Dennis Ritchie

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    printf("RIP, dmr.\n");
    return 0;
}

arstechnica:

Ritchie's C ... is the fundamental building block upon which much of what we consider to be the modern world was built.

Every bit of software that makes it possible for you to read this page has a trace of dmr's DNA in it.

By creating C, Ritchie gave birth to the concept of open systems. C was developed so they could port Unix to any computer, and so that programs written on one platform (and the skills used to develop them) could be easily transferred to another.

In that way, Ritchie has shaped our world in much more fundamental ways than Steve Jobs or Bill Gates have. What sets him apart from them is that he did it all not in a quest for wealth or fame, but just out of intellectual curiosity. Unix and C were the product of pure research—research that started as a side-project using equipment bought based on a promise that Ritchie and Thompson would develop a word processor.

Imagine what the world would be like if they had just stuck to that promise. What would your life be like without C or Unix? When was the first time your life was touched by dmr's work?

А сколько наших людей обязано ему своим благосостоянием?