Doc Searls Weblog

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Remembering Dave Taht

Dave Taht on FLOSS Weekly

I just learned here that Dave Täht died today, at just 59. I don’t know how or where. I do know he was one of the world’s great human beings, as well as a brilliant and generous producer of tech and wisdom about it.

Example: if you know about (and no longer have a network that suffers from) bufferbloat, thank Dave.

I’ve lost count of how often Dave has been a guest on one of my podcasts. He was always reliably informative, good-humored, and a source of music and songs. Behind him in the screen grab above is the guitar he carried everywhere. The sticker says, “This guitar kills Vogons.”

Here are some links I’ll be watching for more news. Feel free to contribute:

 

 

 

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Doc Searls

7 responses to “Remembering Dave Taht”

  1. Tanya W Avatar
    Tanya W

    Oh no!!!!!! I only became aware of Dave in the last year or so and corresponded with him personally, he mentioned that he had a chronic illness but it didn’t seem that the end was imminent. What a huge loss, not only to the technical community which owes him a debt, but to the universe at large, he was an irrepressible, irreplaceable, beautiful human being who I will miss terribly. Dave, I hope you’re enjoying outer space, and that you found the question to the answer of 42!

    Reply
  2. Tanya Weiman Avatar
    Tanya Weiman

    Correction, it was actually a few years ago, time has gone kind of pear-shaped since the pandemic.

    Reply
  3. Hanan Cohen Avatar
    Hanan Cohen

    He was a kind person.

    I looked for his name in my emails because I wanted to find something about him. Found an email from him where he wrote me 16.5 years ago – “How have you been? Just saw your name go by on Doc’s blog…”

    Reply
  4. stu z Avatar
    stu z

    I worked with him in the 90’s at SCO and we became friends based more upon music than tech.

    He was an early adopter of a kludgy midi bass which he insisted I play and we had lots of laughs at how ridiculous it was.

    He visited us in NM about ten years ago and voraciously consumed my wife’s pumpkin waffles like he had not eaten for days. Which, knowing him, he likely had not.

    I called him MTaht since that was his email handle at SCO.

    Many other tales to tell but I will stop.

    I am shocked at his passing too soon.

    Happy travels, amigo!

    Reply
    1. Doc Searls Avatar
      Doc Searls

      So you also knew him when he was still Mike, and Taht lacked the umlaut. When I asked him why he chose to swap the most common male forename for the second-most common male one, he gave some explanation I don’t remember. (Why I care: My official forename is David, and my family still calls me that, or Dave. In my second-grade class, in 1954-55, there were thirty kids. Of the fifteen boys, five were named David. That’s one reason I didn’t mind getting nicknamed Doc (by others, not myself) as an adult. Anyway, RIP Dave.

      Reply
  5. In loving memory of Dave Täht – LibreQoS

    […] Doc Searls Weblog: Remembering Dave Taht […]

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  6. Ant Avatar
    Ant

    Oh maaaaaan. Mr. Searls, my condolences to you and Mr Taht’s family. I’ll give you a call sooner rather later. Damn. 🙁

    Reply

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