Gary Kildall was one of the original pioneers of the PC revolution. He was a very creative computer scientist who did excellent work. Although we were competitors, I always had tremendous respect for his contributions to the PC industry. His untimely death was very unfortunate and he and his work will be missed.Bill Gates, quoted in The Computer Chronicles, Special Edition: Gary Kildall (1995)
He is divisive. He is manipulative. He is a user. He has taken much from me and the industry.Unpublished memoir Computer Connections, referring to Bill Gates; quoted in Paul Andrews (14 July 1994), “A Career Spent in Gates’ Shadow—Computer Pioneer Dies at 52”, Seattle Times
It’s fun to sit at a terminal and let the code flow. It sounds strange, but it just comes out my brain; once I’m started, I don’t have to think about it.Gary Killdall, Programmers at Work (1986)
