Saddened to hear this. As a former GitHub employee, Mona was _a thing_. She had a backstory, and obviously a lot of designs. Simon’s initial work had a lot of impact on GitHub’s design and communications philosophy.
Coincidentally, when I moved to the UK, I had arranged for a taxi from the airport that never showed up. But Simon’s did, apparently. I sat there at a coffeeshop and stared at a taxi driver with a sign for Simon Oxley for a jetlagged hour or so while I waited for mine. I had hoped to catch him for a chat but apparently missed the connection.
More recently, we chatted about one of his designs that I adored and I had asked him about using it for an open source project that I had in mind. He graciously offered me to use it for noncommercial purposes. I got busy with, well, life, and didn’t pursue that. I’m feeling now like I should dust it off and see if it’s useful.
Coincidentally, when I moved to the UK, I had arranged for a taxi from the airport that never showed up. But Simon’s did, apparently. I sat there at a coffeeshop and stared at a taxi driver with a sign for Simon Oxley for a jetlagged hour or so while I waited for mine. I had hoped to catch him for a chat but apparently missed the connection.
More recently, we chatted about one of his designs that I adored and I had asked him about using it for an open source project that I had in mind. He graciously offered me to use it for noncommercial purposes. I got busy with, well, life, and didn’t pursue that. I’m feeling now like I should dust it off and see if it’s useful.
Godspeed, Simon.