Indeed there were lots of competing standards and technologies, but C was still the kind of "lingua franca" among most (professional?) programmers. Many people

Indeed there were lots of competing standards and technologies, but C was still the kind of "lingua franca" among most (professional?) programmers. Many people used to write really intricate programs in it without relying on anything but standard library functions. It was about raw talent and people used to take pride in the way a program was written and not just what its effect is. And yes, it all started to change in the mid 90's with the advent of Windows and the web.