Tag: RIP

Dennis Ritchie, RIP


I’ve just learned of yet another great loss – Dennis Ritchie, who passed away a few days ago at the age of 70. It’s difficult to describe his contributions and achievements to non-technical people, but anyone with even a grain of knowledge of computer history and modern affairs can appreciate what this man have done. Here is a quote from the Wikipedia page:

Ritchie was best known as the creator of the C programming language and a key developer of the Unix operating system, and as co-author of the definitive book on C, The C Programming Language, commonly referred to as K&R (in reference to the authors Kernighan and Ritchie).
Ritchie’s invention of C and his role in the development of Unix alongside Ken Thompson has placed him as an important pioneer of modern computing. The C language is still widely used today in application and operating system development, and its influence is seen in most modern programming languages. Unix has also been influential, establishing concepts and principles that are now well-established precepts of computing.
Ritchie was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1988 for “development of the ‘C’ programming language and for co-development of the UNIX operating system.”

Thank you Sir for all your hard work. Rest in peace.

RIP Steve Jobs

It doesn’t matter if you know, like or use any of the Apple products. If you are reading this, your life has been influenced by Steve Jobs.  The computer mouse that you are holding in your hand now, the computer, table, or a mobile device which you use to read this, the browser window, the fonts, the buttons, and other elements of the user interface – these are just a few things that are different today because of Steve’s work.  His contribution was huge.

I’m not going to idolize him – each and every human being has his ups and downs.  We all make mistakes and we all screw up.  But the important thing, I guess, is whether each and every one of us makes this world any better.  Steve Jobs has improved this world a lot.  And he inspired many others to do the same.  For that, I am grateful to him.  For that I respect him a lot.

Thank you, Steve.  Rest in peace.

Alexander Sorokin, rest in peace

Yesterday I’ve heard the bad news – my uncle, Alexander Sorokin, passed away at an age of 44.  He was on a business trip, almost a 1000 kilometers away from home, when he had a stroke.  He was a really good man.

He was the person who got me into computers many years ago.  He was always involved with technology, and it was him who first arrange a PC for our house.  At first it wasn’t for me, it was for my mother.  But he encouraged my curiosity.  More so, it was him spending countless days and nights in our house, trying to fix the consequences of my curiosity, when important documents got missing or system would get stuck with no way to boot.  All he said after would be “Don’t do this again”.  And on the next occasion: “Oh, that’s OK, I see it’s different this time”.

Strong, kind, smart, and funny.  A very good friend, and an example of a Good Man.  That’s how I will remember him.

Rest in peace…