Remembering and thanking Steve Langasek
Quoting: Remembering and thanking Steve Langasek - Community - Ubuntu Community Hub —
In recent years he battled illness with stoicism, humour and science. Through it all he remained active and engaged in our community and our exploration of the future. Even in terribly difficult moments I saw grace, precision and care in his actions and his priorities.
Steve passed away at the dawn of 2025. His time was short but remarkable. He will forever remain an inspiration. Judging by the outpouring of feelings this week, he is equally missed and mourned by colleagues and friends across the open source landscape, in particular in Ubuntu and Debian where he was a great mind, mentor and conscience.
It has been a singular honour to share these years and dreams. Thank you Steve. I will not forget, nor waver.
Also:
Quoting: Mourning Steve Langasek —
From the Ubuntu Discourse instance comes the sad news that longtime Debian and Ubuntu contributor Steve Langasek has passed away.
OMG Ubuntu:
-
Long-Time Ubuntu Contributor Steve Langasek Has Passed Away - OMG! Ubuntu
As a former Debian and Ubuntu release manager, and a long-term Canonical employee, Steve (who some of you may know by the handle vorlon) has been something of a cardinal fixture in the Ubuntu topology to many of us.
Heck, I’ve been doing this blog for something like 16 years now and his name has constant in my e-mail inboxes by way of the many mailing list posts, packaging update pings, bug reports, and other development updates it would be attached to.
Through his contributions to the discussions, debates, and (odd) dramas on Ubuntu mailing lists (and IRC, back in the day), I’ve learned a LOT. His deft technical explanations made the how of proposed changes understandable, while focused, non-marketing rationale answered the why.
For developers involved, his approach was sure to have been helpful. For a lay-person watching from the outside, less familiar with the interplay between components, projects, and communities, his approach was a veritable education.
Even in tense, emotionally-charged discussions Steve possessed an enviable patience and pro-active approach, remaining level-headed and laser-set on the technical side, not getting sidetracked by any personalities, politics, or prickly remarks.
Also here:
-
Remembering and thanking Steve Langasek
The following is a post from Mark Shuttleworth on the Ubuntu Discourse instance. For more information, you can find the full post here. Steve Langasek is one of my heroes in open source and in life.
Or here:
-
The Fridge: Remembering and thanking Steve Langasek
In recent years he battled illness with stoicism, humour and science. Through it all he remained active and engaged in our community and our exploration of the future. Even in terribly difficult moments I saw grace, precision and care in his actions and his priorities.
Steve passed away at the dawn of 2025. His time was short but remarkable. He will forever remain an inspiration. Judging by the outpouring of feelings this week, he is equally missed and mourned by colleagues and friends across the open source landscape, in particular in Ubuntu and Debian where he was a great mind, mentor and conscience.
It has been a singular honour to share these years and dreams. Thank you Steve. I will not forget, nor waver.
The New Stack:
-
Steve Langasek, One of Ubuntu Linux's Leading Lights, Has Died
The Linux world will be a poorer place without Steve Langasek.
It came as no real surprise, for he had been fighting illness for several years, but Steve Langasek, a pillar of the open-source community and long-time Debian and Ubuntu Linux contributor, passed away on Jan. 1, 2025. It’s trite to say, “he’ll be missed,” but he really will be missed. His untimely death, he was only 45, has profoundly impacted the Linux and open source world.
Langasek’s journey in free software began in 1996 when he started experimenting with Slackware. After a brief stint with Red Hat, which he described as “Red Hat purgatory,” he found his true calling with Debian in 2000.
Additional:
-
Steinar H. Gunderson
I was very sad to hear that Steve Langasek, aka vorlon, has passed away from cancer. I hadn't talked to him in many years, but I did meet him at Debconf a couple of times, and more importantly: I was there when he was Release Manager for Debian.
Steve stepped up as one of the RMs at a point where Debian's releases were basically a hell march. Releases would drag on for years, freezes would be forever, at some point not a single package came through to testing over a glibc issue. In that kind of environment, and despite no small amount of toxicity surrounding it all, Steve pulled through and managed not only one, but two releases. If you've only seen the release status of Debian after this period, you won't really know how much must have happened in that decade.
SJVN:
-
Steve Langasek, One of Ubuntu Linux’s Leading Lights, Has Died
It came as no real surprise, for he had been fighting illness for several years, but Steve Langasek, a pillar of the open-source community and long-time Debian and Ubuntu Linux contributor, passed away on Jan. 1, 2025. It’s trite to say, “he’ll be missed,” but he really will be missed. His untimely death, he was only 45, has profoundly impacted the Linux and open source world.
Langasek’s journey in free software began in 1996 when he started experimenting with Slackware. After a brief stint with Red Hat, which he described as “Red Hat purgatory,” he found his true calling with Debian in 2000.
He became a staunch Debian supporter and contributor. In 2001, he officially became a Debian Developer, beginning an over two-decade-long dedication to Debian development. While with Debian, he managed the unenviable but crucial role of release manager for Debian Sarge and Etch.
In September 2007, Langasek joined Canonical as the Ubuntu release manager, where he helped direct Ubuntu’s path forward, starting with Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon). His expertise spanned various critical areas, including system administration, software development, and package maintenance. Steve’s contributions were particularly notable in projects such as Linux-PAM, Samba, and OpenLDAP.
Cause of death was cancer:
-
Steinar H. Gunderson: RIP vorlon
I was very sad to hear that Steve Langasek, aka vorlon, has passed away from cancer. I hadn't talked to him in many years, but I did meet him at Debconf a couple of times, and more importantly: I was there when he was Release Manager for Debian.
Steve stepped up as one of the RMs at a point where Debian's releases were basically a hell march. Releases would drag on for years, freezes would be forever, at some point not a single package came through to testing over a glibc issue. In that kind of environment, and despite no small amount of toxicity surrounding it all, Steve pulled through and managed not only one, but two releases. If you've only seen the release status of Debian after this period, you won't really know how much must have happened in that decade.
The few times I met Steve, he struck me as not only knowledgeable, but also kind and not afraid to step up for people even it went against the prevailing winds. I wish we could all learn from that. Rest in peace, Steve, your passing is a huge loss for our communities.