The Operating system as society:

It's been suggested that an Operating system is like the rutheless
dictator of a computer and that all programs must follow it's rule.

This however is not true. While most programs follow the will
of it's operating system, viruses and incorrectly written programs
can still crash the system. The system itself may even be flawed.

Rather i'd like to think of an Operating system as a common religion, or
society that all programs of a given system share. They all generally
adhere to the rules and laws set down for them, and try as best they
can, but sometimes they go astray and sometimes even the system itself
is flawed.

-Ivan