Larry Finger, Linux wireless hero, was a persistent, patient coder and mentor
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It is hard to describe how big Larry's contribution was to Linux wireless if you weren't around for the early 00's nightmare. Thank you Larry!
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Back in college none of these were in the mainline distros. You had to download the source code, compile it, and load it. Often times the compile would fail, and you'd have to make a few usually small tweaks to get it moving.
Then, when you happened upon a kernel update through the usual channels, you'd have to do it all over again.
Don't get me wrong. Finger did the work of God. I would not have been able to use Linux with this much dedication without the option of wi-fi, regardless off the inconveniences.
Then, when you happened upon a kernel update through the usual channels, you'd have to do it all over again.
Don't get me wrong. Finger did the work of God. I would not have been able to use Linux with this much dedication without the option of wi-fi, regardless off the inconveniences.
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My introduction to Linux was MKLinux; I was a die-hard NetBSD/OpenBSD user on x86 systems.
Man, I longed for an ndiswrapper equivalent. And then... Larry's patches "Just Worked" across all platforms, because so many manufacturers (including Apple) were using Broadcom or Realtek WiFi chipsets.
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He sounds like he was a prolific contributor, and even more notable and kind and thoughtful human being. Helping other people to understand how to contribute to OSS projects is really hard work, and he deserves as much credit and recognition for those contributions as his code (which as others are pointing out killed ndiswrapper and therefore a mighty, mighty contribution!).
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This story takes me back to the late 90's when I REALLY wanted to have my computer be MY computer and not a bastardized form of lend-lease that was Microsoft (or, IMHO worse, Apple). I tried half a dozen times in 25 years to get on Linux, and each time, it wasn't ready. I couldn't do everything I wanted and needed to do in Linux. But open source software became my standard, moving away from the money pits of Office, Adobe and others who no longer sold software, but instead rented services on a monthly basis. Microsoft began moving toward the idea of "your computer isn't yours" with Win 8, and from there it went very downhill, VERY fast.
But all that time, Linux was chugging along. It was getting "better" each iteration. I tried it every time I built a new computer, and ended up going back to Microsoft because it just wasn't able to do what I needed it to do. In my last computer build, I planned a dual boot system, but my oversight (I didn't de-register my old Windows computer since I had the retail version of Win7 Pro, used that key to upgrade to win 10 after it had been out for 4 years, and could use its key to reinstall Win10 on the new one) left me with only Linux to work with.
So I worked the problem - again. Unlike all previous attempts, this time the magic happened. ALL of my programs - or equivalent work-arounds and do-fers for them - worked. My old stuff would pull up and work right the first time.
It took a quarter of a century, but it got there. All of that thanks to the many dedicated people like Mr. Finger who put their time and efforts into making Linux work for everyone.
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Inspiring. Especially the last sentence. I remember being super intimidated when I came to computer science, knowing really nothing outside of Windows and Mac as a casual user. Friendly folks that were down to earth and humble helped me find the confidence to persevere. Sounds like this man was one of that sort.
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Man, it was rough back in the day! I remember the broadcom fwcutter and ndiswrapper and all that pain. Started just buying intel wifi chips for any new laptops I got because I was sick of messing with it. Now everything works, but I still buy that intel wifi (most recently in 2018) out of habit for any linux laptops.
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I was curious about what Fingerite looks like, so I did a search. I think it's pretty! And the fact it looks vaguely like a piece of sci-fi technology seems appropriate.
(edit: And apparently they're "A perfect storm of rarity".)
(edit: And apparently they're "A perfect storm of rarity".)
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This man is amazing and inspiring. He pretty much made all the contributions to the Linux kernel AFTER he reached retirement age. I can't imagine myself having the mental acuity to do that type of work at that age and he continued to do that into his 80s. Just...OMFG is how I feel.
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Thats exactly what surprised me most reading this article.. damn.. fingers crossed we will still be as healthy and savvy as he was post retiment age.
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Don’t worry man, the way things are going, none of us are ever going to be able to retire.
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A lot of our pain that Larry alleviated is self-imposed. Why does EVERY printer, touch-pad, net-interface on every platform have to come up with a DIFFERENT way to do the SAME things? Yes, let there be improvements, like from TeleType to PCL to PostScript--- not more than once every 7 years!! Same on S100, ISA, and USB, beyond a defined set of channel control codes.
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For Larry: lgtm, and thanks. \n
For Denise: Thanks for sharing Larry with us in retirement. His hobby helped billions of people all over the world.
For Denise: Thanks for sharing Larry with us in retirement. His hobby helped billions of people all over the world.
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Hell, I'm in my early 50s and my brain's so fried from severe depression, chronic pain and pain meds that I can't imagine doing all that at my age, much less into my 80s. This guy was a legend!
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Mungus the Unhyphenated
Ars Tribunus Militum
There was so much to be learned working in the resource-constrained environments of earlier computing. Skills in writing tight, efficient code are still valuable today. The great thing is that it doesn't matter what languages you've learned to do it in -- it's really about being able to construct the logic as cleanly and efficiently as possible in any given language.
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Vale Larry. As a Linux user and (sometimes) sysadmin since the early 00s you helped make my life easier, and my relationship with the penguin a bit smoother.
Also I remember well the heady days of early 802.11 wireless: homebrew and converted rooftop TV antennas, community wireless networking etc. Fun times with slightly odd people (myself included).
Also I remember well the heady days of early 802.11 wireless: homebrew and converted rooftop TV antennas, community wireless networking etc. Fun times with slightly odd people (myself included).
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The problem was, how do you get the half-dozen different companies making WiFi chipsets to agree on how their hardware should work? Especially when they were going for different goals -- some chipsets might offload more work to improve speed, others might be going for a low price point and do as little as possible in silicon, pushing the rest onto the driver.
The situation with printers was similar. PCL took a fair amount of power to render, back in the day. Postscript took even more, and also required paying a license fee to Adobe. (The original Apple LaserWriter had more processing power than the Macintosh computer it was plugged into!) So printer companies each came with their own simplified protocol for their lower-end models, to make their printers less expensive. Now processing power is cheap, and we've come back around, with most printers supporting PDF as a page description language; Mac users (and Linux users, if they know the trick) have the joy of driverless printing, as a result.
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Pouring one out for him. I remember those bad old days trying to get wifi to work. I never used Linux to do anything other than to play around in, so I keep giving up in frustration. But my brother the professional developer makes software that runs on it, and he defiantly appreciated wifi just working. Few have done more to get Linux into an everyday working OS that we can just use.
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As a desktop and laptop linux user since the late 90s I also benefited hugely from Larry’s contributions. And as I’m inching closer to retirement age myself, I will remember his example of working for the common good.
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Indeed. I remember my eyes getting lit up the first time I’ve got my wifi working, this was all him, after retirement!
Now, im trying to become a developer and contribute to Linux. I am 40 years young and Larry just reassured me I can make my dream a reality. I feel the need to give back even more now. RIP champ!
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Wonderful to see a less famous person written up, and certainly Mr Finger contributed tremendously to making Linux usable for amateurs. I for one gave up early on when I tried Linux, wifi didn't work and of course I couldn't connect to the net to diagnose the problem. Some years later it just worked. Thank you Larry!
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Maybe it's because I just came back from Germany last week, but it was the link to the Quora thread on the Autobahn in which he participated that made me smile.
Not the least because for once, pretty much all posts on that thread were all correct and true, a rarity on Quora.
Pity Mr. Finger only got to drive an Audi with winter tyres! Only going 160kmh, he missed a lot of the fun!
Not the least because for once, pretty much all posts on that thread were all correct and true, a rarity on Quora.
Pity Mr. Finger only got to drive an Audi with winter tyres! Only going 160kmh, he missed a lot of the fun!
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A toast to Mr. Finger, his family, and the scores of other trailblazers that have made Linux such a great operating system. I am a small Linux contributor from years past who envies the skills, dedication, and passion of those who have developed Linux into what I believe will explode in popularity in the not too distant future. I only wish I still had the health to contribute more which brings me back to Mr. Finger. Continuing to do life's work at 85, so impressive! A BIG thanks to his family for sharing
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I probably would not have the relationship I have now with Linux if I didn't have to fight Ubuntu to get Realtek wireless running. It had me searching forums and diving far into the Linux subsystems while spending hours in the terminal. I was 14 at the time and had to work with the hardware I was given. I am now a network engineer that is also a Linux sysadmin.
Hats off to you Larry Finger, may you rest easy knowing the legacy you left behind.
Hats off to you Larry Finger, may you rest easy knowing the legacy you left behind.
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We don't deserve people like you, Mr. Finger, but we desperately need you all the same. Thank you so much for all you did!
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"...Finger also mentored people, the kind of work that has exponential effects."
The world needs more mentors. In my 40 years as and EE, I've met precious few who would offer, without reserve, helpful instruction to newbies. I often try to pass on my knowledge and I'm ecstatic when I meet a young person who wants to learn.
Thank you Larry Finger for being one of those precious few.
The world needs more mentors. In my 40 years as and EE, I've met precious few who would offer, without reserve, helpful instruction to newbies. I often try to pass on my knowledge and I'm ecstatic when I meet a young person who wants to learn.
Thank you Larry Finger for being one of those precious few.
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Thank you so much Mr. Finger!
You are a truly inspiring human being.
Rest in peace!
You are a truly inspiring human being.
Rest in peace!
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After reading the article it truly makes me sad to learn of Larry Finger only after his passing. I wish more people like him had articles such as this written while still with us.
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Legendary man and a great article. Wish he had seen the recognition during his life, but I bet his family is passing this around today. Thank you for writing this up and sharing it to the world. I don't follow the kind of mailing lists and corners of the web where he might have been well-known, but I appreciate the chance to learn about him today.
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Windows users can pick the generic Microsoft PostScript driver as well for many printers, though Mac and Linux users might have more option discovery when using their equivalent options.
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