Dennis Ritchie, Creator of UNIX and C, Dead at 70

[Wizzfizz]

Now that is truly someone who pioneered and innovated.

R.I.P

Lets see how many people change their sigs.

 

[RomanNose]

Arguably has done more for the computing world than Jobs but won't get even half the tributes.

Agreed, if anything the Apple community should be mourning his loss just as much as Steve jobs. They should remember that the entirety of their product line is based off Unix.

 

[sunny007]

RIP

 

[contracteur]

Created Unix and only 70? Wow thought he would have been older. RIP

 

[Five_Star]

His book (The C Programming Language) co-authored with Brian Kernighan was the first real programming book I read at collage, an excellent book and a great language. Very sad

 

[ps3ud0]

Just amazed at the comments - 2 influential people dead in a week (and Ralph Steinman the week before ) - not the time or the place to decide which death curries favour the most...

RIP

ps3ud0

 

[alchemistkevin]

I don't want to over emphasise the point, but I absolutely agree.
RIP

If there was a small list of true innovators compiled, he'd be one of first few to be on there...

RIP

 

[C.R.A.Z.Y]

Now that is truly someone who pioneered and innovated.

That's a pretty cheap and ignorant dig at Steve Jobs!
Your unlikely to find a bigger 'Apple' hater than me but as far as Steve Jobs goes the bloke was an utter genius!
You do realise without him there would more than likely be no 'Toy Story' trilogy , Monsters Inc. and any of the other Pixar masterpieces??
Saying Steve Jobs didn't pioneer or innovate just makes you look very foolish and ignorant imho.

RIP

 

[alchemistkevin]

His book (The C Programming Language) co-authored with Brian Kernighan was the first real programming book I read at collage, an excellent book and a great language. Very sad

That's where I first heard the name too (Started using Unix after that)

 

[alchemistkevin]

That's a pretty cheap and ignorant dig at Steve Jobs!
Your unlikely to find a bigger 'Apple' hater than me but as far as Steve Jobs goes the bloke was an utter genius!
You do realise without him there would more than likely be no 'Toy Story' trilogy , Monsters Inc. and any of the other Pixar masterpieces??
Saying Steve Jobs didn't pioneer or innovate just makes you look very foolish and ignorant imho.

RIP

Did I miss references to SJ in DP's post? or are you just inferring something that he might not have meant?

 

[kwerk]

He looked exactly the way I imagined, and the way a computer guy should IMO. Glasses, jumper his wife made, heavy coffee breath, nicotine stained beard

RIP bro.

 

[Robbo]

Did I miss references to SJ in DP's post? or are you just inferring something that he might not have meant?

It's pretty obvious that is what he meant. Some of the talk in here is very disrespectful to all involved parties.

 

[C.R.A.Z.Y]

Did I miss references to SJ in DP's post? or are you just inferring something that he might not have meant?

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck then chances are it's a duck!

 

[Cosimo]

​

Segment from an AT&T Bell Labs (BTL) promotional film (circa 1980s) featuring UNIX creators Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie briefly explaining the UNIX environment. In cameo roles you'll see UNIX luminaries Greg Chesson (in the wine red shirt) and Doug McIlroy (to the foreground of Greg). Also featured is a classic ASR-33 Teletype, BLIT displays (developed by Rob Pike, then of the Labs as well), and much more

Dennis Ritchie (September 1941 – October 2011)

 

[RomanNose]

Dat monitor

 

[FreeStream]

SJ and DR are just as influential as each other.

Granted unix and C wouldn't be the same/here without DR but you need someone to use that tech and sell it to the world for it to become successful, which SJ did.

However, always sad to see a pioneer pass away. RIP.

 

[Maccy]

Very sad news, RIP

 

[D.P.]

That's a pretty cheap and ignorant dig at Steve Jobs!
Your unlikely to find a bigger 'Apple' hater than me but as far as Steve Jobs goes the bloke was an utter genius!
You do realise without him there would more than likely be no 'Toy Story' trilogy , Monsters Inc. and any of the other Pixar masterpieces??
Saying Steve Jobs didn't pioneer or innovate just makes you look very foolish and ignorant imho.

RIP

Get off your high horse. I said nothing about Steve Jobs and implied nothing more than Dennis Ritchie was a massive pioneer in modern computer systems. Unix was a fundamental operating system and still is today, it is the basis of scientific and engineering computer systems and still used as the backbone for important services, and is even the basis for MacOS.
As for C, that was the most influential programming language of the 20th century and its importance you've vastly under estimated.

As for the quip about Pixar, you say it as if some cartoons have some fundamental importance to mankind that it has empowered us to achieve technological abilities only previously dreamt of. That is what UNIX and C achieved, not Toy Story.

Just shows what a massive misunderstanding you have of the world.

EDIT: You do realize that Pixar was formed from Lucas arts graphics division which had existed for 7 years before Jobs got involved.

 

[PermaBanned]

I'm sorry but DR and SJ are not comparable at all

I agree, such a shame. Not many like him, it's hard to imagine what the world would be like now without his innovations.

 

[PlumpMonkey]

printf("Goodbye World\n");