Bill Joy – A Truly Exceptional Programmer
Bill Joy is still far and away the guy I most look up to in the world of software. Thirty years on and I’m still using Vi and Csh. Yeah, they might be newer versions and not his actual code anymore but to me they are still his. Without Bill Joy we’d never have Berkeley Unix which was the catalyst for the Unix phenomena. Back in the late 70’s/early 80’s when the Clash were still the best band in the world, the Bell Labs strain of Unix was struggling, System V was a disaster and although we’ll always be thankful to Ritchie and Thompson for starting it all some new blood was needed. Bill Joy fitted the role with room to spare.
Networking, the internet, software tools, editors, open software, and programming languages would never have had the impact and growth they experienced without him and this was all before he co-founded Sun Microsystems.
My passion for software all began as I studied the amazing poetry written by this true Software Genius.
Thanks Bill!