"As modern technologies such as artificial intelligence grab today's headlines, it's worth remembering that their foundations were being laid more than half a century ago by computer scientists, philosophers, psychologists, developers, entrepreneurs, and more. These pioneers and those who followed tackled issues and solved problems that future generations may never know existed - but without their seminal work, we wouldn't be where we are today."
"After experimenting with Slackware and Red Hat as a teenager, Steve Langasek began contributing to Debian Linux at 21 - then dedicated the rest of his life to open-source software. He eventually rose to principal engineer, volunteer release manager for Debian, Ubuntu release manager for Canonical, and maintainer or co-maintainer of packages such as samba, pam, and openldap2.3 - all while serving as a respected Linux leader, organizer, and mentor. "Steve shone with a clarity of purpose that motivated many others to build the very best open source platforms they could dream about," wrote Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth. "He touched thousands of people's lives directly, and his work improves the lives of millions.""
Modern technologies such as artificial intelligence build on foundations established more than half a century ago by computer scientists, philosophers, psychologists, developers, entrepreneurs, and others. Pioneers and subsequent innovators tackled problems and laid seminal groundwork that enabled today’s advances. Computerworld honors the lives of 22 technology trailblazers who died in 2025, including colleague Lucas Mearian. Steve Langasek devoted his life to open-source, contributing to Debian at 21 and serving as a principal engineer, release manager for Debian and Ubuntu, and maintainer of key packages. Mike Maples Sr. brought seasoned leadership to Microsoft after a long IBM career.
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