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Seth Vidal RIP
The Daily Durham site is reporting
that Fedora developer Seth Vidal has been killed in a hit-and-run
accident. Seth was perhaps best known as the creator of the "Yum" package
management system; he will be much missed in the community.
Update: see also this note from Fedora project leader Robyn Bergeron. "To say he will be missed is an understatement. He has been a colleague, a team member, a source of wisdom and advice, and above all, a friend and inspiration to countless people in the Fedora community over the past decade. His seminal and invaluable work in Fedora and free software will live on for years to come, and the legacy of his spirit will stay with the community, and with many of us individually, forever." (Log in to post comments)
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 9, 2013 18:24 UTC (Tue) by mcpierce (guest, #69508) [Link]
I was just telling my wife about how, when I first started working at Red Hat, Seth was one of the first people to get me to "see the light". Whenever I posted a complaint about something, some bug I'd found in NetworkManager (that one I still remember) his response was always:
"What's the BZ #?"
I started doing the same soon after, realizing that simple complaints aren't enough. See a problem, fix the problem, help everyone.
You will be missed, Seth. A lot.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 9, 2013 18:28 UTC (Tue) by spot (guest, #15640) [Link]
I've had the privilege of knowing Seth for a long time (15+ years), and hiring him at Red Hat. He was a good friend, a brilliant mind, and a passionate soul.
There are a million more words to say, but the wound is still too fresh.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 9, 2013 18:40 UTC (Tue) by rahulsundaram (subscriber, #21946) [Link]
That is shocking. Everything from getting Fedora Extras on its feet to Yum and all the conversations. You will be missed Seth.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 9, 2013 18:58 UTC (Tue) by stickster (guest, #40146) [Link]
I first met Seth in 2005. Having read his mailing list posts for some time (I was younger and more naive) I expected him to breathe fire from his nostrils and have the ability to turn you to stone with his gaze. Imagine my surprise when he turned out to be a humble, engaging, funny, and genuinely warm human being. It just so happened he also knew there was no reason to coddle dumb ideas when you could stop them before they reproduced. If only everyone could be so gifted.
I wasn't as close to Seth as some people I know, although we've had many great conversations, dinners, etc. over the years. I know he knew I thought well of him, and I'm happy that the last time I saw him in person, he was jolly and convivial as always; that we traded jokes, laughed, and enjoyed each other's company. Not many people (relatively speaking) had that privilege, and I count myself lucky.
My heart goes out to his family and I hope they will realize how much he was respected by those who knew of him, and loved by those who knew him.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 9, 2013 19:32 UTC (Tue) by martin.langhoff (subscriber, #61417) [Link]
Shocking. Sad. Just yesterday mid-afternoon he was helping me with some reposync configs and we were exchanging notes about puppet and ansible.
My warmest regards to those close to him.
And be darn careful around cyclists.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 10, 2013 16:59 UTC (Wed) by ufa (subscriber, #56005) [Link]
Please, do not ask for cyclist to be careful. Ask that for drivers!
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 10, 2013 17:17 UTC (Wed) by Trelane (guest, #56877) [Link]
I think that was the intent of the last sentence.
"[Drivers,] be darn careful around cyclists."
Were cyclists the intended audience, there would have ben a comma preceding the word "cyclists." and with that formulation, the sentence would have been almost illegible. (Almost.)
It makes much more sense with drivers being the intended audience.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 10, 2013 17:27 UTC (Wed) by ufa (subscriber, #56005) [Link]
" think that was the intent of the last sentence.
' "[Drivers,] be darn careful around cyclists.' "
Well, I hope so. Nevertheless, as a cyclist, I never stop hearing this directed to me, as if I am the one who needs to take care.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 9, 2013 19:59 UTC (Tue) by lkundrak (subscriber, #43452) [Link]
A truly inspiring person.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 9, 2013 20:13 UTC (Tue) by leif81 (guest, #75132) [Link]
It's bitter sweet that one of his last Twitter posts was about the joy of biking.
https://twitter.com/skvidal/status/353513598192058371
RIP Seth, I only knew you from Planet Fedora RSS.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 9, 2013 20:30 UTC (Tue) by hadess (subscriber, #24252) [Link]
We didn't always see eye-to-eye in our Fedora conversations but I wish the discussion didn't have to end that way :(
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 9, 2013 20:36 UTC (Tue) by jdieter (subscriber, #42216) [Link]
It seems that so many gifted programmers are... less... gifted when it comes to dealing with people. Seth was an exception. He welcomed me to yum development and displayed grace when I asked questions that were either obvious or just plain misguided. We'll miss you, Seth.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 9, 2013 22:43 UTC (Tue) by luya (subscriber, #50741) [Link]
I only know him as yum creator and have met in person during Toronto FudCon. Hard to believe he is gone due to this tragedy. He will be missed in this world but his legacy lives on.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 9, 2013 23:03 UTC (Tue) by duffy (subscriber, #31787) [Link]
I live in Boston. Seth lived in the Raleigh area. Once, for no reason at all except he knew I loved ginger beer, Seth shipped up a case of Blenheim ginger beer to me. Just because. We were sometimes foodie buddies at conferences because we are both vegetarian. He'd occasionally recommend good veggie eats to try, too.
We had many long and productive conversations. Sometimes he'd see I was going through a rough time (usually in a mailing list flamewar :) sometimes on tech topics, sometimes on social justice issues which he was passionate about) and he'd private message me on irc to let me know (if I wasn't, I sometimes am!) crazy and give a rational and well thought-out analysis of the problem. This on occasion spanned hours. It always made me feel better and energized me to keep carrying on when I had been ready to give up.
He was a brilliant guy and a really thoughtful and good human being from the core. The planet is worse off without him.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 9, 2013 23:40 UTC (Tue) by PaulWay (✭ supporter ✭, #45600) [Link]
Sorry to hear this. Terrible news - my best wishes to his family, friends and colleagues.
Paul
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 10, 2013 2:34 UTC (Wed) by halfline (subscriber, #31920) [Link]
Seth was smart, congenial to people, and passionate about the things he cared about. He was always around to help people in Fedora who needed help.
Once I mentioned to him offhand that I needed a way to build a bunch of rpms in order, and on the spot he started writing a solution for me. Within an hour he had something that met my needs and over the next few days extended it to meet the requests of other people, too. The script ultimately turned into a full fledged project (called mockchain), complete with documentation.
He cared about Fedora a great deal and was involved with it almost since the project started.
He had strong, valuable opinions on a wide breadth of technical issues and he brought perspective to arguments. He made sure that the system administrator view point was always considered in discussions. We weren't always on the same side of every argument, but when we disagreed, he never took things personally. He always tried to be objective and well reasoned.
In life, he cared a great deal about the rights of the disenfranchised. He championed for gay rights, people with disabilities, and other things. he was a vegetarian and a humanitarian.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 10, 2013 3:34 UTC (Wed) by russelljohn (subscriber, #57603) [Link]
The driver was arrested. I hope he gets proper punishment.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 10, 2013 5:27 UTC (Wed) by dakas (guest, #88146) [Link]
There is no "proper punishment" as no amount of money or jail time can bring another Seth.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 10, 2013 9:19 UTC (Wed) by mpr22 (subscriber, #60784) [Link] That's what makes it punishment, rather than coerced restitution.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 10, 2013 3:54 UTC (Wed) by motk (subscriber, #51120) [Link]
Just heartbreaking. I well remember talking to Seth about (possibly) moving to BNE for Red Hat ten years ago now. He's always been a person of good will and patience and I will miss him muchly.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 10, 2013 3:58 UTC (Wed) by amit (subscriber, #1274) [Link]
Absolutely shocking. Condolences to his family and friends.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 10, 2013 13:07 UTC (Wed) by Sparks (guest, #91784) [Link]
I feel I am still in shock. I met Seth on a few occasions while working on Fedora. The first time I physically met him was at the Richmond Amtrak station as I was waiting on my train. He saw my Shadowman ball cap and came over to say hello. He later sent me a Fedora ball cap (the same one I wear today) since I didn't have one.
Seth was... well, Seth. He was kind, he listened, he was constructive in his criticisms, and he was always smiling. I enjoyed talking with Seth.
The Earth lost someone special and it saddens me greatly.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 10, 2013 13:47 UTC (Wed) by sumanah (guest, #59891) [Link]
I never knew him, and I wish I had, and now I never will. What a loss to our community. Thank you to everyone sharing your memories of Seth.
Seth Vidal RIP Posted Jul 10, 2013 17:00 UTC (Wed) by jdulaney (subscriber, #83672) [Link]
I first met Seth over IRC, and then in person at various FUDCons, usually in Infrastructure hackfests. We also occasionally conversed over Twitter. The dude was brilliant.
Every Tuesday night the Fedora Ambassadors North America have a meeting. This is the log from last night:
http://meetbot.fedoraproject.org/fedora-meeting/2013-07-1...
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