The Rule of Silence

When a program has nothing surprising to say, it says nothing. — The Art Of Unix Programming

Let’s imagine, Le nix, a unix-style restaurant.

If it’s your first time at Le nix…

First time? Oh boy…

You walk in. You see the host. He doesn’t look at you. You stand there. He doesn’t look at you. You stare at him. He doesn’t look at you. You walk out in disgust. He doesn’t notice.

You didn’t ask him anything, so why would he say anything to you? He follows the rule of silence. This is why the rule is so controversial. It’s so gosh darn unfriendly.

A grey beard walks in…

You’re a unix grey beard. You know what you want. You walk in. You tell the host:

order SwordFishPlatter --payment card --no-tip

and hand him your card.

He immediately hands you back your card, and gives you a number where you can find a table with a perfectly prepared SwordFishPlatter. No conversation, no nonsense, and only takes 90 seconds.

Smilies

Let’s compare this to the dining experiencing at a typical American restaurant, call it…