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Patrick Volkerding Back to Work

Posted by michael on from the stop-slacking dept.

AndreaP writes "Patrick Volkerding, the maintainer of Slackware Linux, is apparently recovering from his health problems and is back to work. From the ChangeLog of Slackware-Current: 'I'm back in California and I'm happy to let you all know that I'm feeling much better. :-) Here are a few updates so you can see that I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. Hopefully 10.1 won't be too far off ...'"

55 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. So... that's it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Where's HIS changelog? I want to know what bug they fixed on him.

    1. Re:So... that's it? by Tezkah · · Score: 5, Funny

      I hope he has learned his lesson and makes nightly backups from now on.

    2. Re:So... that's it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      yo i heard they made him install openbsd. and then all the problems went away, looking for easier targets...

    3. Re:So... that's it? by cipher+uk · · Score: 3, Informative

      changelog

      not exactly what you asked for but it does tell you what happened with him etc.

    4. Re:So... that's it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Hopefully since he was so public with his symptoms he will be as public with his diagnois and prognosis.

    5. Re:So... that's it? by dotgain · · Score: 3, Funny
      Wow, how selfish of him.

      Last time I recovered from a major, I was itching to get the details into my blog...

    6. Re:So... that's it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, considering that he told the entire world he was sick (in detail) and asked for our help in finding out the problem/treatment, it'd be nice if filled us in on it now that he knows. Perhaps someone else will have the same problem he did?

    7. Re:So... that's it? by iminplaya · · Score: 4, Funny

      They removed the SCO code.

      --
      What?
    8. Re:So... that's it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      They said the ESR in his blood was normal.
      I won't speculate how it got there.

    9. Re:So... that's it? by cygnus · · Score: 5, Funny

      i backup to the toilet every night, but i've never had the courage to attempt a restore.

      --
      Just raise the taxes on crack.
    10. Re:So... that's it? by teromajusa · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Heh, maybe the fact that the replies he got were mostly just alot of scolding for not managing his health better has convinced him to keep these things private from now on. Compassion does not seem to be a big priority with alot of the slashdot community.

    11. Re:So... that's it? by Angostura · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Scolding? A lot of it was fairly sensible advice about how to manage the medical profession... i.e don't keep swapping doctors all the time, because they will tend to begin at the beginning again.

    12. Re:So... that's it? by plj · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'd call that logrotate, not backup.

      --
      “Wait for Hurd if you want something real” –Linus
    13. Re:So... that's it? by cloudmaster · · Score: 2, Funny

      Linus says that Dump's a bad idea - you should consider an alternat backup plan. I'm partial to hardlinked snapshots using rsync and some off-site machines...

      http://lwn.net/2001/0503/a/lt-dump.php3

  2. Man! by Faust7 · · Score: 4, Funny

    And just when Slackware was beginning to live up to its name... ;)

    --
    The coolest voice ever.
  3. Great! by chrisgeleven · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Thankfully this guy has finally appeared to be cured or on the road to being cured. That was one scary story we all read just a month or two ago and it is great to hear all turned out well in the end.

    1. Re:Great! by MikeCapone · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm also glad to learn that he's better.

      It might be corny, but I don't know the guy and yet I thought about his health a couple of times a week during this whole episode.

      Hope that he has fully recovered soon!

      Oh, and Slackware rules!

      --
      Treehugger? Treehugger... Treehugger!
  4. Impossible! by Average_Joe_Sixpack · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hate to break the news to you Pat, but Wikipedia says your still ill.

    1. Re:Impossible! by bersl2 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You had enough time to look and then post the link.

      GO FIX IT YOU LAZY BUM!

      (Then again, I probably could have fixed it in the time it took to complain.)

    2. Re:Impossible! by Gandalfar · · Score: 2, Informative

      no worries. I updated it after seeing that comment.

      You can still work on improving that sentance though.

    3. Re:Impossible! by xgamer04 · · Score: 3, Funny

      says your still ill.

      His "still ill" what?

      --
      When you look at the state of the world, how can you not become a radical, liberal anarchist?
    4. Re:Impossible! by Brandybuck · · Score: 2, Funny

      Don't worry, I changed it back...

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
  5. No wonder he got better... by ZSpade · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'ts like 80+ degrees outside (LA, CA), and It's Dec. 19th. It's hard to get sick around here, and even harder to stay that way.

    --
    Go ahead and call me unreliable; reliable is just a synonym for predictable.
    1. Re:No wonder he got better... by Stephen+Samuel · · Score: 4, Funny
      It's hard to get sick (in LA), and even harder to stay that way.

      Try breathing...

      --
      Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
  6. Welcome Back Pat by MoThugz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...I for one, hopes that he and his family will be in good health always.

    I guess this is as good a Christmas present one could wish for. Health really is much more meaningful than wealth.

    Cheers from a happy Slacker :)

    --
    Welley Corporation - SLM Scammers
  7. He's back by psi42 · · Score: 5, Informative

    His health:
    Well, I'm back in California and I'm happy to let you all know that I'm feeling much better. :-)

    His intelligence:
    and then we can look at what exactly needs to be done to try to switch over to the new kernel series for 11, or sometime later on. I still don't think it's time for that yet (it will be best to wait until 2.4 can be abandoned)

    And his sense of humor:
    It's the closest thing to a blog I've ever done. (ooooo! ;-)



    Looks like slackware is back in the running. Welcome back!

    --
    Defenestrate Windows...
  8. WTF by evel+aka+matt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, WTF happened to him? Miraculous recovery from unknown symptoms, or what? One minute he's dying, and now he's just dandy. Chicken soup? What? Did he say anywhere what he had, how it was cured, or anything?

    1. Re:WTF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      If you really followed the story, here is it in a nutshell (© O'Reilly)

      He was horking up things from his lungs that resembled the plaque from teeth. His dad is a dentist and has always had Pat use an electric whirling toothbrush since he was a kid. Pat always wondered where all that plaque-cloud that he was breathing was going to end up. It seems the bacteria in the plaque found a nice home in his lungs, and grew. The designer antibiotics the doctors were giving him had no effect - he needed the classic old school cillins. He got with the classic drugs, and the evil bacteria are losing.

    2. Re:WTF by caluml · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hey downloaded a corrupt ebuild, which hosed his glibc, but he booted from a recovery CD, and make HUPd the floogle, which he rscp'd over from the InterMX satellite, and after rdev'ing his kernel, he can now syslog to the console. Or something.

      --
      Get your own free personal location tracker
    3. Re:WTF by j0d3r · · Score: 2, Informative

      The "blog" sounds more like a case of what can happen when a hypochondriac has access to too much Internet information without enough medical training. I find it interesting that he was able to self-diagnose a mitral valve prolapse and regurgitation without an echocardiogram (NOT an EKG), pulmonary sulfur granules without a bronchoscopy, decided he needed diagnostics without indications for them, and specific antibiotics without a positive microbial culture (which is hard to get with actinomycosis since it's usually found via exploratory surgery). So the problem was solved by good old Penicillin. Great. It's still an extremely effective drug, but reluctantly prescribed, since others (like cipro )have a wider antimicrobial spectrum, and are less likely to induce resistant strains. Oh, and a word as a dentist- contracting some sort of pulmonary infection from brushing your teeth is extremely improbable under any condition, even immunosuppression. Aerosols from ultrasonic scalers are a different story, but those should never be used outside a dentist's office anyway.

  9. Ok so what was the prob? by gregm · · Score: 2

    I followed this story closely and even posted my 2 cents... so what wtf problem?

  10. Already Updated! by neoshroom · · Score: 5, Informative

    You forget that by sending thousands of geeks over to Wikipedia one of them was bound to edit the article. It now contains the update that "On December 19, Slashdot carried the story that he is recovering and returning to work." Eat that turnaround Britannica!

    --
    Big apple, new Yorik, undig it, something's unrotting in Edenmark.
    1. Re:Already Updated! by elronxenu · · Score: 4, Funny
      Eat that turnaround Britannica!

      I'll bet they don't even have an entry for Patrick Volkerding!

  11. Cancer probably by PoderOmega · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If you RTFA he is plugging a cancer specialist he either has or cancer or maybe a benign tumor that could they thought could be cancerous. But I doubt it is benign if he was having symptoms. Either way he doesn't want to come out and say it.

    1. Re:Cancer probably by Limburgher · · Score: 3, Insightful
      . . .which is totally his decision. While I'm hightly curious and even more concerned, it's None Of Our Damn Business. I can think of nothing more private.

      It's enough for me that he's feeling better, and presumably on the road to recovery. Best wishes and good health, Pat.

      --

      You are not the customer.

    2. Re:Cancer probably by Limburgher · · Score: 4, Insightful
      At the point you make the matter public, it DOES become the publics business.

      While in principle I agree with you, think of it this way: If you come to me for advice meeting women, does that entitle me to watch the resulting sexual activity?

      Ignoring of course the issue of whether I WANT to. . .:)

      --

      You are not the customer.

  12. No if he'd done that, by nlinecomputers · · Score: 4, Funny

    He would be dead because we all know that BSD is dead. *ducks*

    --
    Slashdot, home of supporters of free software, free music, and free speech.Except for Moderators that disagree with you.
  13. PubMed by blackula · · Score: 5, Informative

    Use PubMed as your medical information source. It's where the scientists and docs publish their research and is considering a "real" datasource (as opposed to citing "the internet". Your doctors will know the name Pubmed when you mention it. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi My daughter has a heart condition and we found the doctors weren't interested in really discussing anything until we started using the "right" terminology. The terminology I picked up after reading a number of PubMed publications about my daugher's condition. I highly suggest that anyone researching any condition (but especially something exotic like Patrick) hit PubMed. Make it your source you cite when talking to your docs. Make it your primary source of information. All the other websites you read are just summing up the papers published here.

    1. Re:PubMed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Remember that one of the reasons for terminology is to make it seem to yourself and others that you know what your tallking about.

      Of course some terminology is helpful to making meaningful statements in a given field of discourse.

      Medline is a bibliographic database of articles published in medical journals. It represents current and historical thought of the medical profession.

      If you or someone you love is ill and you are intelligent then I would advise the best thing to do is to apply your analytical powers to understanding, questioning and supporting your doctor.

      Certainly really knowing some terminology may help to elucidate discussions with one's doctor. It may encourage your doctor to go into more technical details.

      Self diagnosis is not a good idea...remember doctors dont generally treat themselves or their loved ones where serious conditions exist.

  14. No. by aluminum_geek · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You're wrong.

    Patrick said (in his original "someone help me" email) that the plaque/toothbrush scenario was one if his theories. Since then, he has not mentioned it in any of his updates (that I could find).

    All he mentions is that he wants to thank his doctor, and he's feeling better, etc, etc.

    Personally, he always sounded like a bit of a hypochondriac prima donna, and I was anxiously waiting to be proven wrong.

    1. Re:No. by Lost+Race · · Score: 2, Insightful

      He knew it was a crazy idea; he was desperate and brainstorming, hoping for any kind of clue as to what was happening to him. It's better to have lots of crazy ideas than no ideas at all. Obviously it's best to have the right idea, but that can be very hard to find, particularly when you're not an expert and all the experts keep telling you there's no problem, when there very very clearly is a problem. Patrick Volkerding is no prima donna, and no hypochondriac. If he says he's seriously ill, he's seriously ill.

    2. Re:No. by LinuxInDallas · · Score: 2, Insightful

      His point was valid and I didn't sense a bit of aggression. Fact is Patrick made his sickness very public and stated how he had done oh so much research to discover what the problem was. Now he is better and no word as to what it was that fixed him up? Sounds awefully fishy.

      Was it real? Then let's take the open source approach: Tell us what was wrong so that we can get that in the public domain so that the next poor guy/gal with this sickness can google to find a cure. Why would he be holding back if it was real?

  15. Patrick, you picked the wrong Holiday... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Christmas is for giving virgin births, it's Easter that's meant for rising from the dead.

  16. Good news! by Nate+B. · · Score: 2

    Hearing this from Patrick is good news. I started with Slackware '96 and used it for a few years until I went all Debian. With Pat's illness in the news, Slack was brought back to the forefront in my mind. I dusted off the old 486 and did a minimal install for a ham radio TCP/IP experiment. Even at version 10.0 it is still familiar and fast.

    While I still love Debian, Slackware is great for a fast, small system. Keep up the good work, Pat.

    --

    "Insanity is doing the same thing over again expecting a different result."
  17. Re:Welcome back! Glad for the update! by Limburgher · · Score: 4, Funny

    Your IP address is what again?

    --

    You are not the customer.

  18. his doc's blog by davids-world.com · · Score: 2, Informative
    This seems to be his doctor's cancer blog.

    (Like everybody else, I wonder what Patrick's problem turned out to be in the end... )

    1. Re:his doc's blog by leofaoro · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Hey This community is *really* impressive. Came here to check where all this traffic was coming from :-) I am also glad he is back. regards, Leo

  19. This just goes to show you... by eeg3 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...Projects that are centered directly around one person are a bad, bad idea. OpenBSD would suffer from this, too... specifically because Theo owns copyrights and whatnot. What happens when he quits, dies, or gives up?

    All major projects should have elected core members, and shouldn't be dependent on them.

    1. Re:This just goes to show you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful


      All major projects should have elected core members, and shouldn't be dependent on them.

      OpenBSD exists today for the simple fact that elected core members are a stupid idea. Or don't you remember how Theo was kicked off the NetBSD project by the (democratically elected) core group?

      Face it-- being popular enough to win an election doesn't mean that you know jack shit about technology, how to manage it, how to develop it, or where to take it. It means that you're popular-- nothing more or less.

      Theo de Raadt would not win a popularity contest. Come to think of it, Richard Stallman probably wouldn't win one, either. Theo has a history of being short with people who waste his time. RMS is known for being a bit of a zealot.

      But you know what? I'm glad RMS is in charge of the Free Software Foundation, and Theo is in charge of OpenBSD. Why? Because they're good at what they do:

      * Theo's leadership and technical skills have helped create products that have raised the bar, security-wise (OpenSSH, for instance, has all but destroyed the telnet protocol).

      * RMS has taken the FSF from a little-known organization that sold EMACS tapes back in the mid-1980s to a multi-national organization that has helped fight software patents, defend programmers' rights, AND develop a wide variety of free-as-in-speech tools and programs for anybody to use.

      Theo and RMS are perfect examples of why election isn't always the best policy. Where would the internet be without OpenSSH? What would have happened to Free software without the GNU project? We wouldn't have had these things if it weren't for the leadership of thoroughly un-electable project leaders.

      So you'll forgive me for not taking "elected core members" seriously. I like good software designed by excellent technologists. Not mediocre, design-by-committee crap that fits some ideal of democratic development processes.

  20. So WTF was wrong?? by EllynGeek · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Come on, man! You spray the Internet with in-depth descriptions of your symptoms, theories, research, and how you ran from one doctor to the next when you couldn't get an answer within five minutes... and now you don't say what you have, or what fixed it? sheesh dood. All those people who expressed concern and genuine care for you, and that's the best you can do? Not cool.

    --

    we will end no whine before its time

  21. One guy gets sick and an OS project suffers?? by Pvt_Waldo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If one guy can get sick and potentially torpedo an entire open source project, then just how well is the model being applied?

    As far as a user goes, what's the difference between some guy getting sick, and some company going under? To the user they are both left stranded with a product that potentially doesn't get bug fixes or updates.

    I'm not saying OS is flawed, but just that in this case, it makes me SERIOUSLY not want to even consider this distro. It all depends on one guy seems to be the message here.

  22. What details? by The+Cisco+Kid · · Score: 2, Interesting

    His two postings from November are as detailed as they were then, and the new posting has absolutely no details at all.

    Curious /.'s want to know - so what happened? Did they find a mysterious alien implant, or the right way to kill a nasty bug? All he says is that he's 'feeling better'

    1. Re:What details? by RedBear · · Score: 2, Insightful

      My theory on the lack of details is that they did all the tests and finally convinced him he's a nutbar hypochondriac and doesn't want the world to know that he got everyone all concerned about something that was all in his head.

      Put the pitchforks down, folks, it's a joke!

      But seriously, I'm one of those who thinks those who care about this issue should be given a little better status update than, "hey, I'm feeling better". It just seems kind of rude to leave so many people in the dark like that after getting them involved in the story. A lot of people have an emotional stake in his health status now that he has invited them in with long-winded stories of going to the brink of death. This sort of thing needs what the shrinks call "closure". Even for those who couldn't care less if he had lived or died there is natural human curiosity at work keeping them wondering what the root cause of the problem was and what has happened to solve it.

      Patrick Volkerding needs to step up and give out a bit more information.

  23. Pat's miraculous recovery by some+guy+I+know · · Score: 2, Funny

    No, he reversed the polarity of his plasma relays and reconfigured the main deflector dish to emit a tachyon pulse.

    No, wait, that was to fix some other problem.

    Oh, I remember now.
    He shrunk a team of specialists and a submarine and injected them into his bloodstream.
    They roamed through his body, zapping the bad bacteria with a laser.
    It was touch and go for a while, especially when anitbodies started wrapping themselves around Raquel Welch's shapely body, but they managed to escape through his eye before they returned to normal size.
    (I wonder whatever happened to the submarine?)

    --
    Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
  24. I wonder what InternationalCow has to say now... by achurch · · Score: 2, Interesting

    . . . after dissing Volkerding's Google-based self-diagnosis?