We have persistent objects, they're called files.
FORTRAN was the language of choice for the same reason that three-legged races are popular.
The steady state of disks is full.
I wanted to have virtual memory, at least as it's coupled with file systems.
I view Linux as something that's not Microsoft - a backlash against Microsoft, no more and no less.
I have to keep up with the scientific literature as part of my job, but increasingly I found myself reading things that weren't really relevant to my academic work, but were relevant to gardening.