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When a Dev Dies, Their Apps Should Live On

posted by martyb on Wednesday October 21 2015, @02:15PM   
from the make-sure-it-runs-in-a-vm dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

As ever under such circumstances, I went through my list of email and Twitter contacts, seeing this as a good opportunity to offer some exposure to indie developers whose work I've enjoyed over the years. One response came back very quickly, albeit from a name I didn't quite recognise. The message was in fact from a developer's wife; the person I was trying to get in touch with had died the previous week.

The developer in question was Stewart Hogarth, who'd lost his battle with congenital heart disease; he was just 34. We'd only been in touch a few times, but I'd been captivated a couple of years ago by his truly excellent 8-bit tribute I Am Level for iOS and Android. This was a smart, charming, entertaining title that married eye-searing Spectrum-style graphics, old-school single-screen platforming challenges, and modern mobile tilt-based controls. It was still installed on all of my devices, and it was strange and very sad to think that the person who created it was no longer with us.

Another developer I was interviewing at the time expressed his shock regarding Stew's passing, and also concern that his work's availability was now potentially on borrowed time.

As a developer, he said it was almost like a little of his soul somehow went into each app or game he made; through what you've created, you can in some way live on if you're no longer around. This of course isn't new thinking — people often say similar things when it comes to art and literature, and even film and music. But those mediums[sic] have the kind of longevity that just isn't afforded to modern digital apps.

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Original Submission

• "sic" not needed "sic" not needed (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @03:11PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @03:11PM (#252789)

  When it is an obvious block copy-and-paste, you don't need to insert a sic. The fact that it is a copy/paste makes it clear enough that it isn't an error in transcription. It would have been appropriate if you were quoting it by typing it in yourself, such as by saying, "Mr. So-and-so said 'But those mediums have the . . . ' "

  The More You Know

• "sic" was needed (Score: 3, Informative) by martyb on Thursday October 22 2015, @03:15AM

  by martyb (76) on Thursday October 22 2015, @03:15AM (#253069) Journal

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sic [wikipedia.org]:

  The Latin adverb sic ("thus"; in full: sic erat scriptum, "thus was it written") inserted after a quoted word or passage, indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed exactly as found in the source text, complete with any erroneous or archaic spelling, surprising assertion, faulty reasoning, or other matter that might otherwise be taken as an error of transcription.

  The notation's usual purpose is to inform the reader that any errors or apparent errors in quoted material do not arise from errors in the course of the transcription, but are intentionally reproduced, exactly as they appear in the source text. It is generally placed inside brackets to signal that it is not part of the quoted matter. (emphasis added)

  According to the above, its use was appropriate: to point out an error that was in the original text and not an error in making the transcription from same.

  --
  Wit is intellect, dancing.

  Parent