Originally Posted By fkurucz Dennis Ritchie wasn't as glamorous or well known as Steve Jobs, but he had a much bigger impact on the world of computing than Mr. Jobs ever did. Dennis Ritchie is the creator of the C programming language, without which the UNIX operating system (including variants like Linux) wouldn't exist today. He was also a major contributor to the development of UNIX into what it is today. Before Apple acolytes dismiss this, consider that Macintoshes, iPhones and iPads run UNIX.
Originally Posted By mawnck This. Is it OK if we leave flowers at the C Programming Language store? Run a retrospective of the groundbreaking advertisements for UNIX? Become all verklempt over a YouTube video of his commencement speech at Stanford? Where the heck are the 27 articles on the HuffPo front page? Witness the difference between "marketing creation" and "the real thing". One struts around in his trademark turtleneck telling people how he changed the world. The other just does it. I know which one I wish I was more like.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones Well, considering that Ritchie spent more time changing computing than building a cult of personality, it's not surprising at all.
Originally Posted By Longhorn12 /* Goodbye program */ #include<stdio.h> main() { printf("Goodbye Ritchie"); }
Originally Posted By andyll It's hard to overstate how important C was to the computer world. I still got my white 'K&R' in a box somewhere.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Now this is a real loss. A true pioneer of the industry who changed the world. It has been a very interesting time for the industry, but I go it just shows how "mature" IT is now. Scary for those of us who still remember punch cards.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 Think of it this way. Some get to be the quarterback and some get to play offensive line. Jobs was the qb, Ritchie was the offensive lineman. Without Ritchie, Jobs doesn't get all the glory.
Originally Posted By JeffG >> "I still got my white 'K&R' in a box somewhere." << In a box? My heavily-used copy remains close to my desk at work, so I can reference it as often as I need to. -Jeff
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I was a Unix system administrator and an Informix database administrator for 10 years, but I far preferred the years I worked on a windows box running SQL Server.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>And the anti-Apple fanatics say it's the fanboys who are obsessed. Wow.<< I'm not an anti-Apple fanatic, I'm an anti-fanboy fanatic.
Originally Posted By fkurucz "but I far preferred the years I worked on a windows box " All versions of Windows since NT contain the Mach Kernel, which in turn traces its roots back to UNIX.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip And UNIX was inspired by Multics. Everything is based on SOMETHING. NT/SQL Server provided a far more user-friendly development environment. Unless you LIKED shell scripting with vi. ;-)
Originally Posted By fkurucz "NT/SQL Server provided a far more user-friendly development environment" I won't argue with that! I do use Eclipse on UNIX, but Visual Studio is a lot richer. If WIndows has a downside its that it tries to be all things to all people, and consequently it sometimes fails.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< I do use Eclipse on UNIX, but Visual Studio is a lot richer. >>> I think that RoadTrip is referring to SQL Server administration, not software development tools.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Yes, I was the database manager for my college, which involved primarily administration... designing, creating and maintaining the databases that were behind the applications developed by my team. When short on staff I would modify existing sprocs etc, but I didn't work on much new development of applications.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>I'm not an anti-Apple fanatic, I'm an anti-fanboy fanatic.<< As a self-proclaimed lifelong iconoclast, I get it. Really. But in this case, I think it's completely misguided. At the very least, what I find...hmmm...what's the right word...irksome?...is the implication that anyone who likes or even loves an Apple product is just someone who's been duped by clever marketing. Marketing can only take you so far. Someone can have the most clever marketing campaign on the planet, and if their products suck, then it's over. Apple. Products. Don't. Suck. They are pretty remarkable. I work in tech, I follow the tech industry - mostly mobile. I use Android everyday. I use webOS (even now). Windows 7 and even that old dinosaur, Blackberry. iOS is hands-down the best mobile operating system I have ever seen. I use it everyday on different products. Even after a few years of using iOS, I'm amazed at how it still impresses me and I find myself saying, "Wow that is pretty cool." That's not marketing; that's a well-informed user who's plenty familiar with everything else that's out there making an informed judgment about a product. (BTW, no one loves Android. There's just people who hate Apple who have to embrace Android because it's the closest thing there is.) So it's very hard for me to take people who don't much use Apple who say, "Pshaw. My stuff does all that and it's cheaper and blah blah blah..." remotely seriously. Saying it's all just somehow clever marketing is a lazy response to this phenomenon. And I stand by my statement that Apple haters seem to be far more obsessed with Apple than even Apple fans.
