Deep thoughts from the Centre for Applied Computer Science @ The University of Bolton

GNU Terry Pratchett

Sir Terry Pratchett

Sir Terry Pratchett


Like many people we were saddened to learn of the death of Sir Terry Pratchett back in 2015.
His novel Going Postal includes the quote “A man is not dead while his name is still spoken”. To that end the Internet is paying its own tribute to the late Sir Terry by including a special HTTP header:

X-Clacks-Overhead "GNU Terry Pratchett"

If configured, a web server will send this header as part of every page served to visitors. To configure your web server you can find instructions at www.gnuterrypratchett.com. What effect does this have? Unless you go looking for them, HTTP headers are not shown to users. This means that other than an extra 40 characters of overhead, this header has no effect.
No practical effect that is, there is a metaphysical effect: A man is not dead while his name is still spoken. There is a chrome extension called Clacks Overhead which displays a lit lantern when the header is present. Give it a try, more sites support this than you would think.
Spread the word, add the extension to your browser and if you can, add the header to your web presence.

1 Comment

  1. Adam Isherwood

    I found the clacks header on the Daily Telegraph web site. Let me know any other sightings.

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