Hacker culture fundamentally contradicts with capitalism in their principles; capitalism is based on surplus value, while hakcer culture is based on communist values: collectivization (of program code) and revolutionary action.

How the UNIX philosophy favors capitalism

The UNIX philosophy is a philosophical guideline for software development that was formed in the 1970s; it formed because hardware resources in all computers were minimal during that period. An important detail (that is not mentioned) is that computers were under the influence of capitalism. The lack of hardware resources favors capitalism; because it demands that the consumer must buy more hardware.

This means that computers developed under capitalism necessitates arbitrarily gradual increments in sold computer hardware. It is in this system that the UNIX philosophy forms. Practice is directly related to theory; so the resulting theory of capitalist computers in the past is the UNIX philosophy.

So, capitalism subverts hacker culture by favoring profit over technology. LISPs (and by extension LISP machines) have a cultural association with hacker culture due to being efficiently flexible. (I wouldn’t be surprised if there was or are propaganda against LISPs and LISP machines as a result.)

Hence, the UNIX philosophy was heavily promoted to fight against hacker culture.

“Write programs that do one thing and do it well.”

This allows the capitalist to easily profit by selling each program under the guise of being efficient due to the UNIX philosophy. Base UNIX tools could have a heavy expense, while more complex programs with redundant functionality have a cheap expense.

LISP machines…

Lisp machines are general-purpose computers designed to efficiently run Lisp as their main software and programming language. Lisp is an efficiently flexible language that is fostered in hacker culture; LISP’s read-eval-print-loop promotes collectivization through interactivity.

Lisp machines are technologically superior in efficiency and flexibility as a result.

…promote socialist values.

Collectivization

LISP promotes collectivization (of program code) to the person through the read-eval-print-loop (REPL). A REPL promotes interactivity and experimentation, an environment were a person can freely learn at their own pace.

Revolutionary Action

LISP promotes revolutionary action through (the interactivity of) the read-eval-print-loop (REPL). This seems absurd, but think it.

Compilers that do not use a REPL result in programs that can only compiled machine code. Program code is difficult to reverse engineer without the source code; because the source code is often converted to machine code. The result is that programming languages that lacks runtime interactivity dissuade socialist values in users. The user cannot freely tinker with the program code without the program becoming unstable.

Users of compiled programs, formed with languages designed to soley be executed, are dissuaded from collectivizing machine code in the program and utilizing revolution action to improve the material conditions to achieve goals; even when the program’s source code is open.

For example: C is a popular programming language in operating systems; because it lacks interactivity. Open source code often works against the capitalist’s advantage, so they close the source code to prevent the proletariat from freely copying the source code and compiling it themselves.

Although the Linux kernel is free and open source, there is still a contradiction between the program code and the user. The program code runs independently of the user because it was not designed with interactivity in mind.

…contradict capitalism’s principles.

Profit forms the base of capitalism.

Developing high hardware resources for computers are expensive investments; therefore capitalism promotes minimalist hardware resources to increase profitability. LISP machines were expensive to the consumer because more labor needed to be invested in them.

LISP machines are technologically superior in efficiency and flexibility (due to being a list processor and the REPL); but capitalism demands halting development for profit; and Lisp machines were only expensive to build because developing good computers works against the capitalist’s profit.

Summary

The UNIX philosophy seems to be a mostly corporate philosophy that carries a reformist message; a philosophy to weakly justify the lack of hardware resources in computers developed in capitalist countries, and distract the proletariat from real change. The present material conditions work against the UNIX philosophy; yet it’s still promoted as being efficient.

LISP contradict capitalism’s principles because it’s based on socialist (arguably communist) values: collectivization and revolutionary action. LISP promotes these values through the REPL and favoring linked lists.

I suspect that the UNIX philosophy is intentionally promoted by the capitalist to slow the inevitable development and use of LISP and LISP machines. (This idea hasn’t been confirmed.)

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So what do you think of this? I’ll probably append more details in the future.