Unix Guru Evi Nemeth Missing, Feared Lost At Sea

14erCleaner writes "Retired Colorado professor Evi Nemeth has been missing between New Zealand and Australia since June 4, along with six others on their racing yacht. Nemeth, 73, is known as the primary author of the definitive Unix systems administration guide and for other works on Unix and Linux system administration and cryptography."

Comments

Re:He's obviously met his Nemeth-is

[Intrepid imaginaut]

She, and show some respect. Honestly I hope I'm active enough at 73 to go cruising around the world in my yacht.

Re:Rawr

[rubycodez]

wow, everyone assumes she is a dude because only guys would know how to write Unix and Linux sysadmin books? She also held PHD in mathematics and worked in projects to bring the internet to developing countries.

find /ocean *evi*

[Anonymous Coward]

find /ocean -name *evi*

Re:find /ocean *evi*

[Anonymous Coward]

You'd want to use '*evi*' (with the ticks) to prevent the shell from doing the globbing already.

Tragedy

[Anonymous Coward]

That really sucks.
I'm currently doing Systems Administration in Antarctica. I got my first professional network administration job in Boulder, around the time that the "Yellow book" came out (2nd Ed. of the "UNIX Systems Administration Handbook," Nemeth, Snyder, Hein, et al.). The book got me boostrapped for work in NeXT and SunOS administration. I've been to six continents, and have worked in IT for 20+ years. I owe a lot of my life's earnings and experiences to what I learned in Nemeth's texts.
Godspeed, Evi.

Re:Tragedy

[amicusNYCL]

They even have their own disc golf course.

Lost

[lorinc]

When working on Unix systems, it is easy to get lost at C. Let's hope she'll hack her way to the coast.

She thought it was a 3-hour tour

[Spy Handler]

a 3-hour tour

Re:Rawr

[Victor_0x53h]

I thought a beard was required, that's how misinformed I am!

Re:Rawr

[K. S. Kyosuke]

wow, everyone assumes she is a dude because only guys would know how to write Unix and Linux sysadmin books?

No, it's a reasonable assumption given the actual Unix writer demographics and given the somewhat non-descript first name. Or is it that whenever you hear the word "nurse", you immediately and involuntarily imagine a guy in 50% of the cases because you're perfectly gender-balanced and oh-so-detached from reality?

Re:Rawr

[K. S. Kyosuke]

That's two unfair stereotypes. Some women have beards.

No problem. Ancient Egyptian queens solved this by means of a strap-on.

Re:Rawr

[Farmer Tim]

And they were familiar with eunuchs commands.

RTFM

[westlake]

No, it's a reasonable assumption given the actual Unix writer demographics and given the somewhat non-descript first name.

But absolute proof that a poster hasn't clicked on any of the links in the story --- all three of which describe Evi as female and the Wikipedia bio including a photograph.

Re:RTFM

[K. S. Kyosuke]

But absolute proof that a poster hasn't clicked on any of the links in the story --- all three of which escribe Evi as female and the Wikipedia bio including a photograph.

Around here, that's less heinous than not having Evi's book on a cherished spot in your library.

Re:Another one?

[freeze128]

Davy Jones needs admins....

The sign on Evi's desk

[Arrogant-Bastard]

The last time I was in her office (which was many years ago) I noticed the sign on her desk:

Don't postpone joy.

She didn't. From the gusto with which she threw herself into her work to the whimsy that led her to recycle a jet fighter's cockpit canopy as a window in her improvised mountain home, she never hesitated to find a smile or a laugh.

So if we've lost her -- and I hope we haven't -- then we've not only lost someone who's been the mentor to an entire generation of system admins, we've lost a unique, wonderful, fascinating person.

p.s. I'm well aware that there are co-authors of those books. I'm equally well aware that Evi did the heavy lifting.

Oh-no

[rainer_d]

I didn't understand much of Unix before I read her book. But then I got my hands on the (then already ancient) 1st edition of the Unix System Administration Handbook - and it felt like a fog being lifted.

And I admit, I also thought she was a guy. She probably has baskets full of letters and emails with "Dear Mr Nemeth, ...".

Evi Nemeth, we owe you!

My good friend at CU.

[SteveWoz]

Evi has been my closest contact at CU over the years. She was always a good friend and administered the scholarship I set up there. I am very sad but hoping to hear good news from my NZ friends. Evi was a very important person when it comes to Unix and Internet routing.

Re:Rawr

[Anonymous Coward]

The more recent version is, um, foreshadowing:

http://www.amazon.com/Linux-System-Administration-Handbook-Edition/dp/0131480057

more information here

[AndroSyn]

I just googled a bit for further information about the ship and came across a rather interesting thread: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f121/schooner-nina-merged-3-threads-105498.html

It appears the ship is equipped with an EPIRB that hasn't been activated apparently. Perhaps they really are just offcourse and not lost.

Re:more information here

[Anonymous Coward]

EPIRBS on sailboats can be somewhat problematic. The idea is that if the boat sinks, the EPIRB detaches and floats off, starts beeping and squealing and hopefully survivors are in the immediate vicinity. In a sailing vessel it's easy for the thing to get caught in the rigging and dragged down. They don't work if they are underwater.

And if the boat capsizes rapidly (unusual in a bigger sailboat) and the EPIRB can get trapped.

But hopefully they just lost their antennas and are OK.

Re:more information here

[An dochasac]

Good thread. If someone Evi loved and respected were lost at sea, she might want to help organize a crowdsourced search and rescue effort like the one used in search of Jim Gray, Tyler Wright and Steve Fosset. What we need is data. As someone who has sailed for decades, I won't underestimate the scope of the effort. VHF radio doesn't reach much beyond the horizon and a mast of a ship that size wouldn't be seen or return a RADAR reflection more than about 7 miles under ideal conditions. So if EPIRB, HF and Satellite are down, the ship only has a 6 or 7 mile radius of observability, less if it has been dis-masted. (Somewhat likely given the conditions.) But the Tasman sea is huge so we need to use data to focus the search effort. The coast guard has a protocol which does this, based on tidal and weather patterns. But we can extend this based on the particular kind of boat, how well it sails into the wind, how fast it is, the captain and crew's behavior and the recommendations to go south of a low on June 3rd, 2013. Apparently GPS coordinates weren't part of Evi's last broadcast. But we can take the same reasonable assumption that I've see rescue people speak of, that they were in th center of the storm. Here is a weather satellite photo of the area on June 3rd. The storm seemed strongest at about 38S 165E. If they were in the thick of it by June 3rd, they were already pulled south of the rhumb-line to their destination, they might have drifted or been forced even further south. The storm grew stronger for at least another day as it moved east on June 4th. If they were ahead of (West of) the storm, they were almost certainly pushed north and west because lows circulate clockwise in the southern hemisphere. If they were behind it they may have been pushed south but I think this is less likely since they should have been already pretty far from NZ and the storm was moving east as they were moving west. Here are the weather satellite photos for the rest of June. But what we need are high resolution satellite or aircraft photos. Unfortunately this part of the world at this time of year is covered in clouds much of the time. Even the recon mission photos might not show much. So like the guy who looks for his keys under the streetlight, we might be limited in where we can crowdsource search. If someone were really industrious, they'd send out drones or balloons equipped with high resolution cameras. It's still a needle in a haystack, but its something. And if it helps bring these people home, it's worth it. If you ever want to read a harrowing story about someone lost at sea, only a few dozen miles from shore in the relatively tiny Irish sea, read the story of Fastnet 79, "Left for Dead." Evi, we're not giving up on you or the rest of the crew so keep hopeful and focus on yours and your friend's survival.

Hopes are down

[vikingpower]

I was in a NATO Navy for some years, and have seen more than one scenario like this one unfold. Although there definitely may be some individuals clinging on to a lifeboat for dear life, I would consider the Nina lost. Not implausible for such racing yacht in the roughness of the Tasman Sea in ( local ) winter. Reports mentioned rough seas of up to 8 meters. I guess in the front(s) the Nina has had to endure, gusts could have easily gone over 80 knots. Under such conditions, a racing yacht as low on the water as the Nina can go down in a matter of minutes... The Aussies and especially the Kiwi CG are doing all they can, but the Tasman Sea measures about 2,380,000 square miles... At this point, anything less than a miracle is to be ruled out, and any miracle highly unlikely. Rest to their souls.

Last known position 33.50 S 169.41E

[An dochasac]

Posted on the cruisers forum:

Current from Australia Maritime Safety Information current at 300000 UTC JUN 13 Issued by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC Australia) Part 1. Distress, Urgency, CQ and Safety Messages: PAN PAN FM RCC AUSTRALIA 260143Z JUN 2013 AUSSAR 2013/4000 TASMAN SEA RCC AUSTRALIA REQUESTS INFORMATION REGARDING SIGHTINGS OR COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE WHITE AND GREEN 60FT SCHOONER RIGGED VESESL 'NINA'. THE VESSEL HAS 7 POB, AND WAS ON A VOYAGE FROM OPUA NEW ZEALAND TO NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA, LAST KNOWN POSITION 33-50S 169-41E 04 JUNE 2013. REPORTS TO THIS STATION OR RCC AUSTRALIA VIA TELEPHONE +61262306811 INMARSAT THROUGH LES BURUM (POR 212,IOR 312), SPECIAL ACCESS CODE (SAC) 39, HF DSC 005030001, EMAIL: rccaus@amsa.gov.au OR BY FAX +61262306868. NNNN

So this is why they're still looking in NZ. Last known position was north of the center of the storm which means she would have been initially blown east if she'd been dis-masted or her crew was otherwise set adrift on June 3-4th. One thing I don't understand is given this position, why would they have been guided to sail south, towards the center of the storm in order to "get out of this nasty weather"?

Notice that they aren't too far from an intense white spot (thunderhead?) in this photo. Could they have been guided from inside a relatively localized thunderstorm towards the eye of the storm?

Re:Last known position 33.50 S 169.41E June 4th

[An dochasac]

I just noticed the date of the Pan-Pan alert. I wonder if the standard for PanPan broadcasts is Zulu time or local time and if so, what locale? Anyway by midnight June 4th Z, the storm was right over them and then sending them south should have reduced their time in the storm but it would have risked giving them a fierce headwind and driving them back to New Zealand if they were disabled.

Jun 4 IR satview with approx last known position

[An dochasac]

Enhanced satellite image with last known position of the Nina on June 4, 2013. (Arrow drawn to approximate position.)