Ask HN: Black bar?

You should make it a tiny clickable link to Sergei's blog post. When I saw it up there, my first thought was to mouse at it and see what was up.

Terrific idea / tribute. Touching

Does it matter? He helped quite a lot of people. You need not be famous for that. His loss will surely be felt. I think that's what matters.

Also, it is good that more people know of him because a selfless man like him should be celebrated. He is a good role model. Too often we are too obsessed with success and fame and money. Here is a man who didn't covet any of that and helped whoever he could. It is kind of sad to see that more premium is placed on being famous than anything else!

I used the Hopcraft-Motwani-Ullman textbook on automata theory and it was awesome. That's how I knew him, and it's enough for me.

And this raises awareness. Just because you died, does that mean you should be forgotten, or shouldn't be remembered?

Everyone who has taken an automata class and used the Hopcroft-Ullman book has come to know him in a certain way.

I didn't. But because of this I'm going to wikipedia.

All I knew about him was that he was co-author on that 'Randomized Algorithms' textbook. I had no idea he was this prolific elsewhere.

As well as all the CS students who knew him through his books or his classes, everyone involved with startups in Silicon Valley did. He was one of the most respected angel investors. It's very strange to be using the past tense about him though.

A lot of people find their fame posthumously only.

No by person. But most CS students either read the "automata book" or the "randomized algorithms". I enjoyed the books and respect him. I was hoping to be able to read his "approximation algorithms" when it is finished.

My emotion response to the news is "how come!". It is the same emotion response that I heard Daniel M. Lewin, founder Akamai, was on flight 11 in September 11, 2001.