 50 feet to pay another nickel. But hey! You only feel 5 cents poorer each time.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The quote compares Unix to a toll road that constantly charges small fees, implying many tiny costs add up.
- In plain terms
- Unix feels like paying many tiny fees continuously.
- What can you take from it?
- Be aware of cumulative overhead in systems.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What small costs add up in your work?
- How can you reduce them?
Another view
The metaphor may oversimplify Unix's benefits.
More from Larry Wall
...this does not mean that some of us should not want, in a rather dispassionate sort of way, to put a bullet through csh's head.
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