Attitude matters

    When you see the right thing, do it--this may look like more work in the short term, but it's the path of least effort in in the long run. If you don't know what the right thing is, do the minimum necessary to get the job done, at least until you figure out what the right thing is.
    To do the unix philosophy right, you have to be loyal to excellence. You have to believe that software design is a craft worth all the intelligence, creativity, and passion you can muster. Otherwise you won't look past the easy, stereotyped ways of approaching design and implementation; you'll rush to coding when you should be thinking. Otherwise you'll carelessly complicate when you should be relentlessly simplifying--and then you'll wonder why your code bloats and debugging is so hard.
    To do the unix philosophy right, you have to value your own time enough never to waste it. If someone has already solved a problem once, don't let pride or politics suck into solving it a second time other than re-using. And never work harder than you have to; work smarter instead, and save extra effort for when you need it. Lean on your tools and automate everything you can.
    Software design and implementation should be a joyous art, a kind of high-level play. If this attitude seems preposterous or vaguely embrassing to you, stop and think; ask youself what you've fogotten. Why doyou design software instead of doing something else to make money or pass the time? You must have thought software was worthy of you passion once...
    To do the unix philosophy right, you need to care, you need to play, you need to being will to explore...