this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2024
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Friend who is not a software person sent me this tweet, which amused me as it did them. They asked if "runk" was real, which I assume not.

But what are some good examples of real ones like this? xz became famous for the hack of course, so i then read a bit about how important this compression algorithm is/was.

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (16 children)

Ronald is ~~Linus Torvald~~ zloirock, and his contribution is immeasurable.

Edit: you can see in the replies to this comment that Linus was a poor example. There are people with an almost equivalent contribution to the digital world who have seen almost no recognition at all.

[–] sus 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Actually I think he has already had an adequate amount of recognition:

  • "In 1999, Red Hat and VA Linux, both leading developers of Linux-based software, presented Torvalds with stock options in gratitude for his creation.[29] That year both companies went public and Torvalds's share value briefly shot up to about US$20 million"

  • his autobiography is in several hundred library collections worldwide

Awards he's received:

  • 2 honorary doctorates

  • 2 celestial objects named after him

  • Lovelace Medal

  • IEEE Computer Pioneer Award

  • EFF Pioneer Award

  • Vollum Award

  • Hall of Fellows of the Computer History Museum

  • C&C prize

  • Millenium Technology Prize

  • Internet Hall of Fame

  • IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award

  • Great Immigrants Award

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Wow! A company gave away money without being contractually obligated to do so? The world sure has changed since then. I'm glad that Torvalds is doing well, he completely changed the world.

I wonder how Brahm Cohen is doing. He also had a huge impact on the world. I know he got a write-up in Wired Magazine after inventing Bit Torrent (that's how I learned about it way back then), but I haven't heard much about him since.

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