The existence of Unix Beards is exceptionally well-documented, from Dilbert to Fortune, with a notable appearance in Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon.

But even the author of In the Beginning was the Command Line doesn’t seem to note that the Unix beard is really an extension of the philosopher’s beard, and the academic’s beard. (Perhaps that oversight is only fair, as One Thousand Beards doesn’t even mention “hackers” or “Unix.”)

Personally, I think it’s nice that Unix hackers see themselves as scientists and philosophers, or at least their descendants.