If UNIX Were a Religion

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Posted by Unknown on Monday December 30, 2013 @10:06PM from the gnu-slash-heretic dept.

Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Charles Stross has written a very clever article where he describes the religious metaphor he uses with non-technical folks to explain the relationship between Mac OS X and UNIX. There is one true religion in operating systems says Stross and it is UNIX although there's also an earlier, older, more arcane religion with far fewer followers, MULTICS, from which UNIX sprang as a stripped-down rules-deficient heresy. If MULTICS is Judaism then UNIX is Christianity. By the mid-1970s there were two main sects: AT&T UNIX, which we may liken unto the Roman Catholic Church, and BSD UNIX, which we may approximate to the Orthodox Churches. In an attempt to control the schisms, the faithful defined a common interoperating subset of the one true religion that all could agree on—the Nicene Creed of UNIX which is probably POSIX. Stross says that today the biggest church in the whole of UNIX is Mac OS X, which rests on the bedrock of Orthodox BSD but "has added an incredible, towering superstructure of fiercely guarded APIs and proprietary user interface stuff that renders it all but unrecognizable to followers of the Catholic AT&T path." But lo, in the late 1980s, UNIX succumbed to the sins of venality, demanding too much money from the faithful and so, in 1991 Linus Torvalds nailed his famous source code release to the cathedral door and kicked off the Reformation. 'The Linux wars were brutal and unforgiving and Linux itself splintered into a myriad of fractious Protestant churches, from the Red Hat wearing Lutherans to the Ubuntu Baptists.' More recently, a deviant faith has sprung from Linux. 'Android is the Church of Latter Day Saints of UNIX: hard-working, sober, evangelizing the public, and growing at a ferocious rate. There are some strange fundamentalist Mormon Android churches living in walled communities under the banners of Samsung and Amazon, but for the most part the prosperous worship at the Church of Google.' Stross notes that as with all religion, those sects with most in common are the ones who hold the most vicious grudges against one another. 'Is that clear?'"

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If it was a religion? by serviscope_minor · 2013-12-30 22:09 · Score: 5, Funny

If it was a religion? if???
I didn't realise this was up for a debate about this.
Now I'm going to fetch my copy of the old testament (ANSI version) and read a few verses.

--
SJW n. One who posts facts.
1. Re:If it was a religion? by Vitriol+Angst · 2013-12-31 00:31 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I'd say I like the analogy to LINUX as Protestant splintering from the church of AT&T, though I'm wondering why nobody brought up that BeOS splintered with more forward looking features and ended up being led by a homicidal albino bent on mayhem.
  We took a rancorous subject where people just argue, and we added religious debate to it, just in case someone wasn't going to get their jammies in a wad. We should also add in that Windows doesn't believe in Global Warming, and Al Gore prefers the Mac. Glenn Beck is out in a hidden location somewhere in the Utah desert right now preaching Ubuntu to rebellious children waiting for the end times.
  I don't however, see much use in these analogies, because they detract from the much better "If an Operating System Drove Your Car" metaphor; http://www.computerjokes.net/027.asp
  
  --
  >>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
2. Re:If it was a religion? by Hognoxious · 2013-12-31 00:52 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  BeOS is Zoroastrianism.
  It's quite nice, but have you ever met anybody that uses is it practice?
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
3. Re:If it was a religion? by hawkinspeter · 2013-12-31 01:14 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Master Foo Discourses on the Unix-Nature
  
  A student said to Master Foo: "We are told that the firm called SCO holds true dominion over Unix."
  
  Master Foo nodded.
  
  The student continued, "Yet we are also told that the firm called OpenGroup also holds true dominion over Unix."
  
  Master Foo nodded.
  
  "How can this be?" asked the student.
  
  Master Foo replied:
  
  "SCO indeed has dominion over the code of Unix, but the code of Unix is not Unix. OpenGroup indeed has dominion over the name of Unix, but the name of Unix is not Unix."
  
  "What, then, is the Unix-nature?" asked the student.
  
  Master Foo replied:
  
  "Not code. Not name. Not mind. Not things. Always changing, yet never changing."
  
  "The Unix-nature is simple and empty. Because it is simple and empty, it is more powerful than a typhoon."
  
  "Moving in accordance with the law of nature, it unfolds inexorably in the minds of programmers, assimilating designs to its own nature. All software that would compete with it must become like to it; empty, empty, profoundly empty, perfectly void, hail!"
  
  Upon hearing this, the student was enlightened.
  
  --
  You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
4. Re: If it was a religion? by DigiShaman · 2013-12-31 01:15 · Score: 2
  
  In the beginning, God created the one and the zero...
  
  --
  Life is not for the lazy.
5. Re: If it was a religion? by KlomDark · 2013-12-31 01:29 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Are you allowed to post in this thread? Isn't it some kind of conflict of interest? ;)
6. Re:If it was a religion? by Registered+Coward+v2 · 2013-12-31 02:30 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Master Foo Discourses on the Unix-Nature "What, then, is the Unix-nature?" asked the student. Master Foo replied:
  RTFM
  
  --
  I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
7. Re:If it was a religion? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2013-12-31 03:02 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I never realized Plan 9 was Islam... Then again, those guys *were* big on inferno.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
8. Re:If it was a religion? by OakDragon · 2013-12-31 03:17 · Score: 2
  
  You think Young Earth Creationism is extreme? UNIX adherents believe the Earth is only 44 years old!
  
  --
  Dark Reflection
9. Re:If it was a religion? by i.r.id10t · 2013-12-31 06:56 · Score: 2
  
  Cult: A small, unpopular religion.
  Religion: A large, popular cult.
  
  --
  Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
10. Re:If it was a religion? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-31 08:11 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  At the risk of being whooooshed, I was thinking of C++ as being Islam...
  Have you ever tried to criticise C++ in front of a C++ programmer?
Sgh. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 22:13 · Score: 5, Informative

Oh lookie, a navel-gazing extended, tortured analogy, and even worse, an unfunny to say nothing of uninsightful one.
Security by Mondorescue · 2013-12-30 22:21 · Score: 2

I guess that explains why I always feel the urge to do a security audit before Yom Kippur.
You mean Andrew Tanenbaum by tomxor · 2013-12-30 22:22 · Score: 5, Informative

But lo, in the late 1980s, UNIX succumbed to the sins of venality, demanding too much money from the faithful and so, in 1991 Linus Torvalds nailed his famous source code release to the cathedral door and kicked off the Reformation.
It was Andrew Tanenbaum who showed the initiative to create a UNIX compatible royalty free OS for the purpose of teaching, Torvalds Linux is surely a derivative of that initiative if not a direct derivative of the Minix book which inspired him. Torvalds deserves a lot of credit for Linux but i think Tanenbaum deserves to have the credit for enabling so many people to learn about UNIX like systems without paying absurd amounts to AT&T.
1. Re:You mean Andrew Tanenbaum by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 23:36 · Score: 2
  
  My C Teacher, had the tape, and offered that if any one bought the book, he would dupe the tape for us.
  Well, it took almost 3 months for the unix bookstore to get a copy in, so me and my roommate both bought
  the book, and my teacher duped the mag tape. we got another teacher to dump the tape to 6 floppies,
  and we started playing around with it in earnest, crashing compilers, and generally having a hell of a time trying to make
  it work, and got a lot of hints off a programmers bbs, until less than 4 months later...
  we read Linus's post. We ignored it because no one spoke Swedish, nor did any one of us have a Swedish keyboard.
  but the again 4 months later.... we got Linux in English, and could easily read the code...
  Thank you B.K. Hope the British car is still running...
2. Re:You mean Andrew Tanenbaum by thue · 2013-12-30 23:40 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Minix was explicitly considered a toy operating system by Andrew Tanenbaum, who refused to accept patches to add functionality because the complexity would have made Minix less suited as a teaching tool.
3. Re:You mean Andrew Tanenbaum by taiwanjohn · 2013-12-30 23:59 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  > laid with MINIX...
  Works better if you say, "Linus knew MINIX."
  
  --
  XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, you're not using enough of it. --AC
4. Re:You mean Andrew Tanenbaum by Bing+Tsher+E · 2013-12-31 00:36 · Score: 2
  
  Minix is an ensigns training ship. The Navy doesn't put the latest guns on an ensigns training ship, because it's purpose is not to sail out into battle.
5. Re:You mean Andrew Tanenbaum by RabidReindeer · 2013-12-31 00:55 · Score: 2
  
  But lo, in the late 1980s, UNIX succumbed to the sins of venality, demanding too much money from the faithful and so, in 1991 Linus Torvalds nailed his famous source code release to the cathedral door and kicked off the Reformation.
  It was Andrew Tanenbaum who showed the initiative to create a UNIX compatible royalty free OS for the purpose of teaching, Torvalds Linux is surely a derivative of that initiative if not a direct derivative of the Minix book which inspired him. Torvalds deserves a lot of credit for Linux but i think Tanenbaum deserves to have the credit for enabling so many people to learn about UNIX like systems without paying absurd amounts to AT&T.
  Allowing for some confusion here, Unix was "free" to universities, but that obviously meant that it was less accessible to those without a suitable academic connection.
  Minix likewise wasn't totally free, as Torvalds specifically indicated that the restrictions on Minix were the reason that he developed Linux. Had Minix been more open to him, he would have gone with it.
Slay the heretic! by MRe_nl · 2013-12-30 22:33 · Score: 2

http://blog.aegisub.org/2008/12/if-programming-languages-were-religions.html
The analogy is a logical one, since religion is a form of software.

--
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
Re:BeOS? by Geeky · 2013-12-30 22:34 · Score: 3

Hinduism? Shinto?
And what about Windows? Is that Scientology?

--
Sigs are so 1990s. No way would I be seen dead with one.
Ubuntu is Baptist? by Spy+Handler · 2013-12-30 22:38 · Score: 2

Maybe the Westboro Baptist Church...
And Windows 8 is Scientology.
1. Re:Ubuntu is Baptist? by mwvdlee · 2013-12-30 23:19 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  If Unix is Christianity, then RMS is Westboro Baptist Church.
  
  --
  Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
why ? by Tom · 2013-12-30 22:46 · Score: 3, Interesting

Ok, what's the point of this stressed metaphor? It doesn't make it easier to remember anything, it doesn't help in understanding anything (largely because the various splits, etc. happened for entirely different reasons), it adds a completely unnecessary layer of indirection and, quite honestly, I find the comparison insulting.
So the point is? Aside from "because we can"? What am I missing that makes this blog-level nonsense frontpage-worthy?

--
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
1. Re:why ? by AHuxley · 2013-12-30 22:55 · Score: 2
  
  Re So the point is? I guess every generation reflects back on computer use?
  I always liked Umberto Eco on The Holy War: Mac vs. DOS from 1994
  http://www.themodernword.com/eco/eco_mac_vs_pc.html
  ..."DOS is Protestant, or even Calvinistic"...
  'To make the system work you need to interpret the program yourself: Far away from the baroque community of revelers, the user is closed within the loneliness of his own inner torment."
  
  --
  Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
2. Re:why ? by TuringTest · 2013-12-30 23:12 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Of course it will be useless for you if you already have some understanding of the UNIX heritage. As with all metaphors, its value is for people who know very little about the topic, in that it helps them relating the topic to something which they're already familiar with.
  For someone without a previous knowledge in the history of UNIX, the metaphor provides a mental map to navigate intuitively what was perceived as an impenetrable technical mess. It can provide the idea that there is a heritage of branching from a common origin, a sense of what are the main branches, their relative antiquity and importance.
  Moreover, it's funny and light-hearted. Why does everything has to have a practical purpose?
  
  --
  Singularity: a belief in the "God" idea with the "demiurge" relation inverted.
3. Re:why ? by mapkinase · 2013-12-31 00:38 · Score: 2
  
  >Ok, what's the point of this stressed metaphor?
  Fun? :-)
  When people meet fun they often forgot that the purpose is to laugh, and being too hard on a person who tries to make you laugh does not benefit that purpose at all. :-)
  If something intended as fun does not seem funny to you the best thing is to ignore it.
  
  --
  I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
Re:If UNIX were a religion... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 22:46 · Score: 5, Informative

Stop calling Scientology a church. They are not.
They are a tax evading criminal company selling a bogus cult for big money. Nothing else.
Re:BeOS? by Zocalo · 2013-12-30 22:48 · Score: 5, Funny

And what about Windows? Is that Scientology?
A cult that demands its adherents donate increasingly large amounts of money to the "church" and employs dubious legal tactics, manipulation of the media and outright intimidation to keep its opponents and wayward members in check? Yep. Sounds like we have a winner!

--
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
OK - so Tanenbaum is Luther or Wycliffe by Bruce66423 · 2013-12-30 22:49 · Score: 3, Insightful

Whilst Torvalds is Calvin - the one who pulled the logic of the previous reformers together to create a complete system.
1. Re:OK - so Tanenbaum is Luther or Wycliffe by Megane · 2013-12-30 23:11 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Indeed. Martin Luther knew what he was doing, but Linus was just playing around with making a kernel go ABABABAB and then suddenly people went nuts over it. Linus is no Martin Luther.
  
  --
  #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
Re:BeOS? by unixisc · 2013-12-30 22:56 · Score: 2

Xen?
Emo Phillips joke by ableal · 2013-12-30 23:17 · Score: 2

> the most vicious grudges
Stross is probably hinting at this Emo Phillips joke:
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=61;t=000011
Re:BeOS? by mwvdlee · 2013-12-30 23:18 · Score: 4, Funny

Minix.
Beautiful, elegant, reliable and useless.

--
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
Re:So whats the Church of Satan? by hawkinspeter · 2013-12-30 23:22 · Score: 2

Emacs?

--
You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
Re: BeOS? by MichaelSmith · 2013-12-30 23:29 · Score: 2

Since 2010, under Farrakhan, members have been strongly encouraged to study Dianetics, and the Nation currently claims it has trained 1055 Auditors.[10]
What the fuck?

--
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Only a metaphor, but... by Attila+the+Bun · 2013-12-31 00:21 · Score: 4, Interesting

It's only a metaphor, but holds surprisingly well. Worryingly well. So well that we, if we claim to be modern enlightened people, should have some kind of response.
But what? Switching operating systems - like switching religions - involves a lot of work if you do it properly. Unlike religion it is possible to "worship" two or more OSes, but many people find that an inefficient way to work. So how can we avoid unwarranted faith in our way of doing things, fighting between neighbouring factions, and all the other destructive forces that religions suffer from?
The Linux kernel does a good job of holding all the myriad Linuxes together: all need the kernel to evolve and improve, but none can afford to implement those changes alone. Android and iOS have opened peoples eyes to other ways of interacting with computers and rendered the Windows-Mac conflict less important.
Technology evolves, preventing us from stagnating and developing unchangeable "holy" rules. It's a natural human tendency to break into tribal factions, but it seems that technological progress puts a damper on this, forcing us to widen our horizons and helping us to work together. Suddenly progress seems more important than ever.
1. Re:Only a metaphor, but... by Vitriol+Angst · 2013-12-31 01:00 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I'm a Unitarian, but I'm a lapsed Unitarian. So while I respect and learn about all operating systems, I secretly use a Mac and respect it slightly more. And since leaving the forced attendance at the Church of Microsoft I endured as a young businessman, I make snide remarks about it's adherence to the Registry which I believe only serves to corrupt it after a year.
  
  --
  >>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
2. Re:Only a metaphor, but... by hawkinspeter · 2013-12-31 01:23 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  A master was explaining the nature of Tao to one of his novices. "The Tao is embodied in all software - regardless of how insignificant," said the master.
  
  "Is the Tao in a hand-held calculator?" asked the novice.
  
  "It is," came the reply.
  
  "Is the Tao in a video game?" continued the novice.
  
  "It is even in a video game," said the master.
  
  "And is the Tao also in Windows 8.1?"
  
  The master coughed and shifted his position slightly. "The lesson is over for today," he said.
  
  --
  You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
3. Re:Only a metaphor, but... by AmiMoJo · 2013-12-31 02:27 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  The Japanese are mostly participants in two religions: Shinto and Buddhism. They complement each other well. Most people have a Shinto birth ceremony, a Shinto marriage ceremony (but with a separate western style wedding too), and a Buddhist funeral.
  I think it's possible to use several operating systems like this. Android when you want to browser the news on your phone, Linux for your router and file server, BSD to host your web site, Windows for gaming and the day job.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
4. Re:Only a metaphor, but... by angel'o'sphere · 2013-12-31 02:58 · Score: 2
  
  Unlike religion it is possible to "worship" two or more OSes, In ancient times it was no problem to worship several gods, even from different pantheons.
  However I find it pretty disturbing that scientists now use religions as analogies.
  Or well it is also geeky, I remember a few fantasy RPGs that involve "religions".
  
  --
  Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
5. Re:Only a metaphor, but... by mrchaotica · 2013-12-31 03:13 · Score: 2
  
  Unlike religion it is possible to "worship" two or more OSes
  It's possible with religion too, if you're a polytheist.
  
  --
  "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
6. Re:Only a metaphor, but... by quenda · 2013-12-31 03:29 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  95% of the Japanese are Christians.
  Japan, Philippines ... same same.
7. Re:Only a metaphor, but... by xenoc_1 · 2013-12-31 04:26 · Score: 2
  
  I'm a Unitarian, but I'm a lapsed Unitarian.
  I'm not sure it's even possible to be a "lapsed Unitarian". Considering that there are UU-Pagan, UU-Taoist, UU-Jew, UU-Humanist, UU-Buddhist, UU-Hindu, UU-Confucian, UU-Animist, UU-Islam "fellowships" within the Unitarian-Universalist Society, there probably is a UU-Lapsed-UU official group too.
  Which makes you (and me) still Unitarians!
  But I still had MacOS9 running until late last year, on a purple-bubble iMac, with Windows 98 on it via pre-MSFT-VirtualPC, so I'm a heretical one.
8. Re:Only a metaphor, but... by Vitriol+Angst · 2013-12-31 05:21 · Score: 2
  
  No I'm a "lapsed" Unitarian because I've given up on impartiality. I secretly don't admire and respect all religions because I think that they are dangerous oily cloths that we throw in the garage and if we ignore them for long, they just build up heat and ignite.
  In other words; Letting people follow their own groove no matter how ignorant, eventually bites us all on the rear.
  So a "lapsed" Unitarian is someone who is intolerant. I accept that. I'm like Unitarian Judas. "Today, one of you will betray me, and have a harsh opinion." Guilty UU Jesus.
  
  --
  >>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
Re:BeOS? by Bongo · 2013-12-31 00:22 · Score: 2

I want to know which OS would be considered to be buddhism?
Who is root?
Re:BeOS? by camperdave · 2013-12-31 00:33 · Score: 2

On some level, are we not all root?

Wait... no! That was Windows.

--
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Re:There was another faith... by camperdave · 2013-12-31 00:39 · Score: 2

That took elements common to Judaism and Christianity and fused them into an aggressive hegemonising philosophy that brooked no opposition. Where does that fit into the anology?
Sounds like Apple to me. Started out with open hardware and open software, and bundled them into a walled garden.

--
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Re:BeOS? by wbr1 · 2013-12-31 00:39 · Score: 5, Funny

As much stuff as Windows had blown up over.the years I am thinking fundamental Islam.

--
Silence is a state of mime.
Re:BeOS? by wbr1 · 2013-12-31 00:41 · Score: 4, Funny

Sorry, I couldn't finish my previous comment. I had a bsod of 0x00000allahuakbar.

--
Silence is a state of mime.
Re:BeOS? by hawkinspeter · 2013-12-31 00:57 · Score: 2

Who asks?

http://catb.org/~esr/writings/unix-koans/

--
You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
I'm surprised noone has posted this one yet. by Nokey · 2013-12-31 01:01 · Score: 2

Our OS who art in CPU, UNIX be thy name.
Thy programs run, thy syscalls done,
In kernel as it is in user.

--
I'm sorry, but my kharma just ran over your dogma.
1. Re:I'm surprised noone has posted this one yet. by vikingpower · 2013-12-31 02:25 · Score: 2
  
  Give us this time slice our system load, and forgive us for having threads in waiting state as we also wait for other users' threads. And lead our processes not into the page file but deliver us from seg faults.
  
  --
  Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
Re:BeOS? by Vitriol+Angst · 2013-12-31 01:09 · Score: 2

So that means Android is either the Unity church that stresses it's openness, but not really because you HAVE TO appreciate feelings as divine messages and nobody is allowed in without leaving behind any notion of going a day without strangers touching them, or Android his Christian Scientist because only re-installs from the one true source can heal you for they don't believe in inoculating against viruses.

--
>>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
Re:BeOS? by Vitriol+Angst · 2013-12-31 01:10 · Score: 2

We don't have to bow in the direction of Redmond. But when we have a trojan horse, we have to reformat the drive and bow down and check the cables because that dang registry embedded redirect will not go away until you burn the machine.

--
>>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
Re:So whats the Church of Satan? by hawkinspeter · 2013-12-31 01:15 · Score: 2

Sacrilege! Burn the witch!

--
You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
Re:If UNIX were a religion... by RandomFactor · 2013-12-31 01:17 · Score: 2

Prove it.

--
--- Mercutio was right.
Ugh, religion by zerobeat · 2013-12-31 01:35 · Score: 2

Nothing is more trite than comparing the evolution of X to the evolution of Y. But, please, why compare something useful (UNIX) to something useless (Religion)? Its journalistic masturbation. No one enjoys articles like this more than the person who wrote it in the first place.

--
What other people think of me is none of my business
Re:Crucifixion by unixisc · 2013-12-31 01:53 · Score: 2

Mrs Reiser?
Co-exist by ffsnjb · 2013-12-31 02:37 · Score: 2

Anyone up for making a Co-exist bumper sticker with the BSD, OS X, Windows and Linux logos? My art skills suck, but I can host the image for everyone!

--
"Why do you consent to live in ignorance and fear?" - Bad Religion
Re:BeOS? by squiggleslash · 2013-12-31 03:44 · Score: 5, Insightful

Scientology? That one's easy.
- Requires large amounts of money to spent to stay within the faith
- Founder, now dead, revered by followers
- People rarely encounter this as their first religion, but when they switch to it, they can't shut up about it.
- Largely a rehash of pre-existing stuff, presented in a new way (in this case, pulp science fiction presented as a religion)
Mac OS X. We have a winner.

--
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Good one. by wcrowe · 2013-12-31 04:33 · Score: 3

I'm a programmer, a former Protestant, and now an Orthodox Clergyman. I found this article to be very entertaining. Now I know why I've always liked BSD and OS X.
I'm inspired to read one of Charlie Stross' books.

--
Proverbs 21:19
Jealous OS by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-31 04:34 · Score: 2, Insightful

According to Microsoft,
"Though shalt not have any OS's other than Microsoft"
"Though shalt not covet thy neighbor's more stable and faster OS"
"Though shalt spend one day a week defragging, scanning, and fixing thy Microsoft OS"
Re:Fundamentalists? by PPH · 2013-12-31 04:37 · Score: 2

Those would be the practitioners of the command line.

--
Have gnu, will travel.
Thanks by jcbarlow · 2013-12-31 05:21 · Score: 2

This has helped me understand Christianity. (Unix history I have lived through)
DOS Mythology by Roger+W+Moore · 2013-12-31 05:23 · Score: 2

They even have their own mythology: DOS. Something which nobody really believes in any more but which you see cultural references to.

Unlike religion it is possible to "worship" two or more OSes
Ah but at a fundamental level you can only have one endianess at a time and, unless you return to the source, it's hard to switch!