Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!bionet!agate!saturn!farber@linc.cis.upenn.edu From: farber@linc.cis.upenn.edu (David Farber) Newsgroups: comp.os.research Subject: Re: Need reference on "5 year rule" Message-ID: <9520@saturn.ucsc.edu> Date: 22 Oct 89 15:49:12 GMT Sender: usenet@saturn.ucsc.edu Organization: University of Pennsylvania Lines: 11 Approved: comp-os-research@jupiter.ucsc.edu I am not sure where the 5 year rule came from but my observationin OS and PL is that ideas take 5 years to become popular, 5 years then to be forgotten and 5 years to be re-invented. Check some old OS ideas if you dont believe me (like multics, SOS etc) David Farber; Prof. of CIS and EE, U of Penn, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6389 Tele: 215-898-9508(off); 215-274-8292 (home); FAX: 215-274-8192; Cellular: 302-740- 1198 "The fundamental principle of science, the definition almost, is this: the sole test of the validity of any idea is experiment." -- R. P. Feynman