Name: Hans Thomas Reiser

Born: December 19, 1963, in Oakland, California, USA

  • American entrepreneur and computer programmer.
  • Known for creating ReiserFS file system and its successor Reiser4, which are supported by the Linux kernel.
  • Founder of Namesys, a corporation meant to coordinate the development ReiserFS and Reiser4.
  • Convicted in 2008 for the second-degree murder of his wife, Nina Reiser. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, with the first possibility of parole in January 2020. In 2012, a jury awarded his children $60 million in a civil lawsuit against their father for Nina Reiser’s death.

Honors and awards

  • One of the founding members of the Open Computing Facility at UC Berkeley.

Quotes

“You’re about to experience chaos.” (Uttered before farting, while being photographed nude by police after his arrest.)