Honestly, Why does everyone and their brother STILL recommend Kernighan & Ritchie in all those "Getting Started" articles in this day and age? I am not trying

Honestly, Why does everyone and their brother STILL recommend Kernighan & Ritchie in all those "Getting Started" articles in this day and age? I am not trying to diminish the significance of their work in any way shape or form but first we should learn Ruby and Python and THEN "C Programming Language" to "get paid"...? Why not recommend diving into modern C++ and some of the absolutely fantastic libraries out there (Boost etc..) or more modern books on C instead? I am sure this would get you much further and keep you up to speed with current advancements since a hell of a lot has changed, even newer standards in C, since 1988. (referring to 2nd edition) And while good intentions were surely behind it, it really went downhill here: "Drinking Heavily" and "Teh Womenz" You do not NEED to become an alcoholic or fsck "teh womenz" to be or work as a successful "hacker". You do absolutely need soft skills, friends, some networking and you NEED to socialize and yes, a partner (or partners) can be a wonderful thing in your life and booze does work wonders as a social "lubricant" but these are far from being the only forms of social interaction or positive recreational activities you should invest your time in and, quite frankly, we tend to overrate getting hammer and getting laid.