# Phil Katz of PKZip - RIP

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phil-katz-of-pkzip-rip/18266>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 1, 2000, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phil-katz-of-pkzip-rip/18266 "2000-05-01T16:00:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![curious\_george](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b487fb/32.png) [@curious\_george](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious_george)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phil-katz-of-pkzip-rip/18266/1 "2000-05-01T16:00:23Z")

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I wonder why he was in a hotel room, probably alone, in the city he lived in?

## Copied from Dan Rosenbaum’s Winletter:

Phil Katz

If you ever downloaded a file, you met Phil Katz. Katz wrote the  
Shareware program PKZip [http://www.winzip.com](http://www.winzip.com), far and away the most popular  
File compression program. The program, written as a hobby in 1986, was part  
of computer technology infrastructure, common as browsers would become.

Katz was found dead on April 14 at the age of 37. He apparently lived  
a troubled life; the Milwaukee medical examiner put the cause of death as  
complications from chronic alcoholism. He was found in a hotel room  
holding a bottle of alcohol, and five empty liquor bottles were also  
found in the room. Phil was a graduate of UWM Computer Science Engineering  
Program and owner of PKWare Inc. in Brown Deer, Wis. [http://www.pkware.com](http://www.pkware.com)

No commentary here. But his passing, which was under-reported, should be noted.

## [http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/pkzip000422.html](http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/pkzip000422.html) [http://www.jsonline.com/news/obits/apr00/katzphillipw041900.asp](http://www.jsonline.com/news/obits/apr00/katzphillipw041900.asp) [http://www.pkware.com/](http://www.pkware.com/)

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**Author:** ![curious\_george](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b487fb/32.png) [@curious\_george](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious_george)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phil-katz-of-pkzip-rip/18266/2 "2000-05-01T19:21:27Z")

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The abc news link says the condo Katz lived in was knee deep in garbage. Yuck!!

Also, I’m sure PKZip is great, but not all files on the net are compressed. Most files I download are just text or .doc files. Isn’t it mostly .exe files that are zipped? I think the winletter should say “If you ever downloaded a program, you met Phil Katz.”

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**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phil-katz-of-pkzip-rip/18266/3 "2000-05-01T20:24:48Z")

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After the funeral service his body will be squished into a little cube. It will take ten minutes at maximum compression, or five minutes at normal.

Barring a miricle there will be no refresh.