Jeber’s

Good-bye dear friend

I just learned today that a dear friend is dying from cancer that has spread to his brain and other organs. It’s not treatable and he is resigned to his fate.

I’ve known this gentleman for 5 years or more. He lives in Europe, I live in California. We have never met.

Yet I know as much about him and what he holds dear in life as I do many of my off-line friends. He is passionate about Linux. When I was ready to give up and confess that I would never understand this foreign operating system, he encouraged me to keep trying, offering invaluable advice and direction that eventually had me up and running and never looking back…until tonight. Now I can’t help but look back and realize how profoundly he affected my enjoyment of computing and taught me about operating systems and, more importantly, how to persevere and stay focused until success was achieved.

I know he has a loving family that means all the world to him. While he is a very private person he was so excited about his daughter’s wedding that he shared pictures of the event with all his on-line friends, pictures from which he was conveniently absent. He is justifiably proud of his family.

He is extremely humble about his knowledge and influence. He is solely responsible for teaching a lot of us that Linux can be enjoyed without the typical animus that often exists between Linux users and those on Windows or a Mac. When writing about Linux, he prohibits the term “newbie” which he perceives as demeaning. His goal is to introduce Linux in a friendly and helpful way to anyone interested. In this he has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

Being non-religious I’m at a loss in offering many of the hollow platitudes folks so often trot out at times like this. I know he will be profoundly missed by his family and friends. I know that we’ll miss his moderate attitude, his patience, his encouragement, his humor, his presence. He will leave a hole in all our lives that no one else can fill. We are saddened because of what the effect of his passing will have on us left behind. Our lives will be poorer for his absence.

I join all who know this wonderful gentleman in wishing him love and peace through his remaining time with us. May his last days be free of pain and filled with joy. May he pass from us fully aware of how significant he has been in our lives. May he know he will not soon be forgotten.

Does Daemon offer humanity Freedom?

My fascination with hard science fiction, especially books in which plausible technology is employed, started when I was a teen in the 60s. I was fortunate enough to be assigned to the National Security Agency as a cryptographic analyst when I enlisted in the Army Security Agency in the 70s. I like to joke that my first computer was a Cray, and it was. NSA prides itself on being 10-20 years ahead of the “outside” world when it comes to technology. That experience cemented my interest in technological science and science fiction. That interest is just as strong today as it ever was.

Daemon was the first novel of its kind that I’ve read. I’ve plowed through the Clancy Net Force novels, even those written by other authors, and found the premise of each to be a bit too fantastic and unrealistic though they were entertaining. I enjoyed Jack Williamson’s The Silicon Dagger though the technology was never explained and came across as nonsensical. The social issues he raised are worth considering. But nothing I found impressed me as much as Daemon. The use of plausible and contemporary technology in ways that could potentially alter human society challenged my mind and excited my imagination.

I wrote a glowing review of Daemon when it was first self-published and recommended to me by a friend on Friendfeed, appropriately enough. I’ve re-read the novel 3 or 4 times now, and am eager to read the follow-up to Daemon called Freedom.

Daniel Suarez ended Daemon in a way that suggested a sequel. And very soon this sequel will be available in bookstores.

If you’d like to read a few sample chapters of Freedom you can do that here. As soon as I’ve read it I’ll have a lot more to say on the subject.

(On the Daemon’s website you’ll find many interesting links to how and where the technology Suarez incorporates into his novels is being used and explored. It’s well worth reading if you have an interest in the potential misuse of technology or internet security. You may also want to view this video in which Suarez talks about botnets.)

(Disclosure: I bought my first copy of Daemon, then Daniel kindly provided me with autographed copies of Daemon and Freedom. I assure you, having been provided with free copies of these books is in no way responsible for my enthusiasm for them. I was not asked to review them; it was solely my decision to do so. My recommendations are authentically my own.)

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• 7th Son: Descent reviewed in Publisher’s Weekly (jchutchins.net)
• Freedom (TM) by Daniel Suarez (cc-chapman.com)