One of modern computing’s most important founders has died.
Dennis Ritchie passed away on the 8th of October aged 70. Ritche was instrumental in the creation of both the Unix operating system and the C programming language.
The importance of the Unix operating system in particular is lost on many of us but its influence has been profound: Without Unix there would have been no Linux; the open-source movement from which most of us benefit today was borne from its creation; and the worlds second most popular home operating system Mac OS X is Unix-based.
It’s an understatement to say that most of the technology we use today was borne from the tools he helped to create, shape and build: he helped to craft the world we live in.
So here’s to you Dennis Ritchie: we stand upon your shoulders.