Comments on: “I got this note from John Ritchie, Dennis’s brother” https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/10/16/i-got-this-note-from-john-ritc/ Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:02:24 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.6 By: Rich Wilson https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/10/16/i-got-this-note-from-john-ritc/#comment-509032 Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:02:24 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/10/16/i-got-this-note-from-john-ritc/#comment-509032 I got to see Dennis give a talk at the University of Victoria back in the late 80s or early 90s. I can attest to the dry humor. He was a great speaker, and it was hilarious.

One of the best parts was when he put up a slide containing some C from a very large corporation. I seem to recall some hints that it was from IBM, but could not swear to that. He covered most of it with a sheet of paper, and then simply kept uncovering more lines of code. The ‘joke’ would set it, everyone would laugh, we’d think it was over, and he’d uncover more WTF.

]]> By: Marina https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/10/16/i-got-this-note-from-john-ritc/#comment-509031 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:50:01 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/10/16/i-got-this-note-from-john-ritc/#comment-509031 I always wonder whose passing will get more attention a century from now. Certainly Jobs made shiny things that did exactly what they were supposed to do (and not one iota more) but to create the language that damn near every computing system is based on and get almost no recognition is sadly a commonplace occurrence. Think of the passings of Mozart, Van Gogh or Tesla. Nobody seems to have noticed then, but a hundred years later, they are considered luminaries. And for every Tesla, there is an Edison – more a businessman than an inventor who receives the accolades for both in his lifetime. History has a way of setting things right, but long after it is too late to make any difference.

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