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Live Free Or Die!
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Live Free Or Die! /imp./ 1. The state motto of New Hampshire,
which appears on that state's automobile license plates. 2. A
slogan associated with Unix in the romantic days when Unix
aficionados saw themselves as a tiny, beleaguered underground
tilting against the windmills of industry. The "free" referred
specifically to freedom from the fascist design philosophies
and crufty misfeatures common on commercial operating systems.
Armando Stettner, one of the early Unix developers, used to give
out fake license plates bearing this motto under a large Unix, all
in New Hampshire colors of green and white. These are now valued
collector's items. Recently (1994) an inferior imitation of these
has been put in circulation with a red corporate logo added.
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