30 de dezembro de 2015

Morre Ian Murdock, fundador do Debian



Aos 42 anos, Ian Murdock, fundador de uma das primeiras e ainda ativa distribuição linux conhecida como Debian (junção do nome da esposa Debra com o seu Ian) morreu, ou foi morto, sob circunstâncias estranhas. Ele tuitou dizendo que a polícia estava invadindo sua residência.




Ele postou mensagens desesperadas no Twitter, dizendo que foi preso em uma cela por bater em um policial, depois foi liberado. Também ameaçou cometer suicídio. Algumas pessoas tentaram acalmá-lo e tirar essa ideia da cabeça.



Hoje cedo o CEO do Docker, Ben Golub, publicou no blog (parece que o post foi deletado) que ele havia morrido na segunda-feira passada. O The Register publicou na integra o que havia no blog.

Ian was perhaps best known professionally as the founder of the Debian project, which he created while still a student at Purdue University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science in 1996. Debian was one of the first Linux distros to be forged, and it is widely regarded as a one of the most successful open-source projects ever launched. Ian helped pioneer the notion of a truly open project and community, embracing open design and open contribution; in fact the formative document of the open source movement itself (the Open Source Definition) was originally a Debian position statement. It is a testament to Ian’s commitment to openness and community that there are now more than 1,000 people currently involved in Debian development.

In the past decade, Ian’s contributions to the tech community continued, as CTO of the Linux Foundation, as a senior leader at Sun Microsystems (including serving as Chief architect of Project Indiana); and most recently as Vice President of Platforms at Indianapolis-based ExactTarget, which became part of Salesforce in 2012.

We consider ourselves lucky to have known Ian and worked with him. He amazed everyone whom he worked with for the depth of his thinking, passion and experience. He was truly brilliant and an inspiration to many of us; his death is a loss to all whom he has known and touched.

Que história bizarra!

RIP Ian