Quote

I decry the current tendency to seek patents on algorithms. There are better ways to earn a living than to prevent other people from making use of one's contributions to computer science.

Donald Knuth

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Donald Knuth
Age: 86
Born: 1938
Born: January 10
Academic
Computer Scientist
Engineer
Historian Of Mathematics
Mathematician
Programmer
University Teacher
Writer
Milwaukee City
Wisconsin
Donald E. Knuth
Don Knuth
Donald Ervin Knuth
D.E.K.
DEK
Knuth
Way
Seek
Earn
People
Computer
Tendency
Ways
Programming
Making
Prevent
Living
Tendencies
Decry
Use
Contribution
Algorithms
Science
Current
Patents
Better
Currents
Contributions

More quotes by Donald Knuth

Image
By understanding a machine-oriented language, the programmer will tend to use a much more efficient method it is much closer to reality.
Donald Knuth
Image
Everyday life is like programming, I guess. If you love something you can put beauty into it.
Donald Knuth
Image
We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil.
Donald Knuth
Image
TeX has found at least one bug in every Pascal compiler it's been run on, I think, and at least two in every C compiler
Donald Knuth
Image
AI has by now succeeded in doing essentially everything that requires 'thinking' but has failed to do most of what people and animals do 'without thinking'-that, somehow, is much harder.
Donald Knuth
Image
Meta-design is much more difficult than design it's easier to draw something than to explain how to draw it.
Donald Knuth
Image
People think that computer science is the art of geniuses but the actual reality is the opposite, just many people doing things that build on each other, like a wall of mini stones.
Donald Knuth
Image
Let us change our traditional attitude to the construction of programs. Instead of imagining that our main task is to instruct a computer what to do, let us concentrate rather on explaining to human beings what we want a computer to do.
Donald Knuth
Image
A mathematical formula should never be owned by anybody! Mathematics belong to God.
Donald Knuth
Image
The best theory is inspired by practice.
Donald Knuth
Image
Programming is legitimate and necessary academic endeavour.
Donald Knuth
Image
I've never been a good estimator of how long things are going to take.
Donald Knuth
Image
People who are more than casually interested in computers should have at least some idea of what the underlying hardware is like. Otherwise the programs they write will be pretty weird.
Donald Knuth
Image
The most important thing in the programming language is the name. A language will not succeed without a good name. I have recently invented a very good name and now I am looking for a suitable language.
Donald Knuth
Image
My general working style is to write everything first with pencil and paper, sitting beside a big wastebasket. Then I use Emacs to enter the text into my machine.
Donald Knuth
Image
There's ways to amuse yourself while doing things and thats how I look at efficency.
Donald Knuth
Image
It is much more rewarding to do more with less.
Donald Knuth
Image
The sun comes up just about as often as it goes down, in the long run, but this doesn't make its motion random.
Donald Knuth
Image
The designer of a new kind of system must participate fully in the implementation.
Donald Knuth
Image
I define UNIX as 30 definitions of regular expressions living under one roof.
Donald Knuth