Sadly, that's how it works. I felt that death of D. Ritchie was overshadowed by that of S. Jobs. It seems that some heroes have to accept the role of doing the "dirty" work.
I remember a meme going around that compared the two's achievements. Quite popular amongst programmers on Facebook. My response was something along the lines of everybody can understand Steve Job's achievements because he was a public-facing sales/showman. Dennis Ritchie's achievements certainly did help Job's achievements in a massive way, like any other publicly reknowned figure in computers as opposed to a reknowned figure in just the computing circle.
The problem is illustrated by when I explain unix and C to my mrs. Her eyes gloss over and I have to ask "I've lost you haven't I"?
It's a shame because emotionally I feel the injustice. I just know, logically, the reasons why. The tragedy is that I don't know a way to resolve the injustice.
It feels a lot like people compare Ritchies death to Jobs as some kind of morbid team sport, especially because they died so closely together. Its incredibly juvenile and more than a little obnoxious.
The problem is illustrated by when I explain unix and C to my mrs. Her eyes gloss over and I have to ask "I've lost you haven't I"?
It's a shame because emotionally I feel the injustice. I just know, logically, the reasons why. The tragedy is that I don't know a way to resolve the injustice.