This essay by Neal Stephenson was first published in 1999.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Beginning..._Was_the_...
The analogy of OS as cars (Windows is a station wagon, Linux is a tank) is brought up in the recent Acquired episode on Microsoft, where Vista was a Dodge Viper but Windows 7 was a Toyota Camry, which is what users actually wanted.
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