Lambda the Ultimate

Not strictly PLT-related, but Neil Brown has contributed an amazing series of articles to Linux Weekly News:

• Ghosts of Unix Past: a historical search for design patterns
• Ghosts of Unix past, part 2: Conflated designs
• Ghosts of Unix past, part 3: Unfixable designs
• Ghosts of Unix past, part 4: High-maintenance designs

For this series we try to look for patterns which become visible only over an extended time period. As development of a system proceeds, early decisions can have consequences that were not fully appreciated when they were made. If we can find patterns relating these decisions to their outcomes, it might be hoped that a review of these patterns while making new decisions will help to avoid old mistakes or to leverage established successes.