I don't know Eric Meyer personally, but I've known him on the interwebs for decades. He's one of the folk from the early days who is very familiar to many of us.
In the same way that I don't personally know Linus, Mark Andreesen, Tim Berners-Lee, et al, I remember the days on usenet when we all hung out and got shit done.
I'm a nobody in the grand scheme of things -- and I'm quite okay with that -- but there have been thousands of us who made all the stuff we use today happen. Eric is one of those who made a little more impact than the rest of us anonymous folk. And for many of us who shared the delights of his work, we share his pain.
If we only acknowledge the big names, the "celebrities" if you will, then we've lost our soul. The internet has been built by thousands, not a handful, and Eric is someone many of us associate with.
That's why we are all sad today and why we want to show solidarity. Burying a parent is hard. I cannot fathom burying a six year old child.
In the same way that I don't personally know Linus, Mark Andreesen, Tim Berners-Lee, et al, I remember the days on usenet when we all hung out and got shit done.
I'm a nobody in the grand scheme of things -- and I'm quite okay with that -- but there have been thousands of us who made all the stuff we use today happen. Eric is one of those who made a little more impact than the rest of us anonymous folk. And for many of us who shared the delights of his work, we share his pain.
If we only acknowledge the big names, the "celebrities" if you will, then we've lost our soul. The internet has been built by thousands, not a handful, and Eric is someone many of us associate with.
That's why we are all sad today and why we want to show solidarity. Burying a parent is hard. I cannot fathom burying a six year old child.