... if programmers were as prone to language flamewars 30+ years ago as they are now. I'm guessing the answer is probably yes. :) Your guess is spot on.

... if programmers were as prone to language flamewars 30+ years ago as they are now. I'm guessing the answer is probably yes. :) Your guess is spot on. Not only languages (C vs Pascal, "why doesn't anyone use Ada?"), but probably best remembered for the vi vs emacs crusades. Though about 20+ years ago there were some pretty heated exchanges regarding OOP which seem to still smolder to this day (see HN history for evidence :-)). There's a reason why Godwin's law[0] came about :-D 0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law