Paul Lutus

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Paul Lutus (born May 16, 1945 in Cambridge , Massachusetts , USA ) is an American software author, scientist, essayist and hobby sailor.

Paul Lutus wrote the "Apple Writer", the first text program, for the Apple II , a bestseller of the 1980s, and Arachnophilia , a free HTML editor that is now implemented in Java and is therefore available for many operating systems. On his website (A playground for thinkers, a playground for thinkers) he offers many other programs for free download.

Previously, he developed electronic circuits for the NASA Space Shuttle program and a mathematical model of the solar system used by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the Viking Mars mission. In 1983 he was honored by Reed College 's Vollum Award for his contributions to science and technology, and the Oregon Academy of Science named him Scientist of the Year in 1986.

Lutus is also known for developing a version of Careware (there are several). In its version, people who download any of its free software packages should pay a unique price to be less tearful and be more confident about life - at least for a while. Some of his visitors find the idea enchanting, others somewhat naive. Now, given the development of the Internet, he is more inclined towards the latter.

Between 1988 and 1991, Lutus sailed around the world alone in his 31-foot sailboat. His book on this trip, Confessions of a Long-Distance Sailor ( Confessions of a long-distance sailor ), can be downloaded for free from its website. The essays cover a wide range of topics and often deal with typical modern (American) phenomena, such as narcissism, fitness for life, consumer terror, etc. Although he has a positive attitude himself, he seems bitterly disappointed with American society and its values and having little hope of recovery.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b http://arachnoid.com/sailbook/index.html Confessions of a Long-Distance Sailor
  2. ↑ http://vps.arachnoid.com/careware/ Paul Lutus: CareWare
  3. ↑ http://arachnoid.com/freeware/index.html A Note about Freeware
  4. ↑ That corresponds to a length of about 9.5 meters.
personal data
SURNAME Lutus, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American software writer, scientist, essayist
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Cambridge, Massachusetts