[AUUG-Talk]: Vale "Morris Major", Bob Morris dead at 78 (June 26, 2011)

[Andrew McRae]

On Sat, Jul 16, 2011 at 12:40 PM, Anthony David <adavid at adavid.com.au> wrote:
> On Sat, Jul 16, 2011 at 03:15:09PM +1000, steve jenkin wrote:
>> I missed this in the general news.
>> A sad loss...
>>
>
> Yes it is Steve
>
>> AUUG got Bob out to talk in Sydney for the 1998 Conference at the Hilton
>> Hotel.
>> He looked v. scruffy (jetlag etc) and was almost ejected by Hotel Mgt at
>> one point.
>> <http://www.auug.org.au/events/1998/auug98/>
>>
>
> I remember that. It was quite an awkward standoff for a while.

I was the program chair of that conference, and it was quite a
memorable experience to get it organised.
The odd thing was that I remember we had more `interesting'
experiences with rms than Bob Morris, but that may have been just the
incidences I was involved in.
The upside was I got to spend some time with Bob Morris (couple of
dinners etc.) and it was a great experience.

There is a bit of a back-story as to how he came to be at the
conference. Originally we had lined up Marcus Ranum, through an
initial contact that Greg Rose had at a conference. It's all history
now, but I had a incredibly frustrating time getting Marcus nailed
down, and after months (and with the programme about to go to print)
he pulled out.
I vented to Greg about this, and he couldn't convince Marcus either,
but suggested that he ask Bob Morris instead, and that's how he came
to be there.

My memorable quote from Bob was about how there had been two
accidental releases of nuclear devices from planes, and it was only
the failsafe software that had prevented detonation - someone from the
audience then asked whether that software was Y2K compliant, and he
just smacked his forehead :-)

>> Another speaker didn't show, so Bob filled in with an impromptu talk.

Yes, fun times for a programme chair :-)

As time moves, we'll be losing more and more of these luminaries and pioneers.
How important it will be capture their part in it, and their contributions!
Cheers,
AMc