Linux Lost a Good Friend (archive.org)
http://web.archive.org/web/20040202071751/http://consultingtimes.com/ralph.html
Reprint
by Tom Adelstein
November 28, 2003
In Memorium Ralph Cacciapaglia, IBM Sales Manager, zSeries
The history of man contains millions of untold stories of courage and contribution. Some people wish an author would tell their stories. Some find contentment in knowing they made a difference.
Ralph preferred the joys associated with his family and in seeing others succeed. He never sought public acknowledgment for his contributions. Yet, I know of no other person who accomplished more and worked harder than than this man. His persistency to purpose, dedication to his associates and unrequested expression of genuine friendship remain unparalleled in my experience.
Ralph showed up at my doorstep in March of 2001 with an offer of help. He knew of a product I wrote for the Linux enterprise and its port to the IBM Mainframe. Without much red tape or hesitation, he helped my company become the first IBM Linux Influencer Partner. In turn, we delivered the first US reference account for Linux on the Mainframe.
From that point, I spoke to Ralph everyday. He wanted to know everything about Linux, the Open Source Community and the people. He wanted to know so he could find ways to help Linux grow. Whatever he learned, he passed on to his associates. He got behind efforts and projects about which people rarely if ever knew.
I doubt if anyone but me knows how he helped projects such as OpenLDAP, ProFTP, Apache, Gentoo, Cyrus IMAP, Exim and others. He made sure that those projects received a level of approval within IBM. He dedicated resources to testing, bench marking and promotion of those products. He made sure his sales force knew about them. He fed information to the various people inside the company that disseminated information about Linux and Open Source in the early days.
When the Winnebago Industries announcements came out of IBM media relations, they never mentioned Ralph’s name. Instead, a Vice President of whom I had no knowledge got credit for the work. When I asked Ralph about that, he replied that he must have gotten help he never knew about.
Ralph created opportunities inside IBM for other teams. He did so by having friends and friends of friends investigate and understand Linux. He made sure that if an opportunity existed for Linux that the resources made it to the account representatives and resellers involved. If he never received an ounce of credit, he didn’t seem concerned. He worked unselfishly that way.
Ralph observed the protocols of his company, worked harder each quarter and never complained. One would never hear a negative word from him about his company, his job or his associates and seniors. If someone criticized, he defended and created an empowering interpretation. Ralph was not a company man who worked on his career. Instead he worked on his job. His efforts seem rare in this world.
On November 17th, the Westchester Journal News reported that “An Emmy Award-winning Pound Ridge cameraman and his brother-in-law, an IBM Corp. executive from Carmel, were remembered yesterday as loving husbands and fathers after they were killed in a car accident late Saturday.
“Ralph Cacciapaglia, 48, of Carmel was driving his 1995 Nissan 300ZX north on Warren Street in Somers about 11 p.m., when the vehicle went off the right side of the road and hit a tree head-on…
“Cacciapaglia and James Covello, also 48, of Pound Ridge were pronounced dead at the accident scene. Both were wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash, which happened about a half-mile north of the Warren Street-West Hill Drive intersection…”
Ralph and James were brothers-in-law. James was a devoted father to his children – 5-year-old James and 3-year-old Caitlin. Ralph was survived by his wife, Barbara, and two sons, 16-year-old Ralph and 14-year-old James.
Barbara Cacciapaglia mentioned to the newspaper that her husband was a leader in a Boy Scout troop, and that a week before he had helped build a Habitat for Humanity home in Lake Carmel.
Rick Rich, a friend of Ralph’s for more than 28 years, said his friend had limitless energy and had figured out how “to pack two years of living into one year of life.”
“He could repair, fix, and build just about anything,” said Rich, a 48-year-old New Canaan, Conn., resident. “Our Mr. Fix-It, this builder extraordinaire, leaves us with something more enduring than physical structure. He leaves us with his love of life, love of family, love of friends.”
Two days after Ralph’s death, he lost his father. Ralph’s dad passed away without knowing that his son had died before him. I believe Ralph would have somehow wanted it that way. He never would have wanted his father to experience any pain.
The Cacciapaglia’s lost a grandfather, a son, a son-in-law in just a few tragic days. I lost a man who treated me as a close friend. And the community lost a friend it may have never known.
For my part, Ralph, I will never forget.
