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The Author of Ping is Reported Dead
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Thu Nov 23, 2000 02:14 PM
from the may-he-rest-in-peace dept.
from the may-he-rest-in-peace dept.
Wedman writes: "This is in the Nanog Archive, dated 2000-11-21:
'Mike Muuss, the author of the PING program used on networks everywhere, died last night in a traffic accident on US route 95 in Maryland. He was an alumnus of Johns Hopkins." Seems appropriate on Thanksgiving to thank a man who created something that we all rely on every day.
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The Author of Ping is Reported Dead
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My condolences (Score:5)
This is sad news to read, regardless of whether or not its thanksgiving. May we all remember his name each time we use ping.
As for all of you who are cracking jokes about his death, I don't think they are funny at all.
Kindest regards,
Nathaniel G H
In his own words (Score:5)
BRL CAD (Score:5)
Mike Muuss was also the author of BRL CAD, one of the most useful 3D modeling programs out there. It has one of the most intense CSG systems out there. I don't know what its licensing is, but I hope someone (with a strong graphics and geometry background) picks this up.
IIRC, he was working on real-time raytracing systems.
You're right... (Score:3)
Think about the children!
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
Ping... (Score:3)
100% packet loss.
Let his name live on as long as his program.
A song (With apologies to Eric Clapton) (Score:4)
Could you ping my hostname,
if I routed to heaven?
Will it be the same,
if I routed to heaven?
I must hack long, and echo on,
cause I know that there are no
Pings in Heaven.
Would you know my addr,
if I routed to heaven?
Would you scan my ports,
if I routed to heaven?
I know I'll code my way, through night and day
Cause I know that there are no
Pings in Heaven.
ECHO can show you around,
ECHO can help you see,
ECHO can clog your pipe,
And have you screaming at script kiddies,
Script kiddies...
(flashing routing lights...)
K, it's early, and I have no coffee in me yet, I'll probably look back on this later and shoot myself.. :)
Although his body died (Score:5)
I knew him (Score:4)
He went the extra mile to help people all over, though it was no part of his job to do so. BRL didn't treat him as a sinecure and let him have his head. He put in a full day doing BRL stuff and then helped other folks around the country on his own time.
He was just an all-around great guy. One of the First has died.
More info (Score:3)
--
The best way to celebrate the deceased... (Score:5)
I'm sure that if Muuss was reading /. right now, he'd be laughing at these jokes as much as any of us.
Let me tell you why humor exists... we have humor so that we can cope with the tragic events that populate our lives. It's a way of coping with loss... and a pretty damn good one too. Besides, I can barely think of any better ways to respect the dead than by calling attention to their accomplishments through humor.
Although, I must apologize for contributing to the excessive "destination unreachable" jokes. *sob* I didn't read everyone's posts before I cracked that one.
Re:Death in the digital age (Score:3)
I had a similar experience earlier this year when Craphead (he posted a few times on Slashdot) died before the Linux Beer Hike. His site was eventually pulled by his ISP in Norway and I wish I had mirrored it first.
Your point about sites being pulled when the domain expires is a good one. The problem is that there is no 'standard' way of archiving them into cold storage where they can later be retrieved. At least with the older media (newspapers/mags etc) someone would usually keep a copy somwhere so it could be looked at by suceeding generations but not with a website.
This bitrot really needs addressing lest our decendants ask us what people posted and read in the exciting and dynamic days on the early Internet. Once the rm -rf has done its work nothing remains.
I am also a little saddened by this death, I never knew who was the creator of ping but use it everyday. I guess he, like Jon Postel, has left a little of himself on everyones computer and thereby improved the world a little for all those of us who are left behind.
Mike Muuss, thank you.
Slashdot should not report on deaths (Score:3)
Since it is clear that Slashdot trolls cannot behave themselves, it is simply inappropriate for Slashdot to cover deaths. At the very least, ban AC's (like this I guess) from commenting on death notices. Let's not strip the poor guy of his dignity by letting asocial jerks run riot.
It is sad (Score:5)
100% Packet Loss (Score:5)
But from what Ive read of his writing on his homepage (linked from above [army.mil]) and his letter to the InterNet Historical Society (linked from above [internet-history.org]) it seems Mike would have had a wry sense of humour.
Mike seems to have been a massive influence on great area's of computing (Internet, TCPIP, UNIX) and that should be celebrated and tech people should be Thankful for his efforts, and due honour paid now that he has passed.
But when a person dies, absolute reverence does not exclude comments of some brevity.
I am SURE, as I would have, foreseen the 100% Packet Loss jokes coming when I was dead - and I would have found the idea very amusing and quite complementary... Ill assume Mike Muss dosnt mind*...
*I know this sounds presumptuous but I think I you would see my point... Apologies to those who find it so nonetheless.
Re:Memorial (Score:5)
His work site will remain up because it has so much information that is off interest to the world. There is no need for it to ever go off line.
His personal server is still up and will remain up for as long as I can keep it running.
Re:thankful? (Slightly OT) (Score:3)
And the mafia should be thanked for their contributions to local communities. No thanks.
Re:BRL CAD (Score:3)
Mike has a working real time raytracier. The real time raytracer is handling >5000 solids at this time, rendering at ARL and then transmitting the results via ATM to other research labs.
The last major milestone for the BRL-CAD was raytracing a scene with over 3,000,000,000 solids. Yes, that is 3 billion.
The license agreement is not "Free" as in beer or "Free" as in "Freedom." You need to sign a simple license and fax it to ARL. They send back the license agreement with a password. Download the program and have fun.
Reported on The Register too (Score:3)
From their article:
The accident happened at 9.30pm (New York time) on route 95 as a result of a previous accident. Mike hit a car stuck in the middle of the road and was pushed into the path of an oncoming tractor.
Memorial (Score:5)
Please all have one minute of ping in his honor:
ping -c 60 ftp.arl.mil
That's so strange to look at http://ftp.arl.mil/~mike/ [arl.mil] and thinks this guy talking to you, and giving you a mailto: link is dead. It's like if there was a ghost speaking to you.
What happens to dead's homepage ? Do someone close them ? Or do they stand, like a simulacrum of eternity ?
Internet is something too young to be accustomed to death
It's a sad news.