Mourning Martin Schwidefsky [LWN.net]

The kernel mailing lists carry the sad news that longtime kernel contributor and subsystem maintainer Martin Schwidefsky has been killed in an accident. "Martin was the most significant contributor to the initial s390 port of the Linux Kernel and later the maintainer of the s390 architecture backend. His technical expertise as well as his mentoring skills were outstanding. Martin was well known for his positive mindset and his willingness to help. He will be greatly missed."

Mourning Martin Schwidefsky

Posted May 21, 2019 22:34 UTC (Tue) by mageta (subscriber, #89696) [Link]

Martin has been such a great guy, always helpful, never experienced him annoyed or the like when you needed some help, he always genuinely seemed to like what he did. Its a really sad week in Böblingen :(, he will be missed by all of us.

Mourning Martin Schwidefsky

Posted May 21, 2019 22:41 UTC (Tue) by idrys (subscriber, #4347) [Link]

What a great loss.

Martin helped me find my way around the s390 architecture and Linux kernel code when I was new to both... including such interesting stuff as analyzing kernel dumps before we had (l)crash. I still remember reworking the driver code during the 2.5 era together quite fondly, not to mention various (technical and non-technical) things that came up over many years.

Indeed, he will be greatly missed.

Cornelia

Mourning Martin Schwidefsky

Posted May 22, 2019 7:17 UTC (Wed) by cotte (subscriber, #7812) [Link]

Martin was one of the most brilliant engineers I've ever had the pleasure to work with. Joining his team as greenhorn from university, he taught me everything about software engineering. His can do attitude, and his deep technical knowledge that he loved to share, were invaluable.
But he was much more than that. He was the kind of team captain that would take his team to the beergarden once that bug is fixed and when the sun goes down. He took us on motorbike tours around black forest, and he even went on motorbike-and-a-tent summer vacations in the alps with us. He was the most perfect captain, any team could dream of. And he was a good friend.

He will be missed, and he will always be remembered.

Mourning Martin Schwidefsky

Posted May 22, 2019 8:41 UTC (Wed) by jang (subscriber, #13216) [Link]

Martin was an extraordinary guy, in all those years I've rarely seen him not being positive.
He was always willing to help and was very gifted in explaining things. His passion and genuine love
for coding was an inspiration to me.

I will not only miss him as a former colleague but also as a friend with a shared passion for climbing.

Jan

Mourning Martin Schwidefsky

Posted May 23, 2019 2:15 UTC (Thu) by jamesmorris (subscriber, #82698) [Link]

This is sad. I met him just a few times but remember he was always friendly and welcoming.

Mourning Martin Schwidefsky

Posted May 24, 2019 7:49 UTC (Fri) by arenz (subscriber, #7740) [Link]

Martin lived the passionate spirit of 'do what you love -- love what you do'. He inspired and motivated his team, got complex things done with his experience and deep technical knowledge which he loved to share in a supportive way. I was fascinated by his engineering skills and his drive to find and implement the best solution.

Martin's clear way of thinking, his straight way, his friendly manner and his humor left a lasting impression on me.
I am grateful that our paths crossed at work as well as in the climbing hall.

Martin will be missed and remembered.

Christoph

Mourning Martin Schwidefsky

Posted May 25, 2019 1:04 UTC (Sat) by dongjia.shi (guest, #119541) [Link]

As a former colleague, I never met Martin in person, but I've heard a lot about him when I paid visit in Böblingen. Everybody say good things about him.
Martin helped to improve our patch with great patience. I respect him not only for his expertise, but also for his kindness to the other people.

R.I.P.

Dong Jia

Mourning Martin Schwidefsky

Posted May 28, 2019 14:59 UTC (Tue) by chabow (guest, #132298) [Link]

This is the saddest news I can imagine. I am deeply shocked and sorrowful, and my thoughts are with his family and close friends. I worked with Martin for the past 19 years on a more or less regular basis, and I will always keep him in my mind as one of the brightest, nicest and most honest colleagues I was privileged to work with. What a tragedy! What a loss!

Mourning Martin Schwidefsky

Posted Nov 25, 2019 14:24 UTC (Mon) by marcuskraft (guest, #54408) [Link]

Martin was brilliant in what he did, always open and friendly to share his expertise, at work or over a beer. Without him the evolution of Linux for z would have been different ... I had the chance to work with and know him for 20 years - I will miss him. Blue skies for you, Martin.

Marcus