Dennis Ritchie has passed on.
The R from "K and R".
Its hard to over state the contribution this man has made to humanity.
For C alone he should have received some equivalent to a joint Nobel
prize.
The language itself, its open culture, its generalised nature and
downstream tool-set (notably compilers) remain central among the great
enabling technologies.
Dennis Ritchie was fundamental in the creation of not just a Coding
Language but an idea or meme that underwrites almost everything we now
consider the modern world.
That same technology and those same simple concepts are the foundation
of GNU, Open Source, and of course its offspring Linux, the BSDz,
Creative Commons ...
Brilliant engineering and genius design.
Truly a Master and a Giant on who's shoulders we presume to stand.
May his ideas live forever.
His genius is still vibrant and well.
We should all shout him a quiet beer in whatever cosmic bar we may next find him.
