4 ms·

> It is too bad that Ken Thompson didn't get at least acknowledged for his role in making it happen. Interesting, can you say more about this? Is he not ment

by luriel 14y ago

> It is too bad that Ken Thompson didn't get at least acknowledged for his role in making it happen. Interesting, can you say more about this? Is he not mentioned because officially he is part of the Go team?

enneff 14y ago
Ken sat near Jeff, Sanjay, and co while they were designing Spanner, and he regularly consults in an informal capacity on people's projects. I wasn't there, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if Ken's unique insight contributed to Spanner's design.
- heretohelp 14y ago
  I'm familiar with Ken Thompson, so I'm more puzzled than someone who isn't familiar with his work might be. What exactly is his unique insight? Do you know any specifics or are you just speaking on behalf of the fact that he's a famous programmer? I say this as someone whose Planetside2 character is named: "KenThompsonHackerExtraordinaire"
  - luriel 14y ago
    Enneff works with ken in the Go team at Google. As for his particular insight, if you are familiar with his work, that should be enough. For those not familiar with his work, this interview might be a good starting point: http://genius.cat-v.org/ken-thompson/interviews/unix-and-beyond http://genius.cat-v.org/ken-thompson/interviews/unix-and-bey...
    - gruseom 14y ago
      This is golden: "The aggressive use of a small number of abstractions is, I think, the direct result of a very small number of people who interact closely during the implementation."
    - conradfr 14y ago
      It's from 1997 I guess ? Seems like he was wrong about Linux and maybe Microsoft :)
  - enneff 14y ago
    Ken's mind just works in a different way to most people. You explain your problem to him and he'll respond with some question or statement that turns your entire perspective inside out.
ChuckMcM 14y ago
When I was in the platforms group looking at storage issues the Spanner requirements had a lot of commentary from Ken in them, so much so that I thought it was his idea/project until someone corrected me a bit later. That was why I was surprised he wasn't acknowledged, from where I sat it seemed like he was one of the architects of the effort. Apparently that wasn't the case.

by luriel 14y ago

enneff 14y ago

Ken sat near Jeff, Sanjay, and co while they were designing Spanner, and he regularly consults in an informal capacity on people's projects. I wasn't there, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if Ken's unique insight contributed to Spanner's design.

heretohelp 14y ago
I'm familiar with Ken Thompson, so I'm more puzzled than someone who isn't familiar with his work might be. What exactly is his unique insight? Do you know any specifics or are you just speaking on behalf of the fact that he's a famous programmer? I say this as someone whose Planetside2 character is named: "KenThompsonHackerExtraordinaire"
- luriel 14y ago
  Enneff works with ken in the Go team at Google. As for his particular insight, if you are familiar with his work, that should be enough. For those not familiar with his work, this interview might be a good starting point: http://genius.cat-v.org/ken-thompson/interviews/unix-and-beyond http://genius.cat-v.org/ken-thompson/interviews/unix-and-bey...
  - gruseom 14y ago
    This is golden: "The aggressive use of a small number of abstractions is, I think, the direct result of a very small number of people who interact closely during the implementation."
  - conradfr 14y ago
    It's from 1997 I guess ? Seems like he was wrong about Linux and maybe Microsoft :)
- enneff 14y ago
  Ken's mind just works in a different way to most people. You explain your problem to him and he'll respond with some question or statement that turns your entire perspective inside out.

ChuckMcM 14y ago

When I was in the platforms group looking at storage issues the Spanner requirements had a lot of commentary from Ken in them, so much so that I thought it was his idea/project until someone corrected me a bit later. That was why I was surprised he wasn't acknowledged, from where I sat it seemed like he was one of the architects of the effort. Apparently that wasn't the case.