5 ms·

Thomas E. Dickey website: creator of dialog, lynx, diffstats, and other utils

65 points by fibo 12y ago

zem 12y ago
he has wonderful taste in his choice of projects.
serf 12y ago
I always respect the choice to prioritize readability over flashy gimmicks, and this site is a perfect example of that mentality, imo. From a quick glance I know who he is, what he does, and how to contact him. Great! I found this to be interesting. http://invisible-island.net/personal/oldprogs.html http://invisible-island.net/personal/oldprogs.html
- jeffreyrogers 12y ago
  I agree, and also enjoyed this page, http://invisible-island.net/personal/not-anonymous.html http://invisible-island.net/personal/not-anonymous.html
- zaroth 12y ago
  > respect the choice to prioritize readability Well, sorta: http://invisible-island.net/lynx/lynx.html http://invisible-island.net/lynx/lynx.html
jquast 12y ago
I cite Dickey's site often in documentation regarding terminal programming. I enjoyed learning about curses history and ESR being a dick http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-license.html http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-license.html
- kenko 12y ago
  That's really remarkable. ed: I admit this isn't the most, like, informative comment, but I don't see why it was downvoted.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
  It's always remarkable finding new ways in which Eric Raymond is an ass.
  - jessaustin 12y ago
    That whole thread stands in stark contrast to ESR's recent "I'm more reasonable and responsible than RMS" narrative.
  - Jedd 12y ago
    More delightful than remarkable -- Remarkable suggests something unexpected. ; ) That whole ncurses licensing thread is fantastic -- it takes a while to pick up steam, but around a quarter of the way down we start getting some gorgeously understated quotes to soak in. Of Zeyd: ... but he was still ~30k of diffs away from my version -- and his wouldn't work, because some of the diffs were pieces of bugs. So I told him there was no point in discussing it until he got in sync - I assume he's sulking. Of Eric: He also demanded a copy of my bug-list, which I declined. I did send Eric a copy of my bug list some time ago -- he responded with several patches that made the list longer by introducing more bugs -- so I'm rather reluctant to add to my overhead.
  - zerr 12y ago
    tl dr?
raldi 12y ago
I like how xterm doesn't even make the headline.
sherr 12y ago
Dickey's an unsung hero really. I've been impressed and grateful that he keeps old programs like xterm (in particularly) relevant.
wsha 12y ago
He has contributed to and helped maintain some really cool projects. However, the title of this post is misleading. He is not the creator of dialog or lynx.

65 points by fibo 12y ago

zem 12y ago

he has wonderful taste in his choice of projects.

serf 12y ago

I always respect the choice to prioritize readability over flashy gimmicks, and this site is a perfect example of that mentality, imo. From a quick glance I know who he is, what he does, and how to contact him. Great! I found this to be interesting. http://invisible-island.net/personal/oldprogs.html http://invisible-island.net/personal/oldprogs.html

jeffreyrogers 12y ago
I agree, and also enjoyed this page, http://invisible-island.net/personal/not-anonymous.html http://invisible-island.net/personal/not-anonymous.html
zaroth 12y ago
> respect the choice to prioritize readability Well, sorta: http://invisible-island.net/lynx/lynx.html http://invisible-island.net/lynx/lynx.html

jquast 12y ago

I cite Dickey's site often in documentation regarding terminal programming. I enjoyed learning about curses history and ESR being a dick http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-license.html http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-license.html

kenko 12y ago
That's really remarkable. ed: I admit this isn't the most, like, informative comment, but I don't see why it was downvoted.
GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
It's always remarkable finding new ways in which Eric Raymond is an ass.
- jessaustin 12y ago
  That whole thread stands in stark contrast to ESR's recent "I'm more reasonable and responsible than RMS" narrative.
- Jedd 12y ago
  More delightful than remarkable -- Remarkable suggests something unexpected. ; ) That whole ncurses licensing thread is fantastic -- it takes a while to pick up steam, but around a quarter of the way down we start getting some gorgeously understated quotes to soak in. Of Zeyd: ... but he was still ~30k of diffs away from my version -- and his wouldn't work, because some of the diffs were pieces of bugs. So I told him there was no point in discussing it until he got in sync - I assume he's sulking. Of Eric: He also demanded a copy of my bug-list, which I declined. I did send Eric a copy of my bug list some time ago -- he responded with several patches that made the list longer by introducing more bugs -- so I'm rather reluctant to add to my overhead.
- zerr 12y ago
  tl dr?

raldi 12y ago

I like how xterm doesn't even make the headline.

sherr 12y ago

Dickey's an unsung hero really. I've been impressed and grateful that he keeps old programs like xterm (in particularly) relevant.

wsha 12y ago

He has contributed to and helped maintain some really cool projects. However, the title of this post is misleading. He is not the creator of dialog or lynx.