As so many of you know by now, Dennis Ritchie passed away yesterday. For so many of you, he needs no introduction or explanation. But sometimes my family reads this blog, and it is a fact that while they know who Steve Jobs was, they have no idea who Dennis Ritchie was or why so many geeks mourn his passing. And that is sad to me. I don’t feel up to the task of eulogizing a man of Ritchie’s accomplishments properly right now; in fact, I don’t know that I ever will. But let it be said right now: in the end, though his contributions were far less recognized, it was Ritchie that provided the greater contribution to our world than Jobs did. IMHO. Enterprise consulting, mentoring or instruction. Java, C++, .NET or XML services. 1-day or multi-day workshops available. Contact me for details. Java