11 ms·

Kind of disappointed that HN isn't putting a black top banner to show respect to Ian like they did with Steve Jobs and others. I've been using Debian for more t

Kind of disappointed that HN isn't putting a black top banner to show respect to Ian like they did with Steve Jobs and others. I've been using Debian for more than 15 years and it runs half of the web today, the International Space Station, Tesla motor vehicles and more. Ian's impact on the world and our community is simply incalculable. It also looks like he wanted to use his suicide to grab people's attention on the issues of police brutality, serving humanity even through his death. Thank you Ian.

evook 11y ago
It hit me very hard yesterday when I heard he passed as he was one of the really big contributors to the technology we are using now. Even harder when I first read of the dubious circumstances regarding his twitter account.[0] Arstechnica started an Inquiry.[1] [0]http://archive.is/OPlI7 http://archive.is/OPlI7 [1]http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/12/ian-murdock-father-of-debian-dead-at-42/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/12/ian-mu...
p4bl0 11y ago
Agreed. I didn't see the black thick line on HN yesterday evening, but I was really expecting it to be there today. Its absence genuinely makes me sad.
- patrickaljord 11y ago
  Yes, the reactions on HN in general have been kind of underwhelming compared to Steve Jobs for reasons I can understand although for me Ian's death has hit harder than Steve's. My guess is that many here are young, mostly devs that have been using Mac all their dev life and before that windows. For the older folks who do dev ops or were around in the 90's and early 2000's and who cared about free software, Debian really had a huge impact on us and so we feel more sad about Ian's death than the rest.
  - Alupis 11y ago
    > Yes, the reactions on HN in general has been kind of underwhelming Just to venture a bit, the lack of overwhelming reactions could be due, in part, to it having most likely been a suicide (and to go a step further, it may have even been drug induced, speculating from the randomness of the twitter feed).
    - fao_ 11y ago
      It is my understanding that he was beaten by police officers, and the randomness of the twitter feed was the result of head trauma, or some other injury he had sustained during the attack.
      - Alupis 11y ago
        > It is my understanding that he was beaten by police officers, and the randomness of the twitter feed was the result of head trauma Unfortunately that does not appear to be true. The cause of death is not known at this stage, but it is not believed to be suspicious. A spokesperson for Docker said it was a "private matter." According to the San Francisco police, officers were called to Steiner and Union St in the city at 11.30pm on Saturday, December 26, following reports of a man trying to break into a home – that man was identified as Ian Murdock. He reportedly fought with the cops, and was given a ticket for two counts of assault and one for obstruction of an officer. The techie had been drinking, according to the police logs. A medic arrived to treat an abrasion to Murdock's forehead, and he was released so he could be taken to hospital. A few hours later, on Sunday, December 27 at 2.40am, police were called again to reports of Murdock banging on the door of a neighbor at the very same block. A medic arrived to treat him for any injuries. Officers then took Murdock to the county jail where he was held in a cell. Murdock was bailed later that day, on Sunday, after a bond, said to be $25,000, was paid. He died the next day. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/30/ian_murdock_debian_founder/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/30/ian_murdock_debian_f... It's clear something may have been wrong prior to any incidents occurring (why was Ian out in the streets alone, very drunk, trying to break into a home?).
pvaldes 11y ago
I had noticed also the top banner absence also, and agree that is missing.
- pvaldes 11y ago
  Ok. Do not wait for others to change the things that you can change by yourself. Topcolor changed to 000000 in config. Annoying banner issue solved. This was the easy problem.
netrus 11y ago
Please, let's don't do this. Is it an Internet thing? "why hasn't Obama said anything yet?", "why did the Muslims not distance themselves?", "why is there a national holiday for x but not y". Symbols are cheap, but not very important. Let's not make the absence of symbols into a huge thing. State your grieve, I'll grieve with you, but let's not get angry at other people who don't show their grieve the way you expected it.
- patrickaljord 11y ago
  Not angry, just disappointed. That's why I didn't demand that HN start showing the symbol.
  - jethro_tell 11y ago
    Hopefully, they aren't working today either. With any luck, the people who could put a black banner have a chance to spend a couple days with friends or family to celebrate the new year.
- kevindeasis 11y ago
  Symbols are a powerful thing and are very important. ie: symbols are a big part of collective identity. Collective identity helps a mission.
  - mseepgood 11y ago
    Collective identity? We're all individuals.
    - kevindeasis 11y ago
      From Wikipedia: "Collective identity is the shared sense of belonging to a group." I guess some nights for some people who aren't part of a group can be very lonely.
      - suneilp 11y ago
jqm 11y ago
Agreed. If the black banner is going to be used, this is an appropriate time.
puppetmaster3 11y ago
I agree. If this site is for 'hackers' or programmers, than it should get black banner. But if this is site for investors that call programers hacks, then carry on.

evook 11y ago

It hit me very hard yesterday when I heard he passed as he was one of the really big contributors to the technology we are using now. Even harder when I first read of the dubious circumstances regarding his twitter account.[0] Arstechnica started an Inquiry.[1] [0]http://archive.is/OPlI7 http://archive.is/OPlI7 [1]http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/12/ian-murdock-father-of-debian-dead-at-42/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/12/ian-mu...

p4bl0 11y ago

Agreed. I didn't see the black thick line on HN yesterday evening, but I was really expecting it to be there today. Its absence genuinely makes me sad.

patrickaljord 11y ago
Yes, the reactions on HN in general have been kind of underwhelming compared to Steve Jobs for reasons I can understand although for me Ian's death has hit harder than Steve's. My guess is that many here are young, mostly devs that have been using Mac all their dev life and before that windows. For the older folks who do dev ops or were around in the 90's and early 2000's and who cared about free software, Debian really had a huge impact on us and so we feel more sad about Ian's death than the rest.
- Alupis 11y ago
  > Yes, the reactions on HN in general has been kind of underwhelming Just to venture a bit, the lack of overwhelming reactions could be due, in part, to it having most likely been a suicide (and to go a step further, it may have even been drug induced, speculating from the randomness of the twitter feed).
  - fao_ 11y ago
    It is my understanding that he was beaten by police officers, and the randomness of the twitter feed was the result of head trauma, or some other injury he had sustained during the attack.
    - Alupis 11y ago
      > It is my understanding that he was beaten by police officers, and the randomness of the twitter feed was the result of head trauma Unfortunately that does not appear to be true. The cause of death is not known at this stage, but it is not believed to be suspicious. A spokesperson for Docker said it was a "private matter." According to the San Francisco police, officers were called to Steiner and Union St in the city at 11.30pm on Saturday, December 26, following reports of a man trying to break into a home – that man was identified as Ian Murdock. He reportedly fought with the cops, and was given a ticket for two counts of assault and one for obstruction of an officer. The techie had been drinking, according to the police logs. A medic arrived to treat an abrasion to Murdock's forehead, and he was released so he could be taken to hospital. A few hours later, on Sunday, December 27 at 2.40am, police were called again to reports of Murdock banging on the door of a neighbor at the very same block. A medic arrived to treat him for any injuries. Officers then took Murdock to the county jail where he was held in a cell. Murdock was bailed later that day, on Sunday, after a bond, said to be $25,000, was paid. He died the next day. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/30/ian_murdock_debian_founder/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/30/ian_murdock_debian_f... It's clear something may have been wrong prior to any incidents occurring (why was Ian out in the streets alone, very drunk, trying to break into a home?).

pvaldes 11y ago

I had noticed also the top banner absence also, and agree that is missing.

pvaldes 11y ago
Ok. Do not wait for others to change the things that you can change by yourself. Topcolor changed to 000000 in config. Annoying banner issue solved. This was the easy problem.

netrus 11y ago

Please, let's don't do this. Is it an Internet thing? "why hasn't Obama said anything yet?", "why did the Muslims not distance themselves?", "why is there a national holiday for x but not y". Symbols are cheap, but not very important. Let's not make the absence of symbols into a huge thing. State your grieve, I'll grieve with you, but let's not get angry at other people who don't show their grieve the way you expected it.

patrickaljord 11y ago
Not angry, just disappointed. That's why I didn't demand that HN start showing the symbol.
- jethro_tell 11y ago
  Hopefully, they aren't working today either. With any luck, the people who could put a black banner have a chance to spend a couple days with friends or family to celebrate the new year.
kevindeasis 11y ago
Symbols are a powerful thing and are very important. ie: symbols are a big part of collective identity. Collective identity helps a mission.
- mseepgood 11y ago
  Collective identity? We're all individuals.
  - kevindeasis 11y ago
    From Wikipedia: "Collective identity is the shared sense of belonging to a group." I guess some nights for some people who aren't part of a group can be very lonely.
    - suneilp 11y ago

jqm 11y ago

Agreed. If the black banner is going to be used, this is an appropriate time.

puppetmaster3 11y ago

I agree. If this site is for 'hackers' or programmers, than it should get black banner. But if this is site for investors that call programers hacks, then carry on.