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The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz (2000)

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Re: The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz (2000)

#21

Post by mylons »

notdarkyet wrote: post #13

Reading this sounds like a hit piece. I don't doubt he drank himself to death. There is an embellishment of events and the author is writing from the perspective as though they/he/she were there. I am writing this after coming back from the bar with friends. I would actually consider myself someone who drinks too much. I have written code for years, tried and failed on over four startups. I have spent a week in a hos…

I agree whole heartedly and have been to some of the places you have. One thing I have noticed in some friends and acquaintances who've worked out of depression is that they can attain this loftiness to themselves. They feel superior to those who are where they once were. Once I saw that in real life, I began to extrapolate it to a lot of the comments on the internet that tear down the depressed. Somehow they lose their empathy along the way.

Re: The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz (2000)

#22

Post by rhizome »

chebucto wrote: post #8
fogleman wrote: post #3

An interesting point of view I found via Google: http://www.esva.net/~thom/philkatz.html

This: "In a negotiated settlement he again rejected any suggestion of licensing and went for a cash-out settlement. He repaid us for most of our legal bills and promised to stop selling his program sometime in 1988. Then he fiddled with the file format a bit, renamed it from PKARC to PKZIP, and kept right on selling it. " is contradicted by this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Katz "... settlement of the lawsuit…

I wasn't aware of the controversy at the time, but I do remember there being a fairly rapid transition from .ARC to .ZIP on the BBSes I used around that time.

Re: The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz (2000)

#23

Post by [deleted] »

GuerraEarth wrote: post #2

I logged in to read about CodeCombat. Instead, I read this submission. Mostly because it was sitting there forlornly with no comments. Alcoholism is really painful. It in no way lessens the excellence of the contribution of talented people; it only makes us cherish them more. We just don't get to help often because the destruction happens in a way that is inaccessible to outsiders.

[deleted]

Re: The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz (2000)

#24

Post by scarecrowbob »

mylons wrote: post #21
notdarkyet wrote: post #13

Reading this sounds like a hit piece. I don't doubt he drank himself to death. There is an embellishment of events and the author is writing from the perspective as though they/he/she were there. I am writing this after coming back from the bar with friends. I would actually consider myself someone who drinks too much. I have written code for years, tried and failed on over four startups. I have spent a week in a hos…

I agree whole heartedly and have been to some of the places you have. One thing I have noticed in some friends and acquaintances who've worked out of depression is that they can attain this loftiness to themselves. They feel superior to those who are where they once were. Once I saw that in real life, I began to extrapolate it to a lot of the comments on the internet that tear down the depressed. Somehow they lose th…

Well, if I had to lose some empathy in order to work myself out of depression, I'd probably be okay with that in the end.

I think your observation has some merit.

Re: The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz (2000)

#26

Post by znowi »

Katz talked freer, laughed harder, stayed up longer and dreamed bigger when he had a drink in his hand, friends say. Drinking brought a painfully shy man out of his shell.

I wonder if alcohol served him as an unfortunate remedy for his introverted person.

And on unrelated note:

He got real good at optimizing programs, and he learned to get the job done with the least amount of instructions and running times.

I like the culture of code bumping back in the day. Although, we now live in a time of abundant CPU cycles and memory, there's still value in that, even above many layers of abstraction. Sadly, increasing number of programmers do not care or even aware of their programs' resource footprint on the hardware.

Re: The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz (2000)

#28

Post by tdubhro1 »

"As soon as he started drinking, you could see a little smile on his face. That's when he could talk to people, or tell a joke."

Coders in general are susceptible to alcohol for these kinds of reasons. Add in flexi hours (hey it doesn't matter what time I show up as long as I ship code, right?), and it's practically the ideal job for a functioning alcoholic.

I've seen dozens of fellow programmers slip down the slope. It's particularly bad in the financial sector in London, where "trader culture" of hard drinking, drugs and women is seen as acceptable. Usually it's well concealed until early to mid-thirties. Often their situation rapidly degenerates after a relationship breakup or family bereavement. What's fun and social when you're with your friends in your 20s isn't so much when you're 35 and lonely.

It's striking how casual and uninformed the general attitude to this drug is in our industry, e.g. http://zachholman.com/posts/how-github-works-creativity/

Re: The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz (2000)

#29

Post by johnchristopher »

mylons wrote: post #21
notdarkyet wrote: post #13

Reading this sounds like a hit piece. I don't doubt he drank himself to death. There is an embellishment of events and the author is writing from the perspective as though they/he/she were there. I am writing this after coming back from the bar with friends. I would actually consider myself someone who drinks too much. I have written code for years, tried and failed on over four startups. I have spent a week in a hos…

I agree whole heartedly and have been to some of the places you have. One thing I have noticed in some friends and acquaintances who've worked out of depression is that they can attain this loftiness to themselves. They feel superior to those who are where they once were. Once I saw that in real life, I began to extrapolate it to a lot of the comments on the internet that tear down the depressed. Somehow they lose th…

I saw the same thing happening with people who lost a lot of weight. I am pretty sure it's a combination of fear to get back to a previous unwanted state and a frame of mind that can't stand the idea of remembering how we once were when looking at someone depressed or overweight.

Re: The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz (2000)

#30

Post by xb95 »

znowi wrote: post #26

Katz talked freer, laughed harder, stayed up longer and dreamed bigger when he had a drink in his hand, friends say. Drinking brought a painfully shy man out of his shell. I wonder if alcohol served him as an unfortunate remedy for his introverted person. And on unrelated note: He got real good at optimizing programs, and he learned to get the job done with the least amount of instructions and running times. I like t…

Re: the remedy for introverts, yes.

I'm a strong introvert and I find that a few drinks makes me feel like what I suspect an extrovert feels like. Personally, I'd much rather socialize with a few drinks in me; and if there's a large group involved, it's almost mandatory for me to enjoy myself at all!

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