John Walker (programmer)

{{Short description|Computer programmer and founder of Autodesk (1949–2024)}}

{{infobox person

|name = John Walker

|birth_name = John Wallace Walker

|birth_date = {{birth date|1949|5|16}}

|birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|2024|2|2|1949|2|16}}

|death_place = Neuchâtel, Switzerland

|occupation = {{hlist|Programmer|businessman|author}}

|alma_mater = Case Western Reserve University (BS)

|spouse = {{marriage|Roxie Smail|1973}}

|known_for = Autodesk, AutoCAD

| website = [https://fourmilab.ch/ fourmilab.ch]

}}

John Wallace Walker (May 16, 1949 – February 2, 2024) was an American computer programmer, author and co-founder of the computer-aided design software company Autodesk. He was later recognized for his writing on his website Fourmilab.

Early projects

Walker was born in Baltimore, Maryland on May 16, 1949. He studied electrical engineering at Case Western Reserve University. In 1974/1975, Walker wrote the ANIMAL software, which self-replicated on UNIVAC 1100 machines. It is considered one of the first computer viruses.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/univac/animal.html|title=The Animal Episode|last=Walker|first=John|date=August 21, 1996|website=Fourmilab|access-date=March 20, 2012|archive-date=May 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503084525/http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/univac/animal.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yhe0w_j1iiQC|title=Digital Contagions: A Media Archaeology of Computer Viruses|last=Parikka|first=Jussi|date=2007|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=9780820488370|pages=41, 239–40|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QwIAAAAAMBAJ&q=Walker&pg=PA70|title=White Paper: The Evolution of Viruses|last=Stern|first=Zack|date=May 2008|work=Maximum PC|access-date=March 20, 2012}}

Walker also founded the hardware integration manufacturing company Marinchip.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/17/business/saying-goodbye-good-riddance-to-silicon-valley.html|title=Saying Goodbye, Good Riddance To Silicon Valley|last=Markoff|first=John|date=1999|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 20, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=November 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122124724/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/17/business/saying-goodbye-good-riddance-to-silicon-valley.html|url-status=live}} Among other things, Marinchip pioneered the translation of numerous computer language compilers to Intel platforms.{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}}

Autodesk

In 1982, John Walker and 12 other programmers pooled US$59,000 to start Autodesk, and began working on several computer applications.{{Cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/28/business/company-news-autodesk-founder-saddles-up-and-leaves.html| title=Autodesk Founder Saddles Up and Leaves| last=Markoff| first=John| date=April 28, 1994| work=The New York Times| access-date=August 22, 2017| language=en-US| issn=0362-4331| archive-date=June 19, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619214216/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/28/business/company-news-autodesk-founder-saddles-up-and-leaves.html| url-status=live}} The first completed was AutoCAD,{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E3MdAAAAIBAJ&pg=3877,8593585&dq=john+walker+autodesk&hl=en|title=Micro-miracle: Autodesk has 'image' of success|last=McCarty|first=John R.|date=May 30, 1986|work=The Pittsburgh Press|access-date=March 20, 2018|archive-date=February 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212132238/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E3MdAAAAIBAJ&pg=3877%2C8593585&dq=john%20walker%20autodesk&hl=en|url-status=live}} a software application for computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123187573419078157|title='Theocracy of Hackers' Rules Autodesk Inc., A Strangely Run Firm|last=Zachary|first=G. Pascal|date=May 29, 1992|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=March 20, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}} AutoCAD had begun life as Interact,{{cite web |last1=Yares |first1=Evan |title=AutoCAD's ancestor |url=http://www.3dcadworld.com/autocads-ancestor/ |website=3D CAD World |publisher=WTWH Media, LLC |access-date=November 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201201736/http://www.3dcadworld.com/autocads-ancestor/ |archive-date=February 1, 2014 |location=AutoCAD's ancestor |date=February 17, 2012}}{{cite web |last1=Riddle |first1=Michael |title=Let me introduce myself |url=https://www.michaelriddle.com/?p=17 |website=Michael Riddle |access-date=November 21, 2022 |date=October 1, 2009}} a CAD program, written by programmer Michael Riddle{{cite web |title=Mike Riddle & the Story of AutoCAD, EasyCAD, FastCAD & more |url=https://www.digibarn.com/stories/mike-riddle/index.html |website=DigiBarn |access-date=November 21, 2022 |archive-date=November 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122142726/https://www.digibarn.com/stories/mike-riddle/index.html |url-status=live }} in a proprietary language. Walker and Riddle rewrote the program, and established a profit-sharing agreement for any product derived from InteractCAD. Walker subsequently paid Riddle US$10 million for all the rights.{{Citation needed|date=March 2018}}

The company went public in 1985. By mid-1986, the company had grown to 255 employees with annual sales of over $40 million. That year, Walker resigned as chairman and president of the company, continuing to work as a programmer. In 1989, Walker's book, The Autodesk File, was published.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bqpUAAAAIBAJ&pg=3454,490477&dq=john+walker+autodesk+file+book&hl=en|title=Telling the Story Behind Autodesk|date=November 2, 1989|work=New Straits Times|access-date=March 20, 2012|archive-date=April 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410112345/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bqpUAAAAIBAJ&pg=3454,490477&dq=john+walker+autodesk+file+book&hl=en|url-status=live}} It describes his experiences at Autodesk, based around internal documents (particularly email) of the company.{{Cite book|title=The Autodesk File: Bits of History, Words of Experience|last=Walker|first=John|date=1989|publisher=New Riders Pub.|isbn=9780934035637|language=en}}

Walker moved to Switzerland in 1991. By 1994, when he resigned from the company, it was the sixth-largest personal computer software company in the world, primarily from the sales of AutoCAD. Walker owned more than 850,000 shares of Autodesk at the time of his departure, worth about $45.8 million at the time (${{Inflation|index=USD|value=45800000|start_year=1994|fmt=c}} adjusted for inflation).

Fourmilab

He published on his personal domain, "Fourmi Lab", designed to be a play on Fermilab and {{lang|fr|Fourmi}}, French for “ant”, one of his early interests.{{Cite web |url=https://www.fourmilab.ch/nav/topics/faq.html |title=Frequently asked questions |author=John Walker |access-date=January 29, 2019 |archive-date=January 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121121907/http://www.fourmilab.ch/nav/topics/faq.html |url-status=live }} On his Web site, Walker published about his personal projects, including a hardware random number generator called HotBits, along with software that he wrote and freely distributed, such as his Earth and Moon viewer.{{Cite web| url=https://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/| title=HotBits: Genuine random numbers, generated by radioactive decay| author=Walker, John| publisher=fourmilab.ch| access-date=March 30, 2006| archive-date=February 20, 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220220917/http://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/| url-status=live}}{{Cite web| url=https://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/| title=Earth and Moon Viewer| author=Walker, John| publisher=fourmilab.ch| access-date=March 30, 2006| archive-date=March 3, 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060303094757/http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/| url-status=live}} Another notable book was called The Hacker's Diet.

The digital imprimatur

Among other things, he is noted for a frequently cited article entitled The Digital Imprimatur: How big brother and big media can put the Internet genie back in the bottle, an article about Internet censorship written in 2003.[https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2004/04/digital-imprimatur-nutshell "Digital Imprimatur in a Nutshell"], Donna Wentworth and Fred von Lohmann, Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved April 7, 2004.[http://geeksandglobaljustice.com/?p=17 "The digital imprimatur and the right to read"], M. Kathleen Milberry, Geeks & Global Justice, April 23, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2014. It was published in the magazine Knowledge, Technology & Policy.John Walker (2003), [http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/digital-imprimatur/ "The Digital Imprimatur: How big brother and big media can put the Internet genie back in the bottle"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105014841/http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/digital-imprimatur/ |date=November 5, 2011 }}, Knowledge, Technology & Policy, Volume 16, Issue 3 (Fall 2003), Springer, pages 24-77, {{ISSN |0897-1986}} (print), {{ISSN |1874-6314}} (online), {{doi | 10.1007/s12130-003-1032-6}}. Retrieved August 11, 2014. In the article, Walker argues that there is increasing pressure limiting the ability for Internet users to voice their ideas, as well as predicting further Internet censorship. Walker said that the most likely candidate to usher what he calls "the digital imprimatur" is digital rights management, or DRM.

Personal life and death

Walker married Roxie Smail in 1973. They moved to Switzerland in 1991. He died of head injuries sustained after a fall on February 2, 2024, in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, at the age of 74.{{cite web|title=John Walker, Tech Executive Who Popularized AutoCAD, Dies at 74|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/technology/john-walker-dead.html|date=March 6, 2024|last=Williams|first=Alex|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 6, 2024|archive-date=March 6, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240306202431/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/technology/john-walker-dead.html/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |date=February 7, 2024 |title=John Walker (1949 – 2024) |url=https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/john-walker-1949-2024/4305 |access-date=February 8, 2024 |website=Scanalyst |language=en-GB |archive-date=February 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208024153/https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/john-walker-1949-2024/4305 |url-status=live }}

In popular culture

File:Evil_empires_bumper_sticker.png and US) bumper sticker made by J. Walker. It was first published in July 1990.]]

Walker's interest in artificial life prompted him to hire Rudy Rucker, a mathematician and science fiction author, for work on cellular automata software. Rucker later drew from his experience at Autodesk in Silicon Valley for his novel The Hacker and the Ants, in which one of the characters is loosely based on John Walker.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fourmilab.ch/nav/topics/faq.html|title=Frequently Asked Questions|access-date=January 29, 2019|archive-date=January 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121121907/http://www.fourmilab.ch/nav/topics/faq.html|url-status=live}}