Welcome!

‘Lookfar’ is my personal blog and article archive, wherein I muse on software, history, religion, and a few other topics.  Lookfar’s twin eyes remind me that, while the past is the seed of the future, each step into the future shows us a new view of the past.

Software development is a ‘magical’ art that requires passion, thoughtfulness, and discipline… and I can think of no better mythos that combines these elements than the story of Ged the Archmage, in the EarthSea series.  For the 40+ years that I’ve been writing software, this story has haunted and inspired me.  Ged learns that the only true way to mastery is to turn and face, to own, that which he most fears.  And so, I believe, it is with software.

In the articles categorized to the right, I’ve tried to weave together technical detail with this sense of facing what we fear, illumined by the history of relevant developments in software to this point.  I hope you enjoy them, and I welcome your feedback.

Charles Roth
Ann Arbor, Michigan

“…as a man’s real power grows and his knowledge widens, ever the way he can follow grows narrower; until at last he chooses nothing, but does only and wholly what he must do…”    (Ged, to Lebannen, in The Furthest Shore)

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5 thoughts on “Welcome!

  1. Like your home page! I’d forgotten the source of Lookfar–graphic goes well with your quotes and description. Looks like the tile I got you long ago. Looking far–er, forward to upcoming posts.

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