howell@MITRE.ARPA (Chuck Howell) (12/18/86)
Karl,
"TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
-- often attributed to Chuck Howell ]
Thanks for the attribution, but before I get slapped with a
lawsuit by a pack of crazed attorneys for aphorism theft, I need
to set the record straight: TANSTAAFL was coined by Robert Hienlein
(?sp?). I guess I might as well admit that "A penny saved is a
penny earned" isn't mine, either. I lied.
Chuckmunck@MITRE-BEDFORD.ARPA (Bob Munck) (12/18/86)
Come on, folks, how can you not know about science fiction? Most of us
work on military software, which is usually about as close to SF as you
can get. Personally, my collection of 5K+ books and magazines is
rivaled only by the contents of the SDIO.
"TANSTAAFL" was the motto of the Lunar Free Republic in Heinlein's "The
Moon is a Harsh Mistress" published in the late 60's/early 70's (after
"Stranger in a Strange Land" and before "I Will Fear No Evil"). TMiaHM
is based on a theme common to SF and military software, AI (though
that's unfair to SF, which often actually does come true).
-- Bob