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This is an excerpt from a recent exchange on one of our mailing lists.
It is forwarded by permission of the author..

----

>Can anyone shed some light on exactly WHY one needed to sync the disk
>three times before shutting down on those older UNIX systems?
>
>Thanks,
>
> [deleted]

Three is a very special number in our culture.  Most folktales have
three travelling salesmen, three wishes, and so on.  (In other
cultures, this number may be different.  Some Indian tribes use four.) 
Three is the number of the Trinity in Christianity, similar to the
Hindu Trimurti of Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma.  There are three Volumes
of Knuth, and three passes to cc.

The rebooting of a UNIX system is a very powerful image -- like the
Ressurection of Christ or Mithras, or the immolation and rebirth of
the Phonenix, from death comes life, in a never-ending cycle.

	Wayne

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