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Back in the days of shareware, around 1985, I wrote a program called TXT2COM. It was a simple way of turning a text file into an executable. All a user had to d

Back in the days of shareware, around 1985, I wrote a program called TXT2COM. It was a simple way of turning a text file into an executable. All a user had to do was run the converted com file and the text file appeared on the screen with full scrolling, search and save. I had my name and phone number embedded in the program. My first problem was when someone converted the Constitution of the United States into a COM file, but made some typos. I got hundreds of calls. Then someone converted a entire library of gay porn text files which resulted in some uncomfortable phone calls to my wife while I was at work. I released another version without my name and phone number, but the damage was done. I can still find my name embedded on com files in old archives. The program was eventually bundled with an edition of "The Art of Computer Programming" by Donald E. Knuth. He used it to wrap some of the text files on the disk that came with the book. He paid me with a signed copy of the book and a very nice letter.

drzaiusapelord 10y ago
Knuth is such a class act. I don't think I've ever heard a negative story about him. Contrast him to, say, the harsh laguage Linus Torvalds routinely engages in or the many stories pointing out Steve Jobs' unfriendly side. I'm not 100% sure if you have to be a jerk to get ahead in life and lean towards 'yes' on this but when I see guys like Knuth, I wonder if nice guys do win sometimes. >TXT2COM As an 80s BBS kid, I thank you for this. I'm sure I used this many times over and never considered the author. I think this was commonly used to package text files for download back in the day.
- willhslade 10y ago
  Knuth is a one man shop. Torvalds is leading the biggest open source project in the world, and Jobs was leading one of America's largest corporations by market cap. Leading is different than writing.
  - cesarbs 10y ago
    Being a leader does not justify being an asshole.
    - pjc50 10y ago
      These days, it seems to be a requirement for getting elected.
    - dpark 10y ago
      Nowhere did willhslade say that it does. He said that comparing Knuth's style to Torvalds's isn't very enlightening because they are fundamentally engaged in different activities. Comparing Knuth to Torvalds and saying "look, you don't have to be an asshole to be a great leader" is like comparing Usain Bolt to Dean Karnazes and saying "look, you don't have to be really muscular to be a great sprinter." The comparison is pointless because Karnazes isn't a sprinter just like Knuth isn't leading major software efforts. Find a successful leader of a large-scale piece of software who doesn't have a reputation for being an asshole and use them for the comparison.
      - pmelendez 10y ago
        >The comparison is pointless because Karnazes isn't a sprinter just like Knuth isn't leading major software efforts. That makes sense, except that OP said "You don't have to be a jerk to get ahead in life", he didn't mentioned being a leader. The followed commenters brought the leadership point into attention and then subtly implied that there is more correlation between being a jerk and a leader.
        dpark 10y ago
        I was replying to cesarbs, who literally said "Being a leader does not justify being an asshole." Edit: And yes, the conversation pivoted to being a leader because that is a critical difference between Knuth and Torvalds which seems very relevant to this sort of comparison.
      - sedachv 10y ago
        > Find a successful leader of a large-scale piece of software who doesn't have a reputation for being an asshole and use them for the comparison. So pretty much everyone except for Torvalds and de Raadt? Those guys are the exception and not the rule.
  - drzaiusapelord 10y ago
    Oh, there's definitely a hermit vs ceo aspect here, but I really doubt it justifies being an anger prone leader with no filter. There are many leaders who aren't like this yet somehow they do okay and on the flipside many academics who are one-man shops who are massive jerks. I suspect tech draws in certain personality types (DIY types, aspies, loners, etc) who really never developed the social skills needed, didn't really do much teamwork when younger as tech is often a hermit's game, and fell into a position of authority and went with the default of bullying, which clearly gets results, but doesn't make for the best work environment. I find myself dealing with the same struggles at work. I can't believe how slow/stupid/careless so many of my co-workers are, but snapping at them is ultimately counter-productive and more than likely bad for my career. Frankly, I don't considering myself a good team player and I lean towards the hermit approach often. If I was the boss, who knows, I'd probably be a terror.
- mmmpop 10y ago
  Wow soapbox much? We get it, Linus is a big meanie.
- ldfdr 10y ago
  You're confusing being a jerk with communication styles and cultural differences. You'd never hire anyone from the American inner city, from parts of Scotland and Ireland, parts of New York, and similar. Some very nice people talk loudly, swear, and use politically incorrect language. This is part of the reason some URMs can't get ahead in US corporate culture. Yes, Linus does swear a lot, and uses aggressive language. That's part of his style, his culture, and how he communicates. No, he is not a jerk. The reason Linux beat the BSDs is because Linus is a very nice guy. He created a community which, despite the harsh language, was very welcoming, and willing to mentor new people. The BSDs created elitist, closed-off communities, which were unwelcoming to newcomers. If you made a mistake, the BSD communities would write you off. The Linux community would tell you what you did wrong, and how to fix it, even if they used harsh language to do so. The Linux culture is also quite meritocratic. It doesn't matter how you communicate, or how incompetent you were a year ago. If you're doing good technical work today, you're welcome. More than other cultures, arguments are taken at technical face value, not by who makes them.
  - pmelendez 10y ago
    >No, he is not a jerk. The reason Linux beat the BSDs is because Linus is a very nice guy. He created a community which, despite the harsh language, was very welcoming, and willing to mentor new people. The BSDs created elitist, closed-off communities, which were unwelcoming to newcomers. I would challenge that notion that using an aggressive and diminishing language doesn't imply being a jerk. Also keep in mind that BSD have legal challenges that GNU/Linux didn't so community is not the only reason why Linux won the popularity contest
    - dpark 10y ago
      You think Linux didn't have legal challenges? Where have you been since 2003?
      - ghaff 10y ago
        The legal challenges were at very different points in their lifetimes. It's at least arguable that the legal issues associated with AT&T and BSD kept it from becoming as mainstream as it might have. (As did the somewhat splintered community.) Linux OTOH was already well-established before the SCO suits.
- paxcoder 10y ago
  Logged in to upvote your comment, hopefully you won't be disuaded by downvotes. Maybe this whole "deal with my being unpleasant" thing stems from people seeking to justify their unwilingness or inability to practice self-control. Whatever the reason it is detrimental and worthy of being opposed to. It's one thing to be unpleasant to people who are obstinate. It's another to be unpleasant to people who are ignorant. And yet another to be rude to people who you simply disagree with.
  - rpcastagna 10y ago
    I think ldfdr made a good point in his sibling comment that deeming something as "unpleasant" is highly tied to your personal perceptions of what civility is, etc, which is generally rooted in your culture and where you grew up. I think we have to work to understand each other as much as possible and understand people come into conversations with different expectations. I think with someone like Linus we also have to realize that as a community founder he has a disproportionate influence in setting community norms, and people who want to get involved will tend to naturally gravitate towards his communication style. You wouldn't go to France and demand that everyone speak English all the time; we have to work to accommodate each other, and part of that is not assigning value judgements to a communication style.
    - paxcoder 10y ago
      Linus' rudeness is not culture but an abandonement thereof. For being influential he should only be held to a higher standard. His bad example should certainly not be followed. Sincerely, your friendly non-native English co-speaker.
      - chc 10y ago
        Has Linus ever been rude to you? Have any of your friends complained about taking the brunt of his rudeness? If so, that would be really interesting. From what I've seen, there is basically nobody who has actually complained, "Linus was rude to me." It seems to be a meme that consists almost entirely of putting words in other people's mouths.
- andrewbinstock 10y ago
  I interviewed Knuth several years ago [1] and found him to be just as classy in person as his reputation suggests. An article I read in preparation for that interview described him as someone who made you feel smarter by simply interacting with him. I found this to be true as well. [1] http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1193856 http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1193856
  - drzaiusapelord 10y ago
    >Remember, though, that my opinion on economic questions is highly suspect, since I’m just an educator and scientist. I understand almost nothing about the marketplace. Can you imagine guys like Musk, Kurzweil, Hawking, etc saying such a thing. It seems like its very in vogue to be a "man of everything" and "expert in all things" right now. Hawking writes about AI even though he's done zero AI research or any AI software engineering. Kurzweil sees himself as an expert in aging and medicine even though he holds no M.D. Musk is an endless source of 'big ideas' many of which are highly questionable and well outside of his wheelhouse of rocketry and cars. What a humbling response by Knuth. We can't we have more people like this?
- pizza234 10y ago
  It's important to keep in mind that they live in two opposite contexts. Knuth lives a more or less "monastic" life; he practically doesn't need to deal with anybody, while Torvalds is strictly entangled with an entire community. While this of course doesn't entirely justify both behaviors, the two contexts are certainly very influential on them.
JeremyMorgan 10y ago
Woah! Talk about a blast from the past. I used your program a ton back in the BBS/DOS days to show little stories I wrote and instructions and other silly things a high school geek would do. Thanks for your work!
nommm-nommm 10y ago
Wow!! Reminds me of this - https://youtu.be/L8lA1pNvcz4 https://youtu.be/L8lA1pNvcz4 go to 2:45 Basically this guy is talking about the "first PC virus" called "Brain." 25 years after the virus first appeared (2011) finds a street address in Pakistan in the source code, goes to that address, and the malware authors are still there.
- blackdivine 10y ago
  Yep, the authors are brother and owner of one of the first ISPs in Pakistan, Brain-net.

drzaiusapelord 10y ago

Knuth is such a class act. I don't think I've ever heard a negative story about him. Contrast him to, say, the harsh laguage Linus Torvalds routinely engages in or the many stories pointing out Steve Jobs' unfriendly side. I'm not 100% sure if you have to be a jerk to get ahead in life and lean towards 'yes' on this but when I see guys like Knuth, I wonder if nice guys do win sometimes. >TXT2COM As an 80s BBS kid, I thank you for this. I'm sure I used this many times over and never considered the author. I think this was commonly used to package text files for download back in the day.

willhslade 10y ago
Knuth is a one man shop. Torvalds is leading the biggest open source project in the world, and Jobs was leading one of America's largest corporations by market cap. Leading is different than writing.
- cesarbs 10y ago
  Being a leader does not justify being an asshole.
  - pjc50 10y ago
    These days, it seems to be a requirement for getting elected.
  - dpark 10y ago
    Nowhere did willhslade say that it does. He said that comparing Knuth's style to Torvalds's isn't very enlightening because they are fundamentally engaged in different activities. Comparing Knuth to Torvalds and saying "look, you don't have to be an asshole to be a great leader" is like comparing Usain Bolt to Dean Karnazes and saying "look, you don't have to be really muscular to be a great sprinter." The comparison is pointless because Karnazes isn't a sprinter just like Knuth isn't leading major software efforts. Find a successful leader of a large-scale piece of software who doesn't have a reputation for being an asshole and use them for the comparison.
    - pmelendez 10y ago
      >The comparison is pointless because Karnazes isn't a sprinter just like Knuth isn't leading major software efforts. That makes sense, except that OP said "You don't have to be a jerk to get ahead in life", he didn't mentioned being a leader. The followed commenters brought the leadership point into attention and then subtly implied that there is more correlation between being a jerk and a leader.
      - dpark 10y ago
        I was replying to cesarbs, who literally said "Being a leader does not justify being an asshole." Edit: And yes, the conversation pivoted to being a leader because that is a critical difference between Knuth and Torvalds which seems very relevant to this sort of comparison.
    - sedachv 10y ago
      > Find a successful leader of a large-scale piece of software who doesn't have a reputation for being an asshole and use them for the comparison. So pretty much everyone except for Torvalds and de Raadt? Those guys are the exception and not the rule.
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  Oh, there's definitely a hermit vs ceo aspect here, but I really doubt it justifies being an anger prone leader with no filter. There are many leaders who aren't like this yet somehow they do okay and on the flipside many academics who are one-man shops who are massive jerks. I suspect tech draws in certain personality types (DIY types, aspies, loners, etc) who really never developed the social skills needed, didn't really do much teamwork when younger as tech is often a hermit's game, and fell into a position of authority and went with the default of bullying, which clearly gets results, but doesn't make for the best work environment. I find myself dealing with the same struggles at work. I can't believe how slow/stupid/careless so many of my co-workers are, but snapping at them is ultimately counter-productive and more than likely bad for my career. Frankly, I don't considering myself a good team player and I lean towards the hermit approach often. If I was the boss, who knows, I'd probably be a terror.
mmmpop 10y ago
Wow soapbox much? We get it, Linus is a big meanie.
ldfdr 10y ago
You're confusing being a jerk with communication styles and cultural differences. You'd never hire anyone from the American inner city, from parts of Scotland and Ireland, parts of New York, and similar. Some very nice people talk loudly, swear, and use politically incorrect language. This is part of the reason some URMs can't get ahead in US corporate culture. Yes, Linus does swear a lot, and uses aggressive language. That's part of his style, his culture, and how he communicates. No, he is not a jerk. The reason Linux beat the BSDs is because Linus is a very nice guy. He created a community which, despite the harsh language, was very welcoming, and willing to mentor new people. The BSDs created elitist, closed-off communities, which were unwelcoming to newcomers. If you made a mistake, the BSD communities would write you off. The Linux community would tell you what you did wrong, and how to fix it, even if they used harsh language to do so. The Linux culture is also quite meritocratic. It doesn't matter how you communicate, or how incompetent you were a year ago. If you're doing good technical work today, you're welcome. More than other cultures, arguments are taken at technical face value, not by who makes them.
- pmelendez 10y ago
  >No, he is not a jerk. The reason Linux beat the BSDs is because Linus is a very nice guy. He created a community which, despite the harsh language, was very welcoming, and willing to mentor new people. The BSDs created elitist, closed-off communities, which were unwelcoming to newcomers. I would challenge that notion that using an aggressive and diminishing language doesn't imply being a jerk. Also keep in mind that BSD have legal challenges that GNU/Linux didn't so community is not the only reason why Linux won the popularity contest
  - dpark 10y ago
    You think Linux didn't have legal challenges? Where have you been since 2003?
    - ghaff 10y ago
      The legal challenges were at very different points in their lifetimes. It's at least arguable that the legal issues associated with AT&T and BSD kept it from becoming as mainstream as it might have. (As did the somewhat splintered community.) Linux OTOH was already well-established before the SCO suits.
paxcoder 10y ago
Logged in to upvote your comment, hopefully you won't be disuaded by downvotes. Maybe this whole "deal with my being unpleasant" thing stems from people seeking to justify their unwilingness or inability to practice self-control. Whatever the reason it is detrimental and worthy of being opposed to. It's one thing to be unpleasant to people who are obstinate. It's another to be unpleasant to people who are ignorant. And yet another to be rude to people who you simply disagree with.
- rpcastagna 10y ago
  I think ldfdr made a good point in his sibling comment that deeming something as "unpleasant" is highly tied to your personal perceptions of what civility is, etc, which is generally rooted in your culture and where you grew up. I think we have to work to understand each other as much as possible and understand people come into conversations with different expectations. I think with someone like Linus we also have to realize that as a community founder he has a disproportionate influence in setting community norms, and people who want to get involved will tend to naturally gravitate towards his communication style. You wouldn't go to France and demand that everyone speak English all the time; we have to work to accommodate each other, and part of that is not assigning value judgements to a communication style.
  - paxcoder 10y ago
    Linus' rudeness is not culture but an abandonement thereof. For being influential he should only be held to a higher standard. His bad example should certainly not be followed. Sincerely, your friendly non-native English co-speaker.
    - chc 10y ago
      Has Linus ever been rude to you? Have any of your friends complained about taking the brunt of his rudeness? If so, that would be really interesting. From what I've seen, there is basically nobody who has actually complained, "Linus was rude to me." It seems to be a meme that consists almost entirely of putting words in other people's mouths.
andrewbinstock 10y ago
I interviewed Knuth several years ago [1] and found him to be just as classy in person as his reputation suggests. An article I read in preparation for that interview described him as someone who made you feel smarter by simply interacting with him. I found this to be true as well. [1] http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1193856 http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1193856
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  >Remember, though, that my opinion on economic questions is highly suspect, since I’m just an educator and scientist. I understand almost nothing about the marketplace. Can you imagine guys like Musk, Kurzweil, Hawking, etc saying such a thing. It seems like its very in vogue to be a "man of everything" and "expert in all things" right now. Hawking writes about AI even though he's done zero AI research or any AI software engineering. Kurzweil sees himself as an expert in aging and medicine even though he holds no M.D. Musk is an endless source of 'big ideas' many of which are highly questionable and well outside of his wheelhouse of rocketry and cars. What a humbling response by Knuth. We can't we have more people like this?
pizza234 10y ago
It's important to keep in mind that they live in two opposite contexts. Knuth lives a more or less "monastic" life; he practically doesn't need to deal with anybody, while Torvalds is strictly entangled with an entire community. While this of course doesn't entirely justify both behaviors, the two contexts are certainly very influential on them.

JeremyMorgan 10y ago

Woah! Talk about a blast from the past. I used your program a ton back in the BBS/DOS days to show little stories I wrote and instructions and other silly things a high school geek would do. Thanks for your work!

nommm-nommm 10y ago

Wow!! Reminds me of this - https://youtu.be/L8lA1pNvcz4 https://youtu.be/L8lA1pNvcz4 go to 2:45 Basically this guy is talking about the "first PC virus" called "Brain." 25 years after the virus first appeared (2011) finds a street address in Pakistan in the source code, goes to that address, and the malware authors are still there.

blackdivine 10y ago
Yep, the authors are brother and owner of one of the first ISPs in Pakistan, Brain-net.