stone knives and bearskins
[ITS, prob. from the Star Trek Classic
episode "The City on the Edge of Forever"] n. A term traditionally
used by
ITS fans to describe (and deprecate) computing
environments they regard as less advanced, with the (often
correct) implication that said environments were grotesquely
primitive in light of what is known about good ways to design
things. As in "Don't get too used to the facilities here. Once
you leave MIT it's stone knives and bearskins as far as the eye can
see". Compare
steam-powered.
