Chris Seaton has died

https://twitter.com/flavorjones/status/1600436490885947393

by iluzone • 4 years ago

557 189 4 years ago

twitter.com

cinntaile• 4 years ago

https://twitter.com/ChrisGSeaton/status/1599108759183577088

I didn't know him but recognized the name from HN.

docdeek• 4 years ago

The tweet seems to imply this was not an unexpected death on his part. Was he unwell?

djmips• 4 years ago

A form of a suicide note possibly. I hope I'm not reading it wrong but that's what I took from his post especially in context of his sudden passing.

bluerooibos2• 4 years ago

I saw photos of him presenting at the Ruby conference just a week ago and he looks pretty healthy.

yla92• 4 years ago

I saw this tweet and I was wondering about the language used there like "permanent rest" but was thinking he was going to delete his Twitter account. Will miss seeing his comments on HN and his contributions. RIP, Chris.

ehPReth• 4 years ago

I saw this tweet just randomly in the AI timeline and brushed it off as him just being busy/done/taking a break from open source ruby work.. maybe moving on to something else or just picking a different hobby. Quite a shock to see this today

freedomben4• 4 years ago

everybody did. it's horrifying now, but people as smart as Chris that are going to do it, are going to do it. They know that tipping the hand too early will result in forced prevention (something we as a society have messed up about but that's a separate post). He worded it that way on purpose. In my opinion as a kindness so he could say goodbye rather than just disappearing without a sound.

vips7L• 4 years ago

This made me incredibly sad. I didn’t know him, but always enjoyed his insightful comments here on Ruby, Truffle, and the JVM.

CHY872• 4 years ago

Oh man, it was always awesome to find something from this dude! He'll be missed.

infinitedata• 4 years ago

He basically announced his ‘permanent-rest’ via twitter. So sad but grounding for all of us to remember that there are things way more important past the marvelous inventions we can code or make.

For learning purposes, anyone knows what was his major cause of frustration?

Mikeb853• 4 years ago

For learning purposes, anyone knows what was his major cause of frustration?

Suicide isn't because of frustration. Everyone has frustrations, most don't kill themselves because of it.

OJFord2• 4 years ago

I do think it's interesting that it's so widely stigmatised (illegal even) though: like we've collectively decided life is meaningful and must be lived to the best of your ability, deciding there's nothing in it for you and you don't want to take part is not (with very niche old-age && ill-health exception) allowed.

Weird, when you step back and think about it isn't it? If you're agnostic/atheist at least.

vintermann• 4 years ago

Frustration is just a word. It's maybe not the optimal word for it, but we understand what's meant: the situations on the inside and outside that made him consider such a choice.

Keep in mind many people on HN (incl. me) don't even speak English as a first language.

throw10920• 4 years ago

This comment exemplifies a pattern of rather useless comments that I've seen a lot of online recently, that are analogous to "contradiction - stating the opposing case with little or no evidence" on the argument pyramid: when a commentator X states a thing, commentator Y states that that thing isn't true, with no supporting evidence, but more importantly no additional value or elaboration added - just saying "that's wrong" without explaining why, or saying what is actually the case.

For instance, here, value would be added by stating what are the actual causes of suicide - or even adding research that supports your point even if you don't want to talk about what the actual causes are.

tuyiown3• 4 years ago

Suicide is very personal, should be treated as an extremely complex issue that its uniqueness for each cannot be expressed in details correct enough to respect the regretted.

I know you just want to know if any major points could stand out to bring some understanding, and they are probably some, but it's important to treat it as a might be relavant, but always small, piece of a the vastness of one's mind can be.

theGnuMe3• 4 years ago

Suicide is very personal, should be treated as an extremely complex issue that its uniqueness for each cannot be expressed in details correct enough to respect the regretted.

Can you elaborate on what you mean here? Are you saying that every suicide is unique and out of respect for the dead we should not try to understand it?

freedomben4• 4 years ago

I would have agreed fully with you for most of my life, but having now lost half a dozen friends to suicide, I think we're making a big mistake by not talking about it honestly and openly. Not only is it much harder for the friends/loved ones who are left in the dark about what happened, but it misses opportunities for learning and understanding. Most people who have never been ready to kill themselves have no idea what it's like, the hopelessness, the weariness, and worst of all the lies your mind tells you.

I do insist on being classy and respectful, particularly for the family members, but I wish as a society we would talk openly and honestly about these issues instead of high opacity implications.

leetrout• 4 years ago

Please talk to someone if you are feeling hopeless.

U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 800-273-TALK (8255)

National Suicide Helpline UK 0800 689 5652

His HN profile was also just his name https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=chrisseaton

I wish the best for his family and friends over the next few months. This will be a tough holiday season for them.

You never know what is going on in someone's life and no clue what was going on in his but I think working in tech is harder than people recognize / give credit (and may not have any bearing on Chris, I am not trying to speculate).

Please talk to someone if you are feeling hopeless.

U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 800-273-TALK (8255)

National Suicide Helpline UK 0800 689 5652

naedish• 4 years ago

Support services for other countries below.

https://meta.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mental_health_resources

toomuchtodo2• 4 years ago

You can also dial or text 988 in the US.

https://988lifeline.org/

noneeeed4• 4 years ago

In the UK the Samaritans how have a short number 116 123.

altendo• 4 years ago

In the US, dialing 988 will also get you access to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. (Technically it is now the 988 Lifeline, but they both refer to the same thing[1].)

1: https://988lifeline.org/current-events/the-lifeline-and-988/

adamc• 4 years ago

Having been on the other end of it... the reality is harsh. People say they want to know, but in fact... they mostly don't. The reality of it is hard to deal with. It can go on and on.

People have a lot of misconceptions, sometimes for good reasons (it makes life easier to endure). It's a lot like the pushback on #metoo or #blacklivesmatter or <almost anything linked to traumatic experience>. They want to make it your fault because then its not something they have to think about.

I think depression is mostly orthogonal to where you work, although stress may make it worse.

silisili• 4 years ago

I agree with this. Someone reaching out because they have a problem or need someone to talk to is perfectly welcomed. Someone who does so daily becomes a big f'ing drag on your life, pardon the expression.

My father did that to us kids after divorce, and our relationship has never been the same.

(For those curious, he didn't hurt himself, just became an angry, sad, drunk yearslong drag on us all).

whats_a_quasar2• 4 years ago

This was definitely my experience. It takes so long and so much effort to get out of a deep depression that it strains everyone around you.

If anyone's gone through or is going through something similar, I highly recommend "The Noonday Demon." It captures much of the subjective experience of someone going through a depression, and how weird and frustrating the experience can be for everyone involved. https://www.amazon.com/Noonday-Demon-Atlas-Depression/dp/150...

zwaps• 4 years ago

If you are struggling with self-worth, please read very carefully the posts of people who actually knew Chris Seaton. People value him by how much of himself and his time he was willing to give to others, not by some absolute measure of his skill. This is a capacity everyone has.

In fact, you probably have touched someone (if unknowingly) in a similar manner. People who decide to go, very very often leave behind a heart shattered to pieces - unknowingly.

aardvark179• 4 years ago

I worked with him on TruffleRuby for almost six years, and knew him for a few years before that. I think every one who knew him is shocked and saddened by this news.

kshahkshah2• 4 years ago

I'm sorry for your loss then. We followed each other on Twitter and I tried to plug the TruffleRuby and Graal work wherever I could as I really believed it is the future of Ruby. Beyond that what a brilliant writer. This single article helped me understand so much more about a language I've cherished for nearly two decades: https://chrisseaton.com/truffleruby/deoptimizing/

lordnacho• 4 years ago

He wrote a lot of thoughtful contributions here. Very sad to see him go.

nazgulsenpai• 4 years ago

His personal website for those, like me, who didn't know the name.

https://chrisseaton.com/

Even without knowing of him, this is incredibly tragic and my condolences to all of those affected.

Edd314159• 4 years ago

It's not implausible that many of us who work with Ruby owe our livelihoods to Chris, and his relentless efforts to progress the language and not just keep it relevant, but thriving. He will be missed so much by the community.

adwn• 4 years ago

Really unsettling to think that just 4 days ago, right before his death, he was still posting here on HN. [1]

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=chrisseaton

orra• 4 years ago

It's a shock, yes, but worth knowing it's a common one.

“They can't be dead: I just spoke to them” is a common response to death. Unfortunately, death can be rather sudden.

petercooper2• 4 years ago

I find the statistics surrounding death to be quite sobering. I was at an annual event with 1000 other people and for whatever reason got to wondering if everyone would return the next year. Being a nerd, some calculations occurred and it turned out that would be pretty much impossible as at least a few attendees would die (of any cause) before then. It's rather stoic but makes me appreciate things a little more.

The Ruby community has lost some fantastic people. Chris, Jason Seifer, Steven Bristol, Jim Weirich, James Golick, and Ezra Zygmuntowicz all come to mind. RIP.

wpeterson• 4 years ago

Ugh, what a loss for this community and the Ruby community.

This should be worthy of a Hacker News black banner today.

kshahkshah2• 4 years ago

My god this is awful. He was brilliant, accomplished, and kind. A few days ago he announced his 'permanent rest' (https://twitter.com/ChrisGSeaton/status/1599108759183577088). I'd thought it meant from the Ruby community and that the replies asking if he needed help were reading too much into the wording.

swader9994• 4 years ago

The outpouring of love in the replies on that thread. It is tough to comprehend how that wasn't enough to prevent this.

paufernandez• 4 years ago

The depressed sees the same events quite differently, that's why it is so difficult to understand for many people (I can though).

munificent2• 4 years ago

Like many mental illnesses, depression interferes with your perceptions. It's not that that love "wasn't enough", it's that a person deep in depression can't even accurately see or feel that love.

bluerooibos2• 4 years ago

Yeah. The guy had what appears to be a pretty great life. Looking through twitter, there's photos of him with his kids and wife.

I just can't comprehend how someone can arrive at the decision to commit suicide, especially when you have a wife and children, and to then tweet about it. The human mind is an odd thing.

blindriver• 4 years ago

My friend who suffers from depression said it was basically being in emotional pain all the time. She said she has thought a few times that ending her life would stop the pain. It's a horrible form of mental illness. It's pervasive and while she has a grip on it now, it's something she struggles with often.

I also have a friend who committed suicide a few years ago. He had 2 kids but as his other friends described, he had his demons since he was a kid. I wish I could have helped him more.

kunalgupta• 4 years ago

Oh no. I read the initially and thought it was about twitter. :( rest in peace.

ashconnor• 4 years ago

I replied to that tweet not long after he made it. I didn't read between the lines of what it could have meant.

jimnotgym• 4 years ago

Chris often challenged me on discussions about UK politics. It is always important to hear different viewpoints, and I will miss that.

He lived within an hours drive from here. Which somehow makes it worse. This is not exactly Silicon Valley and people of his caliber are not everywhere to talk to.

He was pretty high up in the Army Reserve as well as his day job. It is humbling how much some people fit into a short life. My thoughts to his family and colleagues

ksec• 4 years ago

About 10 years ago he started a project with Ruby running on Graal before it was known as TruffleRuby. I still remember those HN submissions. SubstrateVM, Graal, The VM to rule it all. And as far as I am aware, he was the only one putting all papers about Ruby and Compilers Design in a single place [1].

I still remember a thread which I have bookmarked somewhere, where you have the lead of JVM, Graal, TruffleRuby, JSC, V8 and Spidermonkey along with another compiler expert arguing ( or in a heated debate ) about Dynamic languages. And when ever you have compiler related submission on HN, you will see him contribute his expertise on the subject.

He has been a valuable member of the Ruby and HN Community. I once joked "I am a simple man, I see Chris Seaton, I Upvote :)." I still remember I felt honoured when he followed me on Twitter.

He will surely be missed by many.

R.I.P

[1] https://rubybib.org

freedomben4• 4 years ago

As a fellow Rubyist and HN reader I know what you mean! There was always something mindblowing from Chris in the thread, usually multiple things. There's a big hole in my heart today.

meisel• 4 years ago

Can you link that thread? It sounds quite interesting

graderjs2• 4 years ago

Seeing some of the comments here how people valued him, it seems like maybe sometimes these sentiments of gratitude are not expressed until after someone passes. It works if folks cherish the time they have, and remind people of how they appreciate them while they're still on Earth in their body.

schneems4• 4 years ago

I had lunch with him on Wednesday and wish I said more.

I also worry about the hidden pressures of praise. A overly critical inner life can interpret it as “I like you as long as you are useful” which is of course not the truth.

I have appreciation for the creators in my life, even when they no longer create.

xtracto• 4 years ago

I like you as long as you are useful” which is of course not the truth.

I think that's the problem with depression disease: no matter what most people tell you, your brain will find a way to use it to dig the hole deeper.

My wife has battled with minor depression and anxiety her whole life. I learned that more than trying to say things to cheer her up in the moment, i was more useful by looking for treatment.

It's a terrible disease.

toyg• 4 years ago

A overly critical inner life can interpret it as “I like you as long as you are useful”

That's me after most praise: "you say you like me because the stuff I can do will help you, or because you have some unstated aim to take advantage of me, or because you don't know that it could have been so much better". I don't know when, but at some point any expectation of honesty in praise just went out of the window. Because of that, obviously, I also don't praise people as much as I should, because I expect they would react like I do - with obvious repercussions on social interactions.

The mind can be a right bitch.

layer8• 4 years ago

If he indeed committed suicide out of depression, I would imagine that maybe he realized after years of relative successes that nothing, no achievement, no appreciation/gratitude by others, will cure his depression. At least that wouldn’t be an uncommon pattern for high-intellect people with severe depression.

theGnuMe3• 4 years ago

This is very common actually. Phil Stutz (a famous psychiatrist) calls it the Snapshot. Basically the Snapshot is the misbelief that if we achieve certain things we will be happy. It's a form of wishful thinking. Instead you have to focus on and enjoy the journey because basic reality is pain, uncertainty and constant work.

There's a Netflix documentary on Stutz (called "Stutz") with Jonah Hill that is quite good although abbreviated on its coverage of "the tools".

mattgreenrocks2• 4 years ago

maybe he realized after years of relative successes that nothing, no achievement, no appreciation/gratitude by others, will cure his depression.

The real kicker is that the cure for this is not free either.

I'd say the cure is to starve the broken part of yourself that needs achievement to justify itself. To do that, you must consciously break the cycle of over-achievement and focus on well-being as a higher value over achievement. This is a lot of work, as you're patching up the hole that achievement was trying to fill, and it is slow going.

Eventually you can have a better relationship with achievement, but there's a cost: you no longer see it the same way, and other people can sometimes detect that about you. You'd choose your own well-being over achievement most times. Because it broke you once, it is harder to have the same hunger for it you once did. And that's good: it means you learned and you changed. (Sometimes I think the fact we can make these big changes at all is a profound miracle.) But, people can see that as aloofness, detachment, or disengaged. It is none of those things. It is kept at arms length the same way a former alcoholic might deal with a drink: extremely cautiously and deliberately.

It will forever be complicated.

graderjs2• 4 years ago

Seeing some of the comments in reply here from folks who find it hard to give or take gratitude, it seems a lot of people see what is being talked about as praise. But appreciation is distinct. Praise is: you are good or your skills is good. Appreciation/gratitude is: you really made a difference to me.

You can never go wrong just honestly and vulnerably saying, "I appreciate you because...", and telling someone how what they did really help you out, or let them know you appreciate them because they made a difference to you, you're just sharing how you feel sincerely. Whatever happens, you said what you could at the time.

As for accepting expressions of gratitude, people may have ulterior motives that you may correctly suspect, in which case...be happy, a frenemy has revealed themselves to you, and the fact that they see you as important enough to their interests to try to manipulate is its own form of compliment...or they may simply be imperfectly trying to express how much of a difference you made to them, like everybody else... Either way you can choose the meaning you take from it and find something to feel happy about or use.

It reflects poorly on your if you always suspect other people saying nice things to you, for one you have such a low opinion of others, and of your own impact, but also you miss many chances to find something good. For examples: someone may have been trying to connect with you, because they appreciate you, but by suspecting them, you pushed them away, and hurt them. May as well at least try to see the good and give a chance to it: you may be helping someone more than you know by doing so.

gozali• 4 years ago

Gone too soon #RIPChrisSeaton

foobazgt• 4 years ago

I wasn't privileged to know Chris personally, but I was always keenly waiting to hear his latest achievements and insights. He was clearly talented, passionate, and compassionate. It is so very sad to see him go.

Depression is a full blown pandemic. For example, in the US in 2021, there were approximately as many suicide attempts as there were COVID deaths. It is so fucked up and so pernicious.

We (rightfully) encourage folks to seek help, but the very nature of the illness makes it difficult for them. Let's all also do our best to recognize the signs of folks struggling so that we can be there for them - to help them recover when it's so hard for them to even reach out for help.

tiffanyh• 4 years ago

Internet Archive.

Does anyone know how to recursively save his entire website to Wayback Machine?

I submitted https://chrisseaton.com, but it doesn't appear any of the child pages are being archived.

nirvdrum2• 4 years ago

If it helps any, Chris's web site used GitHub Pages and its source is available at https://github.com/chrisseaton/chrisseaton.github.io.

eatonphil• 4 years ago

There's no particular guarantee that this will stick around either as Github/MS changes policies down the line. Some guaranteed long-term archive like archive.org would be better.

mossity• 4 years ago

It looks pretty well archived to me, where are you seeing things missing?

toomuchtodo2• 4 years ago

Done. Will take some time for any straggler pages to show up in the CDX indexes.

gavinray• 4 years ago

What terrible news to wake up to.

I hate when they say "passed away" -- here was a man in his prime, just the other week sharing knowledge of compilers at a conference, taken from the world.

Chris helped me frequently on the GraalVM slack, and it was nice to see his face in the comments of many of the threads here on HN that had to do with compilers and compiler optimizations. I will miss him.

pjmlp• 4 years ago

What a loss, we discussed so many times about compiler related subjects.

My sentiments and thoughts for the family and friends.

sbuccini• 4 years ago

This cuts deep. Chris had a big impact on my current life trajectory, one that is still playing out -- which is why I was holding off on reaching out with an update. Now I'll never get that chance.

Chris seemed to be _everywhere_ and was always generous with his time, even to complete newbies like myself. He certainly set the standard, as one would expect from an Army officer. I'm not exactly sure what his experiences were like in active duty, but we lose way too many vets to mental health issues. If you know a veteran, consider checking in -- this time of year is particularly tough.

jacquesm4• 4 years ago

Gah that so sucks. He left behind a wife and young daughter. Such a nice man, this really is painful.

noneeeed4• 4 years ago

Absolutely tragic news.

I met Chris at a couple of local Ruby meetups in Bristol when he gave talks. He was an extremely smart, but also very personable guy. He seemed to really love what he was doing and relished the opportunity to explain it to people and share what he knew. He had a knack for explaining things really well in a way that never patronised when talking to people who were not experts in his domain. He had a real love of communicating what he knew to other people and his passion for his projects was infectious and inspiring.

He was younger than me (mid 30s?), but managed to pack an immense amount into that time. He was one of those people I've met who I've immediately thought "I need to be more like that". Genuinely inspirational. His death is a real loss to the community.

icedchai• 4 years ago

I didn't know him personally, but immediately recognized the name and always enjoyed his comments here. Very sad.

sicromoft• 4 years ago

Tenderlove wrote a nice tribute, "In Memory of a Giant":

http://tenderlovemaking.com/2022/12/07/in-memory-of-a-giant....

searls• 4 years ago

Aaron's post was incredibly touching and inspired me to share this https://blog.testdouble.com/posts/2022-12-07-the-best-kind-o...

noneeeed4• 4 years ago

That was lovely, and put much more eloquently how I feel about Chris than I've managed myself.

We really have lost an exemplar of how to be a member of a community based on knowledge and learning.

I hope he continues to be an inspiration to people in the Ruby world for many years to come.

noneeeed4• 4 years ago

This bit really chimed with my brief contacts with Chris

As a college dropout, I’ve always felt underqualified. Embarrassment about my lack of knowledge and credentials has driven me to study hard on my own time. But Chris never once made me feel out of place. Any time I had questions, without judgement, he would take the time to explain things to me.

I never once felt like he looked down on people who knew less than him, he just saw it as an opportunity to share what he knew with them.

In an industry that can sometimes be dominated by arrogant certainty, or people trying to demonstrate their brilliance, he was a breath of fresh air.

HL33tibCe7• 4 years ago

Desperately sad news. I never met him, he never met Me, but https://chrisseaton.com/army/ made a real impression on me. It’s the kind of thing that sits in your head and pops up from time to time. I found the level of dedication here alongside his professional success incredibly inspiring. Tragically, part of that article is about his young daughter.

Not really sure what to think now.

pwdisswordfish9• 4 years ago

This part had something about it that stuck out in light of the news (first just a bit, but then it kept going):

"My fantastic job with Shopify meets my physiological and safety needs, and the job is rewarding and intellectually stimulating (not many people get to work on their PhD work for so long with a team they’ve built around them and I’m very grateful.) But then what? What are you doing to feel alive and to know that you matter? How do you fit into something enduring and bigger than yourself? The Army challenges me every week, and those challenges better me and make me happier. I know that people are depending on me, and that if I don’t turn up and lead my Squadron then nobody’s going to do that for me."

Like you, not sure what to think.

wnolens3• 4 years ago

Indeed, he seemed to have all the things that generally is believed to combat that trend towards darkness.

However, I recall my absolute lowest and the first time I entertained the thought to end it, the 'it' was specifically what it felt like to be in my body. It wasn't a matter of self-worth, it was to stop pain. The strongest reason I could come up with to wait for it to pass was the pain it would cause my mother.

So, I don't know.

bostonwalker• 4 years ago

Like you his article about the army reserve made an impression on me. I myself am a serving officer in the Canadian Army reserve and I reached out to him to connect. He was generous with his time and we were chatting about work, life, and army stuff this year. He offered help in finding me a role within Shopify and most recently he congratulated me on finishing my junior officer training.

Chris was not just a great technologist but also an officer and a gentleman. Rest in peace, Sir.

ngd• 4 years ago

When I was 15 I had to move high school after the death of my mother. I started to socialise at school and joined the investment club. It was a tough time for me and I desperately wanted to make friends and fit in. I wasn’t really into investing but a young man by the name of Chris Seaton was building their website and I loved computers so I wanted to help. Chris taught me how to program, first HTML websites, then PHP based apps, then C# and VBA native apps. Im pretty sure Chris invented the password manager before it was a thing too.

I spent the next few years at high school and sixth form trying to sit near Chris in lessons and talking to him on MSN Messenger and ICQ incessantly about programming, he taught me a lot and set me on a path to choosing computer science as my degree, I just copied him to be honest.

I’ll miss you Chris

aphrax• 4 years ago

This a beautiful thing to share. I wish I’d known him and I’m sorry for your loss.

djur2• 4 years ago

Thanks for sharing this. Please take care of yourself. There's something uniquely painful about losing someone who you look up to as a mentor.

GrahamSeaton2• 4 years ago

As a teenager, Chris (or Kit as some of his family knew him) wrote a computer programme, in his bedroom in Chandlers Ford, he called Password Safe. RIP Kit

rdrake982• 4 years ago

So sorry for the loss you must be feeling. I met and talked to Chris just once, after a talk he gave in London, and found him utterly delightful as well as lucid on all things technical. Blessings and comfort to all who knew and loved him.

aliswe• 4 years ago

I just *memcopied him to be honest

ilrwbwrkhv• 4 years ago

If you have a lower baseline of happiness, please do yourself a favour and read Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus.

It starts with:

There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest— whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories—comes afterwards. These are games; one must first answer.

Absurdism is a great way to live life and understand that nothing is worth killing yourself for.

d3nj4l• 4 years ago

A few days ago chris responded to a silly comment of mine on here (completely unrelated to ruby or compilers), and when I saw it I thought, "oh, it's Chris Seaton! I hope he's doing well!"

It's so unfortunate he was not. RIP.

MaxBarraclough• 4 years ago

He'll be missed. I didn't know him, but learnt something every time our paths met here.

vidarh• 4 years ago

I only met him once, fairly briefly, and exchanged a few messages about our shared interest in compilers. But he seemed like a nice guy, and it's incredibly sad to see this.

GrahamSeaton2• 4 years ago

As a teenage, Chris (or Kit as some in his family knew him) made pocket-money from a programme he wrote in his bedroom in Chandlers Ford call password safe. RIP

schneems4• 4 years ago

Between the childhood information and username, it seems like you're related to Chris. Are you related? I appreciate the little detail. It seems he's always been ahead of his time.

Know that he's had a huge impact on the Ruby community and the world.

I knew him online for years, but met in person for the first time last week. He spoke fondly of his ongoing trip and spoke with passion about tech projects.

The lunch was at a taco truck. He ordered a meal made of fries covered with various taco toppings. I remember pickled red onions at the very top. He left before the group was finished saying he had to go pair with someone. I felt uplifted about the interaction. I even brought it up to my spouse and my visiting parents when I got back from the conf.

I can only guess how he was feeling at the time, he seemed busy but cheerful.

rootusrootus2• 4 years ago

His suffering is over, but that of his wife & daughter has just begun. My heart breaks for them.

aidog• 4 years ago

I just opened my first issue two weeks ago in concurrent-ruby and he kindly offered me help. In the end I feel like I have wasted his time, because it was a different problem. I wish I expressed more gratitude. I'm grateful for everyone in the Ruby and OpenSource community

schneems4• 4 years ago

In the end I feel like I have wasted his time, because it was a different problem

Every issue is an investigation. It's normal for the breakage to be in some place non-obvious. Don't beat yourself up over it or let it hold you back from opening issues in the future. If you can provide a good reproduction you'll speed up the time to get to "oh here's the bug" or "not my problem" which is really helpful to maintainers.

I wish I expressed more gratitude. I'm grateful for everyone in the Ruby and OpenSource community

There's never enough in hind site. Let's all pay it forward a little more

smcl• 4 years ago

I saw the headline, read all the words, saw "Chris Seaton" and thought "oh this is about one of our guys!" before properly processing the final bit. God damn what a fucking shame, I hate this. RIP chrisseaton

greenpeas• 4 years ago

what a terrible waste...

nkurz• 4 years ago

Apologies if this is the wrong time to ask, but there probably won't ever be a better one. I didn't know him, but often read his comments here. I frequently found them to be... frustrating. He seemed to have a particularly literalist bent, and would often seem to focus on small seemingly irrelevant inconsistencies rather the bigger argument. He usually wasn't wrong, but it made me wonder whether he was autistic, or otherwise out there on the Asperger's spectrum. I'd been meaning to ask him, but never found the right opportunity.

For those of you who knew him in real life, did this carry over? Or was I misreading him, as is so easy to do online. I don't ask this flippantly. I lean in the literalist direction myself, and often am unduly frustrated by the imperfections and inconsistencies of the world. Life's not easy if your mind demands a world that makes sense. It makes me wonder if this outlook was part of what pushed him over the edge. Thoughts?

coletonodonnell• 4 years ago

Seems that the testimonials from others on here show that he was nothing but lovely, I don't think that making observations like that on a post like this is terribly appropriate though.

system2• 4 years ago

It is probably cultural. In some it is forbidden to talk behind people who died other than positively. In some, possible to say things like this. I guess.

sitkack2• 4 years ago

I don't think Chris would have minded.

justin66• 4 years ago

This:

Seems that the testimonials from others on here show that he was nothing but lovely

is because people behave like this:

I don't think that making observations like that on a post like this is terribly appropriate though.

rootusrootus2• 4 years ago

I will admit that when I put 2 and 2 together and realized who he was here (in my mind, for whatever reason, I've always read his username in my head as Chris Eaton, not Chris Seaton), I was conflicted. The image I built up from years of his commentary did not match the portrait painted today by people who knew him much better.

I think there's a lesson there. Comments are just that, comments. Try not to read too much into them, they are severely lacking in the necessary context. Assume good faith in the absence of something very explicit that suggests otherwise.

beachy• 4 years ago

Assume good faith

One of the HN rules, and one that I think would vastly improve on line discourse if others followed it. I have to go on FB from time to time (since that's where a community I follow is based) and it's horrifying how quickly and often things spiral out of control, when the protagonists are probably pretty OK people IRL.

Even if someone is being a jerk, responding in this way can often make them pull their head in.

I wish I was better at this.

azhenley• 4 years ago

His dissertation about Ruby: https://chrisseaton.com/phd/specialising-ruby.pdf

slgaikwad• 4 years ago

This is devastating. I worked with the same supervisor as Chris after he finished his phd. He interviewed me and played a key role in getting me the scholarship. I often joked that he raised the bar so high that it's not worth trying to meet it. I always admired his drive for learning and ability to do things at high quality. RIP, Chris.

krishvs• 4 years ago

Terrible news. He will be missed. My heart breaks for his wife and kid. RIP Chris.

renewiltord• 4 years ago

Damn, I hated this guy's HN comments but he seems to have been a fine person who people loved. I probably come off the same way to everyone else here, but the people around me love me.

Makes me wonder if this is a property of the interaction mechanism. Let me set an unacceptable maxprocrast and leave this place alone.

RIP my fellow dude.

sitkack2• 4 years ago

Well this sucks. We didn't always see eye to eye, but I always enjoyed our exchanges. Already missed.

ohadrau• 4 years ago

Years ago when I was around 14, I stumbled upon Chris's Katahdin project and thought it was such a cool idea I had to try it out. I spent quite a bit of time trying to get set up with it, and not knowing much about C# couldn't really figure it out myself. I ended up reaching out to Chris before giving up on it, not expecting much. To my surprise, Chris spent several hours helping me out and answering my (probably very dumb) questions. I was shocked at how helpful and welcoming he was. Despite the relatively brief encounter I can easily say Chris was one of the kindest programmers I've had the pleasure of interacting with.

It's hard for me to express how much this title hit me when I read it. Like many in this thread, Chris had an enormous impact on my path as a programmer and I'm quite sad that I never got the chance to properly thank him. RIP, Chris

karianna• 4 years ago

Chris was also well known in the London Java Community and contributed to multiple events, conferences, bringing his expertise in a thoughtful and kind way to folks who were often 1-2 stacks above the runtimes and compilers space .

My conversations with him about JVM design, GraalVM and Ruby were some of the most memorable and fun times I’ve had running around the conference circuit.

Thank you Chris for unselfishly sharing so much with us and leaving the world a better place, you will be missed.

I’m off to go and hug loved ones now.

chris37879• 4 years ago

I didn't know of the man, but after a quick google search I know his work. My condolences.

oceanician• 4 years ago

I feel Chris was a very intelligent human, who conveyed complex information, in a human-digestable manner, that many others of us struggle with.

I saw him present in Manchester at our ruby meetup, and later online.

We interacted a little about jobs at Shopify. But there didn't seem to be a part-time option for me. Something I need due to some health issues of my own.

I wonder if we as a group of ruby loving people, and the wider tech industry, can learn from this? I don't know.

It seems no matter what was said, the outcome would have been the same? I guess we'll never know. It's likely that those who worked with him, and were trusted, will perhaps say more intime. I hope they do not feel bad in any way. But perhaps there's aspects his family and close colleagues will be able to share intime, when things are less hurtful so we can learn a little from how to help others in this situation?

Big hugs to those close to Chris. And big respect to those writing amazing blogs in his memory.

Hugs to all.

Chris Seaton has died

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