Interview with Donald Knuth (2008)

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1193856

by chjj • 12 years ago

42 8 12 years ago

chjj• 12 years ago

I saw this a while ago and always thought it was interesting: I initially thought Knuth was an Apple fan after watching a few of his lectures, but apparently he uses his Macbook only for trivial everyday tasks.

For every WM enthusiast here:

Screenshot of Knuth's setup: http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/screen.jpeg

Knuth's fvwm2 config: http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/programs/.fvwm2rc

myg204• 12 years ago

Even his comments on that wm config file are a great read...inspiring to see such thoughtfulness on all levels.

quesebifurcan• 12 years ago

I agree. This Knuth gem is also well worth a read: http://www.literateprogramming.com/adventure.pdf.

brudgers• 12 years ago

If you want to spend quality time with Knuth without picking up TAoCP, this extensive video interview is awesome:

http://www.webofstories.com/play/donald.knuth/1

mabbo• 12 years ago

"Remember, though, that my opinion on economic questions is highly suspect, since I’m just an educator and scientist. I understand almost nothing about the marketplace."

How wonderful to hear a person say that. Like, hey, I'm an expert at just this one field, not every field. Rare to see that attitude these days.

_Robbie• 12 years ago

Yes, I appreciated that too. I wonder if the media has had an impact on this. In a TV interview for instance, it might be considered rude to refuse to answer a question.

rakoo• 12 years ago

web browsing [...] recreation

Ha !

jostylr• 12 years ago

I have been using my version of literate programming (markdown compiled with node : https://github.com/jostylr/literate-programming) for awhile now and I have to agree with him that it does become indispensable. I am already at the point that I can't imagine coding without it. Particularly now that I have embraced Vim and the fantastic outliner Voom.

Re-editable instead of reusable code struck me as right on target as well, though there is the issue of patches.

Thinking for oneself instead of following conventional wisdom seems one of the most important pieces of what ought to be conventional wisdom. It is a hard road to travel, though.

Interview with Donald Knuth (2008)

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