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refinement for Clacks article.

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Gabe Venberg 2026-02-28 22:12:38 -06:00
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content/posts/the-clacks-overhead-a-hidden-memorial.md
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title = "The Clacks Overhead, my hidden memorial"
date = 2026-02-26T15:44:14Z
title = "The Clacks Overhead, a Hidden Memorial"
date = 2026-02-27T15:44:14Z
draft = true
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@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ but it was the first unexpected one.
It hit me hard.
I ended up flying back to the US on short notice to attend his funeral.
Other than attending his funeral and being there for his family, there... isn't a whole lot I can do.
Other than attending his funeral and being there for his family, there isn't a whole lot I can do.
But I have to do *something*.
So for the first time in my life,
I added the name of someone I knew personally to the Clacks Overhead.
@ -26,26 +26,27 @@ I added the name of someone I knew personally to the Clacks Overhead.
Going postal, Ch 4.
In the book *Going Postal* by Sir Terry Pratchett, there is a system of sephamores invented by Robert Dearheart across the contenent that serves as a loose analogy for the modern internet.
In the book *Going Postal* by Sir Terry Pratchett,
there is a system of sephamores invented by Robert Dearheart across the contenent that serves as a loose analogy for the modern internet.
These are called the Clacks.
In the Clacks system, messages are preceeded by headers roughly giving instructions on how to route the message.
In particular to the story, three header letters are important:
*G*: Send the message on
*N*: do not log the message
*U*: Turn the message around at the end of the line.
**G**: Send the message on\
**N**: do not log the message\
**U**: Turn the message around at the end of the line
In *Going Postal*, Dearhearts son, John, dies while working on a Clacks tower,
Dearheart sent a message prefixed by `GNU` into the network,
In *Going Postal*, Dearhearts son, John, dies while working on a Clacks tower.
Dearheart sends a his name prefixed by `GNU` into the network,
causing it to bounce along the network forever, memorializing his son for as long as the network stands.
## Pratchett's death and the Clacks
On the 12th of march, 2015, Sir Terry Pratchett passed away.
The same day, on the reddit announcement thread,
The same day, on the reddit announcement thread about his death,
somone [posted](https://reddit.com/r/discworld/comments/2ysv26/sir_terry_has_gone_for_the_long_walk_across_the/cpcmru1/) a quote from going postal explaining John Dearhearts name living on in the overhead, along with the signoff **GNU Terry Pratchett**.
2 days later, [somone](https://old.reddit.com/r/discworld/comments/2yt9j6/gnu_terry_pratchett/cpcvz46/) posted instructions on how to make apache send the `X-Clacks-Overhead` header,
2 days later, [somone](https://old.reddit.com/r/discworld/comments/2yt9j6/gnu_terry_pratchett/cpcvz46/) posted instructions on how to make Apache send the `X-Clacks-Overhead` header,
and others quickly chimed in with how to do it for a myriad of web servers, email servers, email clients, browsers and web frameworks.
A [browser extention](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/gnu_terry_pratchett/) for viewing `X-Clacks-Overhead` headers
and [website](http://www.gnuterrypratchett.com/) explaining the header and how to set and view it were quickly setup.
@ -56,7 +57,7 @@ though the number soon reduced, and it has been a few years since I have seen it
## The Clacks in my homelab
My Clacks Overhead headers are not new.
I first added them when I learned of the death of them,
I first added them when I learned of them,
adding just the name of Terry Pratchett.
Then, I added Bram Moolenaar, the creator of VIM.
They went undisturbed for years,
@ -76,10 +77,10 @@ the Clacks Overhead in my sites would have sat there,
transmitted as part of every call,
parsed by every computer that visits here,
and yet never been seen or inspected by a human.
I... I guess the intent is not to be seen or noticed.
It is the digital equivalent not of a gravestone,
but a name carved into the cornerstone of a building.
A message left on the blank space of a PCB or silicon die.
I guess the intent is not to be seen or noticed.
It is not the digital equivalent of a gravestone,
but a name carved into the cornerstone of a building or a message left on the blank space of a PCB or silicon die.
They are part of our infrastructure,
and yet serves no practical purpose.