Just Finished Reading Robert Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

I just finished reading science fiction writer Robert Heinlein's 1966 novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.  Its general theme is the struggle of the moon's inhabitants, in the year 2076, for independence against the Earth that has been exploiting them while imposing authoritarian rule.
Originally a penal colony for the Earth's convicts (reminiscent of Australia's original role in the British Empire), the moon's population by 2076 is overwhelmingly "free", i.e. non-criminals who are mainly the inmate/exiles' offspring and descendants.  Due to the high ratio of men to women here, women are not only highly exalted, but a new form of marriage, the "line" marriage, which is comprised of many husbands and wives in one compact, has taken hold.  The chief protagonist is Manuel "Mannie" O'Kelly, who occupies a special niche in that he apparently is the only one on Luna (which is the proper name for the moon) who can communicate with the supercomputer that controls the telecommunications and life-support systems for the inhabitants.  And he has developed a personal, conversational rapport with "Mike", its mutually agreed upon name.  Mannie is apathetic to the growing resistance movement against the Earth's rule over Luna, but the ensuing plot entangles him with rebel characters (the beautiful Wyoming ("Wyoh") and the anarchist Professor Bernardo).  Together, with Mike as the "commander", they form the initial and topmost cell of an intricate resistance network that is well-nigh impossible for the authorities to break through informants and arrests.  Does the revolt succeed? Well, let's just say that Heinlein has obviously invested a great amount of time and thought determining the factors involved in a successful overthrow, and Mannie's group applies them with zeal.  But the main strategic goal in garnering independence from Earth, which is not to conquer the occupying power but rather to convince it that the political and economic cost of maintaining control isn't worth the effort, has a direct application to what had been going on in 1966, when this novel was published: the U.S. effort to subdue the Communists in Vietnam...which was eventually abandoned because of popular opposition at home, not military defeat abroad.

I was impressed by the attention to detail that Heinlein gave to describing society on Luna, a world inhabited almost completely underground (making it more three-dimensional than on Earth) and which has a thriving, functional economy and system of justice and social mores parallel to, but distinct from, that recognized by the "official" Earth government stationed there.  This is one of those books whose significance has not faded with time...Heinlein's ideas matter today as much as then, even though we never did around to establishing ourselves on the moon. Our current president says we don't need to go back because we've "already been there".  Brilliant.

And on a more speculative note, I wonder how much influence, if any, Heinlein's talking, sentient supercomputer Mike had on Arthur C Clarke's computer Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey, which came out on the big screen the following year...