How old would you think the word 'monoculture' is? My guess, before I went out to discover, was at least since Stephen J. Gould. Turns out, that's wrong, that is, off by a bunch.
According to here, it appeared in the OED for the first time in 1901. Which likely means it was in use during the 19th century.
Those in the *nix community have been vocal in their warning that M$ DOS/Windows dominance leads to the usual casualties of inbred stock. What they've been less vocal about is the monoculture at the hardware level. While one can build linux from source, and if you can verify that all the source is clean, then you're somewhat outside the box. But that chip is still X86.
So, have a read of the latest paranoid's jeremiad. One might wonder how the 'strict constructionists' abide such? Just because the Floundering Fathers didn't have PCs and innterTubes, does it follow that only the means of communication and domicile that existed in 1789 are protected from Government (and their corporate minions)? One might conclude that, in the case of personal freedom, the Right would eagerly adopt a 'living document' viewpoint. Or could it be that they believe in the sanctity of government, after all? Obama has, just on the basis of admitted behavior, done what the Right Wing wants. The crunch will come when any level of protest gets one labeled 'terrorist'. We've been there before, and it wasn't pleasant.
Who is being protected from whom?
Where's a Robo Cop when you need one?
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