Hacker News

This comment [1] has a link to this obituary [2] of Matt. The comment is flagged, probably because the author's other comment is very mean spirited, but the linked obituary is excellent.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44523887

[2]: https://curtispoe.org/blog/rip-mst.html

Had a handful of interactions with Matt. Probably the last was sometime in the mid- to late-2010s. I essentially started my software development career using software that he was largely responsible for (unknown to me at the time):

  * Catalyst (web framework)
  * DBIx::Class (ORM)
  * Moo (object-oriented code)

I've read about his tough interactions with other people, and it does seem that, at times, he fell into the classic trap of loving his own ideas too much; but in our interactions (reviewing some of my code on a Perl project), he was really helpful and kind. Also amazingly quick. He read my beginner-level Perl code, instantly understood it, and instantly gave clear, concise feedback.

It's a shame he has passed.

This is very sad news.

As I said on irc:

He brought many people into the community, and encouraged their growth (like me)

I popped into the scene by sending a few Moose patches and then coming onto irc displaying an utter lack of understanding of anything

Matt set me straight, and encouraged me to send more patches and I ended up as the manager for Moose

and then inherited the ownership of literally hundreds (perhaps thousands by now) distributions

that work helped me move from being mediocre at my job to being stellar, and enabled me to move on to much better jobs

I used to know him quite well, though not much in a technical context.

He used to wind up taking home every single girl I introduced him to. He and I met when he pulled my FWB at a club and our friendship long outlasted either of ours with the FWB.

He gave me career advice that I followed that set me on a path to the great happiness I now have.

Shine on you crazy diamond.

I've met Matt on several occasions, and while he was a challenging character, he was also full of life and ideas, and an inspiration. He was a genius in an old-school, no-compromise way. I have been away from Perl for a long time, but some of my best memories and some of the most intelligent conversations took place while with MST and the rest of that amazing community. Fly high.

Super sad to see this. I worked with Matt around 2004.

Super smart kid, very nice to work with. I ended up supporting one of the systems he built (in Perl). I used his Cataylst Perl framework for some projects after that because of him.

Last post, just 54 days ago.

https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=mst

Huge in the Perl world, he will be missed.

mst is the reason I know some Perl and also managed to get me a Perl group cloak on Liberachat. I will miss him dearly. I've added him to the list of X-Clacks-Overhead responses on my blog.

https://trout.me.uk/

I use Catalyst quite a lot - have been working on a new thing this morning.

Thanks, Matt, the ripples will go on for a good while.

You died way too young, my dear friend!

RIP mst and thanks for all the fish. DBIx::Class and Catalyst are still a core part of how I pay the bills.

Thanks for all the invaluable teachings about Perl stuff.

alt title: Matt Trout (mst) -- prominent Perl developer -- has died aged 42

Matt Trout (mst) was a very big deal in the Perl 5 community, although he was a deeply polarizing figure. He was a big contributor to many Modern Perl projects. I am personally very sad he's dead. I enjoyed the time I spent with him in person, and always found him personally supportive, encouraging, and helpful, although it would be remiss to not mention that a good section of other people found him a very difficult character on many levels.

He wasn't a particularly heavy HN user, but here he is: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=mst

Jesus fucking Christ. I am so sorry to his friends, family and colleagues at Shadowcat. I don't know that I or so many other people in and around the Perl community would have the life experiences we had without being "voluntold" to do something to, say, take a small part in making a conference happen, or to submit a talk I wouldn't have otherwise done.

His oratory and presentation style is inimitable and he truly brought everyone up who worked with him, and even did his best to smooth over difficult personality conflicts on the p5p mailing list. He was instrumental in establishing a Standard of Conduct for contributing to Perl, as well. He was a staunch ally for the many he befriended and worked to bash through obstacles whether it had anything to do with his immediate obligations or no.

Fucking hell man. This hurts. Love you Matt.

Couldn't we have a one sentence description of what "shadowcat" is? (The main website is also down at the moment.)

Eh remember him from IRC days

Sad news :(

42 :( it’s way too young - pisses me of when people spend days, months years of our time for their own benefit like it’s nothing

Here is a far more balanced view of the recently deceased. https://curtispoe.org/blog/rip-mst.html

[dead]