Wendy NatherMay 24, 2023
40 years ago, my dad went viral on Usenet with this little gem: http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/story-of-mel.html
The Story of Mel

Show threadThe ol' tealeg 🐡May 24, 2023
@wendynather I have that in hard copy from back in the day. Nice to see the jargon file, and it's associated lore still circulating out there.
Show threadWendy Nather
@tealeg Funny story: ESR didn’t know it was my dad when he added the story to the Hacker’s Dictionary 😆
May 24, 2023 at 1:27pmWeb
Show threadThe ol' tealeg 🐡May 24, 2023
@wendynather I’m (just) old enough that I interacted with some real ol’ time hackers early in my career. I was given the Hacker’s Dictionary to help me understand what the hell they were talking about. What I always loved about that story is how creativity comes from constraints. Perhaps your dad’s formatting is itself an example of that kind.
Show threadWendy NatherMay 24, 2023
@tealeg Very true!
Show threadWendy NatherMay 24, 2023
@tealeg This is what pisses me off about the trope of old people not understanding technology. As I told my kids: “Honey, who do you think BUILT the Internet?”