[Linux-aus] In loving memory of Chris Yeoh

[Michael Still]

Hi, as promised I now have details of a charity for people to donate
to in Chris' memory:

    http://participate.freetobreathe.org/site/TR?px=1582460&fr_id=2710&pg=personal#.VSscH5SUd90

In the words of the family:

"We would prefer that people donate to lung cancer research in lieu of
flowers. Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate out of all the
cancers, and the lowest funding out of all the cancers. There is a
stigma attached that lung cancer is a smoker's disease, and that
sufferers deserve their fate. They bring it on through lifestyle
choice. Except that Chris has never smoked in his life, like a
surprisingly large percentage of lung cancer sufferers. These people
suffer for the incorrect beliefs of the masses, and those that are
left behind are equally innocent. We shouldn't be doing this now. He
shouldn't be gone. We need to do more to fix this. There will be
charity envelopes available at the funeral, or you can choose your
preferred research to fund, should you wish to do so. You have our
thanks."

Michael


On Wed, Apr 8, 2015 at 2:49 PM, Michael Still <mikal at stillhq.com> wrote:
> It is my sad duty to inform the community that Chris Yeoh passed away this
> morning. Chris leaves behind a daughter Alyssa, aged 6, who I hope will
> remember Chris as the clever and caring person that I will remember him as.
> I haven’t had a chance to confirm with the family if they want flowers or a
> donation to a charity. As soon as I know those details I will reply to this
> email.
>
> Chris worked on open source for a very long time, with OpenStack being just
> the most recent in a long chain of contributions. He worked tirelessly on
> his contributions to Nova, including mentoring other developers. He was
> dedicated to the cause, with a strong vision of what OpenStack could become.
> He even named his cat after the project.
>
> Chris might be the only person to have ever sent an email to his coworkers
> explaining what his code review strategy would be after brain surgery. It
> takes phenomenal strength to carry on in the face of that kind of adversity,
> but somehow he did. Frankly, I think I would have just sat on the beach.
>
> Chris was also a contributor to the Linux Standards Base (LSB), where he
> helped improve the consistency and interoperability between Linux
> distributions. He ran the ‘Hackfest’ programming contests for a number of
> years at Australia’s open source conference -- linux.conf.au. He supported
> local Linux user groups in South Australia and Canberra, including
> involvement at installfests and speaking at local meetups. He competed in a
> programming challenge called Loki Hack, and beat out the world to win the
> event[1].
>
> Alyssa’s memories of her dad need to last her a long time, so we’ve decided
> to try and collect some fond memories of Chris to help her along the way. If
> you feel comfortable doing so, please contribute a memory or two at
> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kX-ePqAO7Cuudppwqz1cqgBXAsJx27GkdM-eCZ0c1V8/viewform
>
> Chris was humble, helpful and honest. The OpenStack and broader Open Source
> communities are poorer for his passing.
>
> Michael
>
> [1] http://www.lokigames.com/hack/



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