We probably shouldn't take the headline at face value. What we're seeing are some playfully hacked initial fictitious commits ostensibly from Brian Kernighan

We probably shouldn't take the headline at face value. What we're seeing are some playfully hacked initial fictitious commits ostensibly from Brian Kernighan intended to paint a picture of the spiritual lineage that the creators of go want to acknowledge. (And, in my opinion, if there's anybody allowed to invoke the name of Brian Kernighan in this way, it would be Rob Pike and Ken Thompson).