Here's my one and only interaction with the author:
I met Tom a couple of years ago when I first got to SF. It was at a bar in the mission that was holding an international get together for github users. I'll never forget the impression he made on me. We talked for a good while, most about drawing.
Since I was totally new to town (and had spent most my adult life outside the US), I had no idea who he was. I'd used github but didn't know much about it and certainly didn't know who he was. I love drawing and sketching and it was actually via a flash game tutorial on Kongretate.com that I found my first serious entry point into programming. Telling Tom about this, he started talking about drawing octocats and the entire conversation was about artwork. Until someone told me otherwise about half an hour later, I thought he was the "octocat guy", an artist who happened to be at a nice company.
It's really rare in my life when I've been shocked by someone's humility and congeniality, but meeting Tom was one of those times. I'll also say that in the intervening two years, I've gotten to know the product quite well and really hope the best both for Github and his upcoming venture.
Edit:
I've been an HN user since almost the beginning and I have to say this is saddening. It boggles the mind that sharing a brief story of meeting with author of the piece and wishes for the success of both Github and the future venture is something that warrants multiple down votes.
I met Tom a couple of years ago when I first got to SF. It was at a bar in the mission that was holding an international get together for github users. I'll never forget the impression he made on me. We talked for a good while, most about drawing.
Since I was totally new to town (and had spent most my adult life outside the US), I had no idea who he was. I'd used github but didn't know much about it and certainly didn't know who he was. I love drawing and sketching and it was actually via a flash game tutorial on Kongretate.com that I found my first serious entry point into programming. Telling Tom about this, he started talking about drawing octocats and the entire conversation was about artwork. Until someone told me otherwise about half an hour later, I thought he was the "octocat guy", an artist who happened to be at a nice company.
It's really rare in my life when I've been shocked by someone's humility and congeniality, but meeting Tom was one of those times. I'll also say that in the intervening two years, I've gotten to know the product quite well and really hope the best both for Github and his upcoming venture.
Edit: I've been an HN user since almost the beginning and I have to say this is saddening. It boggles the mind that sharing a brief story of meeting with author of the piece and wishes for the success of both Github and the future venture is something that warrants multiple down votes.