Top 5 Linux references in pop-culture

David M Williams
Sunday, 28 September 2008 14:19

Opinion and Analysis

#1 – Jurassic Park
Raarrghh! The killer dinosaurs are upon us. This blockbuster movie wowed the world and enjoyed a lengthy cinema season, a plethora of DVD sales, a couple of sequels, a theme ride in Universal Studios and more.

In a drama-filled sequence, Lex, Grant and Tim are trying to stay alive while keeping dinosaurs at bay and working out just what they can do to lock up Jurassic Park and get help.

Tim is trapping Raptors in walk-in fridges, Grant is firing his shotgun. Lex, on the other hand, spots a terminal and hoarsely whispers, “It’s a UNIX system. I know this” and bashes away at the keyboard.

For the detail-oriented, Lex was sitting down at a Silicon Graphics workstation running a program called 3D File System Navigator which runs on top of Irix.

--> You can see the relevant clip here. <-- Click the link for an audio visual feast!

In one action-packed scene audiences everywhere came to realise that not only do little girls actually know some of this computing stuff after all, but we got a pertinent lesson on why you ought to reach for the command line when a hungry prehistoric beast is about to bite your head off: every second matters!

Just as the Dilbert cartoon I opened with has permeated the hearts and minds of Linux aficionados everywhere, so too has the breathy “It’s a UNIX system. I know this” become the stuff of legend. You’ll find it on YTMND, you’ll find it on IMDB’s memorable quotes page. And you can buy it on a t-shirt if you want.

So that’s my top five list of Linux in pop culture today. Do you know others? Anything you thought really should have made the list? If you want some more check out this page full of Linux in mainstream cartoons too.

#5 – Dilbert
#4 – The Mighty Avengers
#3 – The Matrix Reloaded
#2 – George W Bush and the NSA
#1 – Jurassic Park