The 'ls' binary on the original release of Unix (version 6) was 4920 bytes long. Thirty six years later, 'ls' on Ubuntu is 105776 bytes. Is this the laziness of modern coders? Increasing features? Does 'cat' really now do 313 times more stuff, or is there something else going on?
Grab your sandals and/or fake beards as our two brave coders tear apart a handful of common UNIX utilties which they grew up alongside, with adult supervision from a genuine greybeard.