Eric S. Raymond
| Eric S. Raymond | |
| Born | 1957 |
|---|---|
| Residence | United States |
| Nationality | Unknown |
| Institutions | Unknown |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania |
Eric S. Raymond is a computer programmer, author, open source software advocate, and Life enthusiast.
He was one of several developers of Xlife during 1990-1998. He implemented patterns for the parts of Codd's universal computer, for Wireworld-4, and other sample patterns for versions of Xlife supporting multiple states (version 4.0+).
In October 2003, Raymond suggested a representation of the Conway's Life glider as an appropriate "hacker emblem". Inevitably this was somewhat controversial, but the emblem has made many appearances on the Web in the years since then.
Raymond was also for many years an active volunteer editor for the Jargon Files, or the "New Hacker's Dictionary" (printed form). One definition from the Jargon Files seems particularly appropriate for a partial quotation on the LifeWiki:
life: n.
1. A cellular-automata game invented by John Horton Conway and first introduced publicly by Martin Gardner (Scientific American, October 1970); the game's popularity had to wait a few years for computers on which it could reasonably be played, as it's no fun to simulate the cells by hand. Many hackers pass through a stage of fascination with it, and hackers at various places contributed heavily to the mathematical analysis of this game (most notably Bill Gosper at MIT, who even implemented life in TECO!). When a hacker mentions ‘life’, he is much more likely to mean this game than the magazine, the breakfast cereal, or the human state of existence. ...
External links
- Eric S. Raymond at Wikipedia
- Website of Eric S. Raymond
- Hacker Emblem proposal
- Definition of "life" in the Jargon Files