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Jerry Pournelle has died
- davidw 9y agoI didn't much care for his politics, but he wrote some good stories.
- jnord 9y agoJerry's pages were always the first pages I read when he was a columnist for the Byte magazine in the 80's. He was a true pioneer in those early days of computing who wrote non-stop about new products and the computer exhibitions he attended. RIP.
- ci5er 9y agoWhat were his politics beyond cynicism regarding the incentive structures often embedded within our most common governing systems?
- asveikau 9y agoWikipedia says he was involved in missile defense under Reagan which suggests to me he may have been one of the "opposed to big government except when it's people I like" variety. But though I will also classify myself less than appealed by descriptions of his politics and I voted up davidw above I want to be clear I think it would be uncool to bash him for it at the time of his death.
- davidw 9y agoI wasn't bashing him: I wouldn't have submitted this if I didn't like his work.
- altstar 9y agoSo what was his politics?
- DonHopkins 9y agohttps://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/trump-is-the-candidate-2/ https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/trump-is-the-candi... "So what do I do? I agree with nearly everything he is for, but I’m better qualified to make it happen. I avoid some issues, but I go for his most popular ones and say, yeah! Want that! And I can make it happen better than he can. I’ve got the experience of working in government, but I’m not the establishment any more than Mr. Trump is. Heck, I’ll offer him a cabinet post. I could use his energy in my administration." -POURNE http://voxday.blogspot.nl/2016/04/jerry-pournelle-on-donald-trump.html http://voxday.blogspot.nl/2016/04/jerry-pournelle-on-donald-... "But he has never wavered on his desire to fill the Supreme Court with Justices as near in scholarship and view to Scalia as possible; that alone would be enough to get me to the polls for Trump if he’s nominated." -POURNE https://newrepublic.com/article/139817/donald-trump-wants-ignore-russia-worry-china https://newrepublic.com/article/139817/donald-trump-wants-ig... Both here and elsewhere, Lukacs argued that as white nations, America and Russia might profitably work together to prop each other up against a planet where they were a racial minority. The right-wing science-fiction writers Jerry Pournelle (an admirer of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini) and Larry Niven pursued a similar argument in their CoDominium novels, a long-running series of novels that started in 1973 and imagines a world where the U.S. and the Soviet Union work together to govern an unruly planet. http://crookedtimber.org/2011/12/12/the-attractions-of-fascism/ http://crookedtimber.org/2011/12/12/the-attractions-of-fasci... At one point, Gingrich was supposed to be writing a novel with his friend, noted authority on the political attractions of Fascism, Jerry Pournelle. I don’t know what happened to it, but I imagine it would have made quite interesting reading (Inferno, Pournelle’s ‘Benito Mussolini redeems himself in an updated version of Dante’s hell’ schlock-epic with Larry Niven, is certainly entertaining if your tastes run to certain varieties of kitsch).
- Turing_Machine 9y ago"The right-wing science-fiction writers Jerry Pournelle (an admirer of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini) and Larry Niven pursued a similar argument in their CoDominium novels, a long-running series of novels that started in 1973 and imagines a world where the U.S. and the Soviet Union work together to govern an unruly planet." 1) Niven didn't co-write any of the CoDominium novels, as far as I know. Mote had some historical references to it, but it was set hundreds of years after the CoDominium had collapsed. 2) The CoDominium weren't the "good guys" in those books. 3) Pournelle was not an "admirer of Mussolini". Inaccurate to the point of being dishonest.
- Turing_Machine 9y agoReplace "people I like" with "actual constitutionally-mandated functions of the federal government, such as national defense".
- asveikau 9y agoI don't think this is the right place to discuss this, but the so-called "Star Wars" program under Reagan to which I'm referring was considered by many to be wasteful spending. I don't think there is much in the constitution mandating space lasers.
- B1FF_PSUVM 9y ago(Franklin was going to put in "don't let the people get nuked from orbit", but it slipped his mind. Or perhaps he figured that was covered by the "right to life" bit.)
- asveikau 9y agoA penny saved is a penny earned, especially when you're lasering communists from space.
- Turing_Machine 9y agoThe Star Wars program was designed to zap incoming missiles (i.e., a pure self-defense system), not for "lasering communists from space". I suspect that you're not actually interested in the facts here.
- DonHopkins 9y agoYou just said it was designed to bankrupt Russia, not zap incoming missiles. Which is it?
- Zuider 9y ago
- coldtea 9y ago>Wikipedia says he was involved in missile defense under Reagan which suggests to me he may have been one of the "opposed to big government except when it's people I like" variety. Wasn't Reagan also against big government? At least in his words? If yes, working there would be contradictory for Jerry if he was "opposed to government" period, not if he was merely opposed to "big government".
- jandrese 9y agoI think in this case "Big Government" means regulation. Actually that's true in many cases.
- marktangotango 9y agoHe wrote a book with some others guys that was supposedly influential in governemnt during the cold war. My understanding the impetus behind "star wars" missile defense was was kind of a decoy to get the Soviet Union to spend themselves to death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy_of_Technology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy_of_Technology
- Turing_Machine 9y agoYes. It worked, too. Note that the Soviet Union no longer exists, and it happened without an actual nuclear war.
- DonHopkins 9y agoYet Putin still got to choose the President of the United States.
- marssaxman 9y agoThe tiger-repelling rock in my front yard works really well, too. Haven't seen any tigers around my house in ages.
- justin66 9y ago> My understanding the impetus behind "star wars" missile defense was was kind of a decoy to get the Soviet Union to spend themselves to death. That is a very, very generous way to characterize defense programs that wasted tens of billions of dollars without producing anything. When you're dealing with a public that finds details boring and is willing to lump it all under "defense spending," you can sort of get away with it.
- Recurecur 9y ago"without producing anything." Well, except for numerous technologies that are in use today. Our current missile defense program, which is fairly crucial right at the moment, greatly benefitted from SDI. Details, details...
- fulafel 9y agoFrom the blog he seemed to be aligned with Trump on many things: "regain control of borders", climate-change skepticism, supporting judges like Scalia for supreme court and so on.
- Pxtl 9y agoHe wrote a book called fallen angels where Ralph Nader had taken over the US government and replaced all science with hippy woo woo about crystals. The world was plunged into a new ice-age because of global cooling and only science fiction fans could save it. He wasn't shy about his politics and I think it's fair to say they were pretty far out to the right.
- mcguire 9y agoScience fiction fans. Yep, you read that right.
- pvg 9y agohttps://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/9ak7y5/the-secret-authoritarian-history-of-science-fiction https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/9ak7y5/the-secret...
- floatingatoll 9y agoWikipedia is an unusual source to reference here. Could you provide a more concrete link?
- davidw 9y agoI didn't have one earlier, but here's this: https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/passings/ https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/passings/ If dang or one of the moderators would like to change it, that works for me.
- greedo 9y agoJP had a helluva career. Advised mayors, presidents, influenced space policy, inspired a ton via Byte Magazine, in addition to a catalog of books that were usually well grounded in science.
- satori99 9y agoI still use the phrase "On The Gripping Hand..." for ternary expressions in English. Thanks Jerry.
- macintux 9y agoDitto, although usually I turn it around to argue for my first option. Such a great phrase.
- taylodl 9y agoI loved Chaos Manor as a teen. Having yet to even own a computer I was amazed at everything Jerry was doing with his. I'd then dream of all the amazing things I'd do with mine when I got my own computer. I really miss those early days of personal computing.
- angersock 9y agoOne of my favorite military-SF anthologies was There Will Be War, which iirc Pournelle edited. His CoDominium and Janissaries works were also good reads, and he had some wonderful collaborations with Larry Niven. Rest well, sir.
- chadcmulligan 9y agoThere's a great interview with him from Leo Laporte not to long ago (2013) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7j3IG4h42Y&list=UUWoyADQ1Ri8BqqnKWOK4TIw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7j3IG4h42Y&list=UUWoyADQ1Ri... Loved his writings when I was young (and still do), chaos manor along with Steve Ciarcia were always the first sections I went to in Byte.
- ngcc_hk 9y agoSame same. Other than copy some code mainly read that column later.
- andrewstuart 9y agoI was only a kid when I read his columns in Byte where he gave a narrative of his experiences using products - a really unique style for the time and thoroughly enjoyable - I always read the JP columns.
- protomyth 9y agoHis Iron Law of Bureaucracy is one of life’s truths. Loved his writing and his presentation. Chaos Manor was always the first column I read in Byte.
- stretchwithme 9y agoI remember his articles in BYTE magazine. Always interesting. Sad to see you go, Jerry.
- microtherion 9y agoYou might enjoy this parody: http://www.panix.com/~clp/humor/computers/general/Jerry-Pournelle-parody.html http://www.panix.com/~clp/humor/computers/general/Jerry-Pour...
- tomcam 9y agoI sure did. He nailed it. RIP, Jerry.
- AndyMcConachie 9y agoThank you for that. Brought back memories.
- Turing_Machine 9y agoBack in the day, I used to joke that my goal in life was to become Jerry Pournelle's garbage man.
- mindcrime 9y agoR.I.P. Mr. Pournelle. This is a sad day. Besides his novels, I seem to recall Jerry Pournelle doing a lot of writing for ( Byte | Computer Shopper | PC Magazine). back in the day. I really enjoyed his articles back in the 90's when I was first getting started in computing. Mods, can we get a black bar to commemorate Mr. Pournelle?
- tjr 9y agoI've actually never read any of his novels, but thoroughly enjoyed his column in Byte. What might be a good starting place with his books?
- mindcrime 9y agoThat's a good question. I've only read his non-fiction stuff myself. The books I feel like I've heard people talk about the most though, are a couple of the ones he wrote with Larry Niven: Inferno, Lucifer's Hammer, etc. I think I'll try to track those down and read them soon, as my little way of paying tribute to the man.
- Gibbon1 9y agoFuzzy brain. But I learned I think from one of his byte columns never to mix my business income and expenses with personal ones.
- zem 9y ago"a mote in god's eye", one of his many collaborations with larry niven, is excellent. "oath of fealty" is another good one that should appeal to the hackernews crowd.
- gypsydave5 9y agoAfter 20 years all I remember about `Mote` is the incessant conversations about tea and coffee...
- bigtunacan 9y agoLike other's have said; his collaborations with Niven are really great. Footfall, Lucifer's Hammer, and A Mote in God's Eye were my personal favorites.
- chiph 9y agoOh man. I read his column in Byte religiously. And read all his novels, especially his collaborations with Larry Niven.
- bigtunacan 9y agoAgreed. His collaborations with Niven were great. Both were great authors alone, but as a team they were really something special. Footfall, A Mote in God's Eye, and Lucifer's Hammer are a few of my favorite sci-fi reads to this day.
- Pxtl 9y agoI always think they each took something from Heinlein - Pournelle got his politics, his passion, and worldbuilding, while Niven got his brainstorming and whimsy. Put them together and you get a whole Heinlein.
- vhodges 9y agoI just checked his site today like I do every few days. He just got back from DragonCon, complaining of a flu bug he caught sometime during his trip. He signed off his last post, "Bye for now". I will miss him and his writing.
- AndyMcConachie 9y agoIn the late 90's he did a review of a video card for Linux that allowed dual monitors. This was an article in Byte magazine and dual monitor setups for Linux were hot shit back then. I wrote him because I was having trouble getting it to work with XWindows and he actually wrote me back with some tips to get it working. Don't remember the name of the video card, but I'm sure I have that email around somewhere... I really appreciated it and remember thinking how special it was to get a personal response from a writer at Byte. Good bye Jerry.
- dredmorbius 9y agoTIA alternate: https://web.archive.org/web/20170909012110/https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/passings/ https://web.archive.org/web/20170909012110/https://www.jerry...
- mmealling 9y agoI had lunch with Jerry at DragonCon this past weekend and he was enjoying himself. He was using a walker but only when necessary. He told some of the same stories I heard at Space Access but they were still enjoyable because they were his. Because he was there. I'm going to cherish that memory forever. Rest in peace, Dr. Pournelle. We will carry on with the fight.
- eropple 9y agoI heard that that was pretty cool and was bummed I didn't get to track him down this year. Now I won't--I'm sad about that, but hey, his work speaks for itself.
- nkoren 9y agoI also remember him well from Space Access. Seems to me that one can draw line directly from his advocacy for the DC-X, through Armadillo & company, to SpaceX and Blue Origin's spectacular accomplishments. He planted one hell of a seed there. The world owes him one.
- SlipperySlope 9y agoChaos Manor. S100 Bus. Wordstar. Parallel port. Reviews of stuff he used every day when writing sci-fi. (The Mote in God's Eye).
- ericHosick 9y agoI grew up on his sci-fi books. The Mote in God's Eye, to me, is the best science fiction I've ever read. Lucifer's Hammer was way up there and hit close to home (being in California and all).
- BatFastard 9y agoHis sci-fi and computer skill were renowned. The world will be a lesser place with out him.
- astrodust 9y agoMore than his skill I'd argue his enthusiasm and apparently boundless passion for these things was the brighest part of his persona. There might be better programmers and better writers, but he's always been one of the best at making what he loved seem fun, interesting, and worth taking up as a career. Science fiction may have lost another great, but I'd bet he inspired many writers in his time.
- FigmentEngine 9y agoRobert A. Heinlein, who gave the authors extensive advice on the novel,[2] described the story as "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mote_in_God%27s_Eye https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mote_in_God%27s_Eye
- Stratoscope 9y agoRIP Jerry. May you be able to lift all the computers now. (I should explain for those who are unfamiliar with the reference: one of Pournelle's Laws was "Never trust a computer you can't lift.") And now my personal JP story... The one time I met Jerry Pournelle was when we peed together. I was in the men's room at one of the West Coast Computer Faires when Jerry walked in and used the urinal next to me. We had a nice little conversation while we did our business. And thankfully for me and the other men nearby, even though Jerry was quite tipsy on that good convention beer, he never lost his aim!
- digi_owl 9y agoDid that one come before or after Woz's "never trust a computer you can't throw out a window"?
- WheelsAtLarge 9y agoRest in peace Jerry. Godspeed!
- ChuckMcM 9y agoI got to meet Jerry when I was going to USC, he had sent out a request for an intern to "help him with all this junk" and for what ever reason he decided I was the guy. I would go over to his house and help him sort through the piles of stuff people would send in the hope that he would mention them in his column in BYTE. I showed up in the column a couple of times, Jerry and I got into a long and spirited discussion of 'terminals' versus TV Typewriters. He had a big CP/M machine with a television screen that he used for writing (20 lines of 64 characters as I recall) and I set up and evaluated the Heathkit Z29 (which was a slick detached keyboard terminal at the time). While there were fewer characters on the screen on TV Typewriter, updates were very very fast (since it was just memory mapped). I liked that there were more characters on the terminal. But Jerry's main argument in favor was that he kept most of his writing in his head, and the screen was just there to remind him where he was, and in that mode speed won hands down. He signed my copy of Footfall with "I have another pile of software for you." Goodbye Jerry.
- abecedarius 9y agoIn his 80s columns he wrote (roughly, by my memory) that by the turn of the millennium you'd be able to go to your computer and ask any question with a publically known answer, and get it back right away. I thought that was ridiculous, and today you can quibble, but basically yes, you can, and he was right on the money on the timing. That was an audacious prediction back then. He influenced me the most by his columns on space development (A Step Farther Out, and a couple of anthologies The Endless Frontier). I don't clearly remember what was in them, but there was a kind of can-do attitude about developing technological civilization in a strategic way that seems more in tune with the 60s than anything happening now.
- digi_owl 9y agoFor anyone who's first computer interaction was a microcomp like the C64, sure. But i suspect that for anyone that had spent time with mainframe/minicomp terminals, particularly those attached to the Arpanet, it may not have seemed as such a far fetched claim. Never mind that France rolled out Minitel back then, and similar systems were also deployed elsewhere in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel#Minitel_in_other_countries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel#Minitel_in_other_count...
- abecedarius 9y agoI had a networked account in the later 80s. I also read Ted Nelson (Literary Machines) and Eric Drexler (http://e-drexler.com/d/06/00/EOC/EOC_Chapter_14.html http://e-drexler.com/d/06/00/EOC/EOC_Chapter_14.html) predicting something like the web but in important ways better -- there are ideas there worth returning to for today's fights about "fake news" and open-access science. Drexler was right about the timing, too. Those guys were on the futuristic fringe, but their ideas looked good to me. So why didn't I believe Pournelle? I was like, sure, someday, but his scenario seemed practically AI-complete. I did not foresee it coming so soon out of a little bit of the right sort of natural language processing plus some great engineering. I'm sure there were people with a better imagination! But hindsight really is way too easy.
- ngcc_hk 9y agoOoh. Read his byte article a lot. S-100 based system is a bridge too far from my 1980s me. But enjoy his writing very much his writing. Rip.
- leejoramo 9y agoJerry WAS likely the first published professional writer to use a computer to create book length works. I read his articles through the 1980's. I still remember seeing his S-100 writing system at the Smithsonian Museum And while it would be too much of a stretch to say that his printed "Chaos Manor" articles in Byte were the first Blog, there is no doubt that many of the first bloggers where highly inspired by his style of journaling. He deserves Hacker News' black banner - Real Soon Now
- jacquesm 9y ago> Jerry WAS likely the first published professional writer to use a computer to create book length works. 'Using personal or micro computers'. There are some examples that pre-date your reference: http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=3701 http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=3701
- geuis 9y agoSome of my favorite episodes of This Week in Tech was when Jerry was a guest host. I loved all of his sci-fi books over the years. Going to miss this guy a lot.
- mrbill 9y agoThere were times when he could be a real jerk: "How Jerry Pournelle got kicked off the ARPANET" http://www.stormtiger.org/bob/humor/pournell/story.html http://www.stormtiger.org/bob/humor/pournell/story.html However, I enjoyed his writings, both SF and his column in BYTE. Rest in peace, Mr. Pournelle.
- jacquesm 9y agoI don't think he's the one that comes off as a jerk in that thread. Of course that's with decades of hindsight but here we are on 'ARPANET' and we can talk about it freely. Think of him as slightly ahead of his time.
- DonHopkins 9y agoHe was so far ahead of his time, he would be working for the Trump administration if he were younger. They would have loved his enthusiasm for social darwinism. "Think of it as evolution in action." -POURNE http://www.independent.com/news/2017/mar/23/trump-making-social-darwinism-sexy-again/ http://www.independent.com/news/2017/mar/23/trump-making-soc... "By cannibalizing expanded Medicaid coverage to the tune of $880 billion, Trump and the Republicans can justify massive tax cuts for a group who needs them the least, the very wealthy and reasonably healthy. [...] Trump and the Republicans have seized upon a much bolder solution: Cut costs by making health care accessible to those who need it least — the young, healthy, and rich." https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/trump-is-the-candidate-2/ https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/trump-is-the-candi... "So what do I do? I agree with nearly everything he is for, but I’m better qualified to make it happen. I avoid some issues, but I go for his most popular ones and say, yeah! Want that! And I can make it happen better than he can. I’ve got the experience of working in government, but I’m not the establishment any more than Mr. Trump is. Heck, I’ll offer him a cabinet post. I could use his energy in my administration." -POURNE http://voxday.blogspot.nl/2016/04/jerry-pournelle-on-donald-trump.html http://voxday.blogspot.nl/2016/04/jerry-pournelle-on-donald-... "But he has never wavered on his desire to fill the Supreme Court with Justices as near in scholarship and view to Scalia as possible; that alone would be enough to get me to the polls for Trump if he’s nominated." -POURNE "One thing that is known about ARPA: you can be heaved off it for supporting the policies of the Department of Defense. Of course that was intended to anger me. If you have an ARPA account, please tell CSTACY that he was successful; now let us see if my Pentagon friends can upset him. Or perhaps some reporter friends. Or both., Or even the House Armed Services Committee." -POURNE "The man has learned nothing from his presence on MC and sets a bad example of what people might potentially accomplish there. I'd rather recycle his account for some bright 12-yr-old...)" -KMP
- epalmer 9y agoI read his column first when I received my copy of Byte Magazine. Chaos Manor helped me decide to become an IT professional. He will be missed. Sad day.
- PaulRobinson 9y agoJerry's columns are what made me want to write about tech. I don't do it professionally but I do enjoy blogging about tech when I get the chance. RIP.
- rbanffy 9y agoI never read any of his books, but I read, avidly, his Chaos Manor column on BYTE every month and back in time at the library. On every frontier we need writers that can translate the wonder to others who don't experience it first hand. IT is no different: he went to live into the near future and always came back with great stories.
- woodandsteel 9y agoI loved his BYTE column. It was usually just a story of dealing with some problem, either something that stopped working right, or trying to install a new machine or software program. He would take you through what happened, step-by-step, including all the confusions and mistakes, and it was fascinating reading. He used to say, if I remember correctly, "I do it the dumb way so you don't have to." I was really shocked when BYTE stopped publishing. I couldn't believe that such a superb publication that was so valued by its readers could go out of business. From what I recall, what happened is first it was bought up by a publisher who wanted to turn it into a magazine for average computer users, not techies, and then when that failed to get a market, just shut it down. So much for the idea that the free enterprise system always makes things better.
- irremediable 9y agoWhat a shame... I came to his computer work quite late (mid-2000s), learning of him via his appearances in the This Week in Tech podcast. But then I realised he was the author of Lucifer's Hammer and other classic sci-fi. He was a great writer and seemed like a great person. Amazing anecdotes. I'm completely opposed to him politically, but I still read his blog every day even as it veered more and more towards politics. He helped me break out of my filter bubble, and showed me the variety of conservative thought. RIP Dr Pournelle.
- criddell 9y agoWhat I know about Pournelle I mostly picked up from listening to him the few times he was on the TWiT podcast. He was always an interesting guest. One thing he mentioned there that stuck with me was that he logs his daily activities in a journal. What he eats, the weather, phone calls, meetings, etc... I tried to start the habit, but it never stuck. I wonder if his personal papers will end up in some university's collection?
- coleca 9y agoThose TWiT episodes with Jerry and John C Dvorak were pure gold. He was a giant in the industry. R.I.P.
- aquamo 9y agoRIP Jerry - my first exposure to Jerry was his BYTE magazine articles.
- 505 9y agoSad day. I enjoyed the fiction and the Byte column, despite him being a jerk sometimes. Anyone interested in science fiction should read at least The Mote in God's Eye.
- Crontab 9y agoI used to love reading Byte magazine and I always enjoyed his column in the magazine. I am sorry to hear he has passed away.
- javajosh 9y agoMy first off-campus email was to Jerry Pournelle, regarding one of his F&SF stories. To my astonishment, he answered! I thought that was really cool of him. RIP.
- Ice_cream_suit 9y agoHis far right politics was a bit of a turnoff for me. YMMV