[TUHS] Anyone have a connection to Tom DeMarco?

[Mark Seiden via TUHS]

we’re friends.  i sent it on to him.

> On Jul 29, 2026, at 6:57 AM, Arnold Robbins via TUHS <tuhs at tuhs.org> wrote:
> 
> According to www.tomdemarco.com:
> 
> 	He lives with his wife, Sally Smyth, in Camden on the coast of Maine.
> 
> Phone book searching may turn up a phone number or a postal address.
> 
> There is no "contact" option on that web page.
> 
> Good luck,
> 
> Arnold
> 
> "G. Branden Robinson via TUHS" <tuhs at tuhs.org> wrote:
> 
>> Hi folks,
>> 
>> I know he's not really a Unix personage, but since I'm a whippersnapper
>> I know no better place to turn--and my purpose _is_ Unix- related, if
>> troff counts as such.
>> 
>> I was perusing Tom DeMarco's _Structured Analysis and System
>> Specification_ (1979) (foreword: P. J. Plauger) and noticed that, while
>> lacking a colophon acknowledging its means of production, it looks for
>> all the world as if it had been typeset with troff.
>> 
>> Here are the questions I would have for Mr. DeMarco.
>> 
>> 1.  Am I right?  Was troff used in its production?
>> 
>> 2.  The book has been out of print for many years.  Have its rights
>>    reverted to the author as is common (but not quite universal) in
>>    publishing contracts?
>> 
>> 3.  If so, do you still have the troff input files used to prepare it?
>> 
>> 4.  If so, would you be willing to license these files to the community
>>    under FLOSS terms[1]?
>> 
>> If someone can pass along these questions or put me in touch with Mr.
>> DeMarco, I'd be grateful.
>> 
>> Also, if someone could pop a copy of this book into a DeLorean traveling
>> at 88mph and send it back in time to me at the start of my career with a
>> note ("postpone Fred Brooks and read this first"), the younger me will
>> put a few hundred USD into a Vanguard-managed index fund in your name.
>> 
>> Every software engineer who winds up in a consulting gig should be
>> gifted with a waiter's cloche and a wooden spoon.
>> 
>> They'll figure out what they're for.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> Branden
>> 
>> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software