I assure you that people made the same mistake plenty in the old days, too. Most programmers who come across an array of values assume they know what the values

I assure you that people made the same mistake plenty in the old days, too. Most programmers who come across an array of values assume they know what the values mean, and that stands true across time. Many paint packages and other programs still get many transforms/effects wrong due to it, and in fact some people seem to prefer some effects when not linearized.