I have known Pieter since around 2002. We didn't meet or talk that often, but usually we would have a fun few hours every FOSDEM. On one of those occasions we defined "our" religion, stallmanism.com Pieter transferred the site and domain to me a few days ago.
In the past few months I have been almost obsessed with consuming everything he wrote and published. It is exactly my way of thinking. Of questioning reality and turning it upside down so it works even better.
I will miss him. And I will continue to learn from him. We all knew this was going to happen, he was most transparent in keeping us informed about it. So I am sad, yes. But I am also immensely grateful and positive.
Pieter, it was an honour and a privilege to have shared time with you. Peace for you.
I first became aware of Pieter from the 0MQ documentation. I stumbled across community and process section of the 0MQ guide and I was hooked. I've been tremendously moved by the dignity and humanity with which he's faced terminal disease.
I have a degenerative spinal condition, 38 years old, no idea if/when the degeneration will reach the point where I need to use a ventilator or when my faculties will dip below a certain point on the [CGS][1].
But when these things start looking more imminent, I hope I have the courage to do what he has just done, I really do.
I don't think GCS is a terribly useful metric for evaluating your own quality of life... You may place more or less value on certain functions, so a '13' might be totally fine, or not worth carrying on, depending on which points were 'lost'.
This keeps me up at night. I hope the collective advancement in science makes it possible to defeat cancer some day. I believe/hope that my contribution as a insignificant CS-student helps somebody develop tools that help somebody researching etc.
I am really convinced that every advancement is connected somehow and the collective improvement in efficiency and livings standards makes it possible to commit more resources and train even more students to work on hard problems.
Even the work on something unrelated like React might somehow help if you observe humanity as a whole.
Also f*ck cancer (i read the guidelines and i found no statue against insulting cancer, if there is a user named cancer its a misunderstanding and you should really consider changing your username)
There is an immense amount of software work to be done in biotech. Molecular biology research is in need of better automation, analysis, visualization techniques, and on and on. We need folks at all levels. I entered biotech as a web developer and have been able to pick more challenging problems to approach on a monthly basis. We know next to nothing about the human body. Im optimistic that tech will help out us on a stable path towards more robust research practices.
We all die at some point. While I too abhor cancer I find hard to fear it more than any other thing that can kill me - a stroke, a car accident, etc. The universe is out to get us - we've evolved into tough bastard but we've not defeated mortality.
>I believe/hope that my contribution as a insignificant CS-student helps somebody develop tools that help somebody researching etc.
I somehow ended up in a academic Genetics lab, writing software. We use a lot of languages here (Php, python, perl, java, R, javascript and even some C) and various web frameworks to let people use our tools to do science. I don't know if the creators of these tools imagined they'd be used for science, but they put the tools out there in the public and they were used.
You contribute, because its the right thing todo, that makes you significant. You never know how significant what you put out there will end up being, but it helps you grow too. The open source community inspires and you by contributing are part of that. Every little bit helps.
"Bioinformatics" is a general term of the use of computing in Biology. Its an interesting field.
We don't have a lot of confidence about curing cancer near term (next decade or two). What we are really working on is turning it into a chronic condition, beating back recurrences occasionally with different therapies (and we hope with fewer less bothersome side effects)
Mother, aunt, grandmother, all died of cancer (brain, breast, metastasis of liver cancer). F*ck cancer indeed. Support marijuana reforms. Best hope we have.
Pieter: I don't know if you are reading Hacker News at this point or not. Most likely not. I respect your rights and understand the challenge you are faced with. We don't know each other but your work has touched me profoundly as a fellow technologist. All I have to say is I am crying at the moment. I'm crying because I feel very helpless. As a fellow human I am unable to do anything to help you. I am sorry.
>I'm crying because I feel very helpless. As a fellow human I am unable to do anything to help you. I am sorry.
Although this is a poor comparison for a million reasons, I just put my beloved dog down a week ago. Helpless is the word here. Its incredible how many game-enders we casually flirt with everyday, how powerful illness can be, how illness makes us make tough decisions, how poorly we handle end of life issues, and how badly grief hits us. We purposely avoid thinking about this stuff, consider it taboo, and engage in gallow's humor for a reason.
It's very kind of you to have such empathy for another soul. The ones that have left here likely need that empathy less than the rest of do and so death helps remind all of us to be more accepting of our fellow human in this moment. I appreciate your words here and would offer that I believe all HN posts will eventually make it through (and past) the heat death of the universe.
Over 500,000 people die of cancer in the US, and over 8 million worldwide.
Maybe you can't do something about one particular person today but millions of more future deaths can be prevented.
Some of the people here will be dying "early" deaths in 10 or 20 years. You won't be saying: "well, you've gotta go someday when you have a couple of kids", for example.
if you have the trust of your client, and s/he has real power, you have done half the work already.
don't make stuff and then try to sell it unless you are growing an existing client base.
breaking into markets you don't know is probably impossible.
Build up trust with the client and sometimes they will reward you for it.
When you've paid for all the mistakes, you should know how to do it right the next time.
A good specification lets diverse people work together without confusion or conflict.
If you can test each piece alone, and you have reliable ways of putting them together, the whole should work.
Don't be afraid to charge the real cost.
be aware of your expenditure and manage your losses. You can survive a long time with less income if you are in tight control of what you spend.
What's good software?
Good software is used by people to solve real problems. Good software saves people money, or makes them a profit. It can be buggy, incomplete, undocumented, slow. Yet it can also be good. You can always make good software better yet it's only worth doing when it's already good.
To expand a little on this comment, it is highlighting some of the main ideas from one of Pieter's most recent posts (and one of his very best, which is really saying something).
It's presumably the parent's tribute to him, which I can appreciate.
The "Think of the Children" is worth pasting it here :
Please use this article to add your stories. If you have them elsewhere, or you emailed me, copy/paste as a comment. Feel free to write in Dutch or French if that's your language. I'd really like a single place where my kids can come and read what other people say about their dad.
Many people have asked my PayPal address [email protected], to send a donation for my children.
And now we have this tweet from someone I respect very much, someone who took part of his time too tell his feelings on how you could/should treat someone that is having his final moments.
Just wanted to mention that in previous posts Pieter mentioned that donations (he was not soliciting them) for his kids and family could be sent via PayPal to [email protected] . I did not know him personally so I cannot speak for his situation, but in those posts it was apparent that he was not a wealthy man (my take on the conversation). I could not imagine leaving my children to fend for themselves in this world. It struck me that our children are so similar in ages.
I find this post along with the comments unsettling, but I am unable to articulate why. (It is not the choice, nor the announcement of the choice. There is something about the dynamic here that doesn't sit right with me. Apologies for my failure to elaborate.) I wish him the best and deeply appreciate his sharing part of his journey.
I agree, the comments are unsettling, they seem to disregard or not take serious Peter's wishes and plans. As the practice of euthanasia becomes more common place perhaps it will get easier to discuss but, like you, I'm having a hard time putting into words my thoughts on this....
I'm a bit sad that so many here go on tangents instead of finding out what Pieter really is/was about. Trust me, when you go through his blog entries at hintjens.com and read his books, you will find yourself in a magic wonderland of better ways to program and be happy. This is not a sad day.
When does a computer scientist stop being a computer scientist?
It's sad seeing Bob and Alice used in such a morbid context but at least we know we'll be thinking in terms of protocol, complexity, and CS even on our death beds. It's something that will never leave us.
I've read very little of his work. I think I'll change that.
[+] [-] jwildeboer|9 years ago|reply
In the past few months I have been almost obsessed with consuming everything he wrote and published. It is exactly my way of thinking. Of questioning reality and turning it upside down so it works even better.
I will miss him. And I will continue to learn from him. We all knew this was going to happen, he was most transparent in keeping us informed about it. So I am sad, yes. But I am also immensely grateful and positive.
Pieter, it was an honour and a privilege to have shared time with you. Peace for you.
[+] [-] Lambdanaut|9 years ago|reply
His writing is just what I needed right now, at this time in my life. Particularly about how to be happy.
I think when you've lived such a prolific life, you don't need any last words. His life's work speaks for itself.
[+] [-] sevensor|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gbraad|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] happy-go-lucky|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] escapologybb|9 years ago|reply
But when these things start looking more imminent, I hope I have the courage to do what he has just done, I really do.
Incredibly brave decision.
[1]:http://www.glasgowcomascale.org/
Edited to Add: Added link to the Glasgow Coma Scale, shouldn't have assumed knowledge of it.
[+] [-] JshWright|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jahnu|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] LeanderK|9 years ago|reply
I am really convinced that every advancement is connected somehow and the collective improvement in efficiency and livings standards makes it possible to commit more resources and train even more students to work on hard problems.
Even the work on something unrelated like React might somehow help if you observe humanity as a whole.
Also f*ck cancer (i read the guidelines and i found no statue against insulting cancer, if there is a user named cancer its a misunderstanding and you should really consider changing your username)
[+] [-] escot|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fsloth|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] acomjean|9 years ago|reply
I somehow ended up in a academic Genetics lab, writing software. We use a lot of languages here (Php, python, perl, java, R, javascript and even some C) and various web frameworks to let people use our tools to do science. I don't know if the creators of these tools imagined they'd be used for science, but they put the tools out there in the public and they were used.
You contribute, because its the right thing todo, that makes you significant. You never know how significant what you put out there will end up being, but it helps you grow too. The open source community inspires and you by contributing are part of that. Every little bit helps.
"Bioinformatics" is a general term of the use of computing in Biology. Its an interesting field.
[+] [-] gmarx|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SubiculumCode|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Beltiras|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bkjsbkjdnf|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] dmichulke|9 years ago|reply
I'd feel that I let down my children and couldn't give them a happy and careless childhood without having to deal with the cruelty of reality.
So, may his kids have the strength to deal with it without losing their light-heartedness.
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] tostitos1979|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] drzaiusapelord|9 years ago|reply
Although this is a poor comparison for a million reasons, I just put my beloved dog down a week ago. Helpless is the word here. Its incredible how many game-enders we casually flirt with everyday, how powerful illness can be, how illness makes us make tough decisions, how poorly we handle end of life issues, and how badly grief hits us. We purposely avoid thinking about this stuff, consider it taboo, and engage in gallow's humor for a reason.
Death is difficult. It never gets easier.
[+] [-] kordless|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] melling|9 years ago|reply
Maybe you can't do something about one particular person today but millions of more future deaths can be prevented.
Some of the people here will be dying "early" deaths in 10 or 20 years. You won't be saying: "well, you've gotta go someday when you have a couple of kids", for example.
[+] [-] happy-go-lucky|9 years ago|reply
if you have the trust of your client, and s/he has real power, you have done half the work already.
don't make stuff and then try to sell it unless you are growing an existing client base.
breaking into markets you don't know is probably impossible.
Build up trust with the client and sometimes they will reward you for it.
When you've paid for all the mistakes, you should know how to do it right the next time.
A good specification lets diverse people work together without confusion or conflict.
If you can test each piece alone, and you have reliable ways of putting them together, the whole should work.
Don't be afraid to charge the real cost.
be aware of your expenditure and manage your losses. You can survive a long time with less income if you are in tight control of what you spend.
What's good software? Good software is used by people to solve real problems. Good software saves people money, or makes them a profit. It can be buggy, incomplete, undocumented, slow. Yet it can also be good. You can always make good software better yet it's only worth doing when it's already good.
[+] [-] jnbiche|9 years ago|reply
It's presumably the parent's tribute to him, which I can appreciate.
[+] [-] boothead|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Klathmon|9 years ago|reply
I just hope that when it comes time for me or my loved ones to go, that they will be able to do it on their terms.
[+] [-] giis|9 years ago|reply
Thanks for the your contributions and sharing the journey.
To fellow HN users: Please check out "Think of the Children" and donate if possible. thanks!
[+] [-] edelans|9 years ago|reply
Please use this article to add your stories. If you have them elsewhere, or you emailed me, copy/paste as a comment. Feel free to write in Dutch or French if that's your language. I'd really like a single place where my kids can come and read what other people say about their dad.
Many people have asked my PayPal address [email protected], to send a donation for my children.
[+] [-] k_sze|9 years ago|reply
The world is losing another great hacker.
Would a black bar be considered?
[+] [-] d33|9 years ago|reply
As on top of HN? I guess somone would have to e-mail admins for that.
[+] [-] nathell|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] woliveirajr|9 years ago|reply
And now we have this tweet from someone I respect very much, someone who took part of his time too tell his feelings on how you could/should treat someone that is having his final moments.
[+] [-] kls|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DanielBMarkham|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Overtonwindow|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shin_lao|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] throwanem|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jwildeboer|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] paparush|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wslh|9 years ago|reply
[1] https://github.com/hintjens/psychopathcode
[2] http://wiki.hintjens.com/
[+] [-] 0xmohit|9 years ago|reply
[0] http://hintjens.com/books
[+] [-] sgt|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] b3lvedere|9 years ago|reply
(This really hits me, since my brother in law may be about to do the same in a few weeks.. days perhaps.)
[+] [-] esoteric_nonces|9 years ago|reply
Thank you. For everything. I'm sure the rest of the community shares my opinion that you've contributed so much to the field.
For all that it matters, I wish you a pleasant departure.
[+] [-] gravypod|9 years ago|reply
It's sad seeing Bob and Alice used in such a morbid context but at least we know we'll be thinking in terms of protocol, complexity, and CS even on our death beds. It's something that will never leave us.
I've read very little of his work. I think I'll change that.