Thread Tools Display Modes
12-24-11, 08:51 PM   #1
Vlad
A Molten Giant
 
Vlad's Avatar
AddOn Author - Click to view addons
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 793
RIP Dennis Ritchie

I know it's old news and it happened around the death of Steve Jobs, but I feel Dennis Ritchie didn't get enough attention, as much as he deserved and I wanted to make a thread dedicated to him.

Everyone knew Apple and Steve Jobs, but not many knew about Dennis Ritchie so let me tell you a little about him:

He was the father C (the programming language) and pretty much everything is or is based on it. He was also a key developer of the Unix operating system. A short quote to sum his role in today's digital world; "the giant whose shoulders we stand on"

He shaped the foundations the whole world stands on, sadly he was not commemorated as much as Steve Jobs, it's sad that he died under the radar, and even more sad that he died at the age of 70 all alone in his home due to illness. Imagine that, alone deathly ill, and no one near you to remember you or show their care. Just the thought to be alone in your final years makes me double sad as I write this.

Both people, Steve Jobs and Dennis Ritchie, were on the front of their fields, though we should have paid more homage to Dennis Ritchie for his work on the microscopical level -even if we can't see it or touch it, his work, his fingerprints are all over our digital world!

Rest in peace!

Originally Posted by Just a thought, not originally part of my post that I intended.
It's a little sad that the businesses that wrote the biographies and such of Jobs didn't pay much attention to Dennis, simply because since Jobs was so popular there was more money to be made selling his books and movies, though Dennis should have gotten at least as much praise and notice as Jobs in my opinion.

Also it's kind of shameful that my bachelor degree in computer science did not mention Dennis Ritchie at all and how deep his work really runs in our world -and I've had C on university level, I hope they change their books and make sure his name is known by all those studying in this field.

Last edited by Vlad : 12-24-11 at 08:55 PM.
  Reply With Quote
12-25-11, 02:32 AM   #2
Monolit
A Black Drake
AddOn Author - Click to view addons
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 81
R.I.P. I surely knew who Dennis Ritchie was, but I did not realize that he also passed away, and seeing that he actually died October 12, which is like a week after mr. Jobs death makes me even more sad, because as you noted it was not covered in media at all...

Oh well, thank you for this post, hopefully some day we will see greater appreciation of what he helped to create.

Rest in piece, Dennis!
  Reply With Quote

WoWInterface » General Discussion » Chit-Chat » RIP Dennis Ritchie

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off