Warren DeLano

Like so many others, I was shocked to find out this week that Warren DeLano died. He was both an inspiration to me and a genuinely nice guy. I still can hardly believe it.

For those who may not be familiar with his work, Warren was the creator of PyMOL, an open source molecular visualization package that managed to do what few other software packages (open source or otherwise) have done - build a large, dedicated community and gain widespread use in the life sciences industry. To get a glimpse at how widely used PyMOL was, take a look at some of the high-profile journal covers that were created with it.

I only met Warren in person a couple of times, but each time left me with something valuable. What struck me the most about him was his giving nature - and his enthusiasm for technology. You just couldn't help but like him.

Warren's family has set up a memorial page, as well as a blog to which you can post your memories of him.