from Hacker News

Sonnet for Dennis Ritchie

by tomheon on 11/11/11, 1:25 PM with 17 comments

  • by diiq on 11/11/11, 3:27 PM

    I clicked the link with my spine pre-cringed, ready for cheesy hacker poetry. Instead I found a lovingly crafted epitaph in stylish, uninterrupted verse. I immediately looked to see the other poetry. I was shocked that there were only two others posted --- I refuse to believe that someone who wrote this and The Little Bank of San Pietro dei Fiumi (also beautiful) has only written three poems. Post more, Mister Jorgensen!
  • by xianshou on 11/11/11, 5:14 PM

    I was prepared to laugh, but that's actually...a little touching. Now who said hackers have no creative spirit!
  • by michaelty on 11/11/11, 3:20 PM

    "Exists, what can it be but information?

    Your ghost performs the world’s computation."

    Beautiful!

  • by p4bl0 on 11/11/11, 3:40 PM

    TIL that an english sonnet is not at all the same thing as a french one (I was confused at first, because in french a sonnet is a very strict form of poetry, which is not respected at all here). So thanks for that, and beautiful text, by the way :-).
  • by jszmajda on 11/11/11, 2:32 PM

    Very touching! Thanks for sharing.
  • by brudgers on 11/11/11, 2:41 PM

    Spoken like a hacker, not a hack.
  • by danso on 11/11/11, 2:36 PM

    I wasn't sure if "Steve Jacks" was an admirer or some clueless middle manager at a newspaper meeting not wanting to talk about "C" because everyone is running "PCs" these days.

    But here's his original letter: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-10-18/news/chi-11101...