NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/comp/lang/cplus/18409

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-24 | 7.8 KB

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Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wupost!csus.edu!netcom.com!netcomsv!proto!joe
From: [e-mail] (Joe Huffman)
Subject: Zortech and Walter
Organization: FlashTek, Inc.
Distribution: comp
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1992 00:08:15 GMT
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Lines: 124

In response to some of the email I got about my recent posting I'm
elaborating and answering some questions.

>Hey come on Joe, don't hold back, tell us how you really feel.

I tried to keep my feelings out of it.  I deliberately waited nearly a year
to give myself time to cool down a bit and let the feels subside to managable
levels.  It's now time to expose the truth.

>Wow... quite damning statements about Walter Bright... I'm curious; has
>there been some recent event that caused you to "go public" with this?

Sort of... In another few months Walter will no longer be 'indentured' to
Symantec (Sept 1, 1993, I believe).  There has been some people on
Compuserve saying that until he goes out on his own again they won't be
interested in the Zortech/Symantec product.  I have reason to believe that
he is not entirely happy with his relationship with Symantec and may start
another business venture.  Anyone that might consider working with him
needs to know that it is very risky to do business with him and that he
isn't the god that he pretends to be.  Also, without the collection of
people around him that he had with the Zortech product he will not be
able to generate products that are as worthy of praise.  The Zortech team
was the finest collection of engineers that I have ever associated with on
any one team (I did consulting work for a number of years and new a great
many fine engineering teams... none matched Zortech's), Walter was a good
worker, but not the shining star that he believed that he was.  The others
allowed him to believe that because it made for less friction and it just
really didn't matter to anyone...  If it made Walter happy then fine...
it was an amusing trait of Walter's and his friends and most of his
co-workers just smiled and said, "That's Walter".  But we didn't realize
the implications until he manipulated things to the point where he got $4M
for the sale of Zortech and the rest of us got nothing (and lost our jobs
as well).

>Sexually frustrated, intellectually dishonest, sociopath?

Sexually frustrated and sociopath?  Yes, certainly.  Intellectually
dishonest?  That depends on your definition of dishonest.  Walter believes
he really came up with many of the ideas.  He will even tell the person who
was pushing the idea to him only a week before that the idea was his.  He
will fight new ideas vigerously for several days/weeks then a week later
tell you what a great idea he had.  When you smile and say, "Yeah, I was
trying to tell you that last week."  He will get a frown on his face and
say, "You told me that?"  "Yes, I told you that and you said it couldn't
be done, or it wouldn't work, etc, etc."  He will then say, "Oh!  I'm sorry.
I don't remember that."  We always just smiled and say that's okay.  Because
it was.  As long as Walter finally got it, it really didn't matter whose
idea it was.  If Walter needed to believe that he originated the idea, it
was no big deal.  It was good for Zortech and it was good for everyone on
the team.  I believe that Walter's 'illness' (actually more a personality
defect) made it such that he really believed he what he said.  I'm not
entirely comfortable saying that he was dishonest.  He would not tell the
truth, he would take credit for things that most people would not.  He would
cheat people.  But I believe that he believed what he said.

>I don't know what Walter Bright did to you, but I can't think of anything
>that would justify such an attack in what is after all a public medium.

It was not intended as an attack.  A year ago, I would have attacked him.
A year ago I came up with new methods of physical torture that I have yet
to see a medival torture chamber, psychopathic killer, or Nazi experimental
laboratory rival in the intensity and duration of pain that it would cause.
It would comfort me to think about inflicting pain on Walter for hours as I
lay awake at night contemplated the betrayal and pain that Walter inflicted
upon me and others when he participated in the violation of the contract
I had with Zortech and the justifications he used for his behavior.

What it was intended as, is a notification of warning to all that might be
considering doing business with him in the future.  It is essential that it
be in public or the warning would be useless.

>I don't care if you're absolutely right in your claims or not - W.B. may be a
>perfect nerd, have an IQ of 85 and no chance with women. This does not give
>you the right to say so in public. Also, the only reliable information that
>your message conveyed was not on C++. It was not on Walter Bright. It was
>on Joe Huffman.

Not only do I believe I have the right.  I believe I have an obligation.  If
you knew that someone killed/raped/cheated/whatever someone you knew and that
they only avoided prosecution/jail/whatever because of a techinicality or
because they had the money to drag the legal proceedings on longer that the
opposition could afford would you let your friends/neighbors/etc have contact
with them in such a manner that they might also get hurt?  Wouldn't you at
least warn them?  Wouldn't you tell them of the methods used and how they
were implemented?  By silently tolerating such behavior wouldn't you too be
guilty by not speaking up when the next victim was hurt?  Wouldn't you be
guilty of encouraging such behavior in others if the social norm was to just
look the other way?  There are no laws against telling the truth to warn
others of danger.  I have not only the right but a social obligation to do
so.

It related to C++, because Walter is closely associated with C++ (although the
compiler isn't written in C++ and Walter has written nearly no C++ code -- he
writes nearly everything in C).  Anyone who might be considering associateing
with Walter might know of his reputation via C++, and it might get the word
out better to be mentioned in the C++ forums.

I hope that it does convey reliable information about Joe Huffman.  I hope that
it conveys that I am not afraid to contribute to the public good, that I am
willing to tell the truth, document it, and make it widely available.  I am
writeing a book and I will post a synopsis in a few days.  It (the book,
not the synopsis) includes transcripts from phone calls, actual email, and
letters from lawyers that clearly demonstrates Walter's methods and his
illness.  I don't hate Walter anymore and as so many people have told me...
Walter can't help it, "You can no more blame him for his actions than you
can blame a cripple for not being able to walk.  He just isn't capable of
doing anything different."  My analogy is that of a rabid dog.  He isn't
responsible for his actions, he really doesn't understand.  But that doesn't
mean we should stand by and let him hurt others.  What he really needs is
some psych care, but according to the text books I researched there is
really very little that can be done for him, the best they offer is "many
times they burn themselves out by age 40".  If so, then perhaps in another
6 or 7 years Walter will be fit to join society.

Merry Christmas Walter.  May your Christmas be better than mine was last year.
I regarded you as my best friend (other than my wife) for many years.  It
wasn't until a year ago that I finally realized you weren't capable of being
a friend to anyone.  I'm sorry this hurts you, but the total suffering the
world will have to endure will be less if you do the suffering rather than
the many people around you.

--
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