Pascal Schmidt wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:

 PS> Hi Roy! :-)

 PS> [TANSTAAFL]

 RJT> Actually I think the expression was around long before that,  
 RJT> though it does indeed appear in that book...

 PS> Well, the New Hacker's Dictonary claims the book is the origin of
 PS> the phrase, though that may of course only apply to the hacker
 PS> (sub)culture. ;) 

I can't speak for why I feel like it was around before that,  but I do feel
that way.  If I come across something solid I'll post it...

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