For many real world examples of minimalism and simplicity, see projects such as st or dwm from suckless. http://suckless.org/philosophy/
Without fail every suckless person I've talked to either has no idea what they're talking about, or in the off chance they do they're incredibly shitty far right wing types who gripe on about women/minorities/CoCs ruining tech.
Having said that, my general impression was that there was an inordinate amount of Plan9 cargo-culting (with some DJB fanboys mixed in). Young, idealistic people without much experience but lots of admiration for the more Bauhaus part of their elders.