I became aware about Diaspora maybe 2-3 years ago. Today I just saw and thought to check it out again, and saw that you were no longer there. It is strange that for a complete stranger I feel grieve. Perhaps, it was your noble idea or smile which makes me feel this way. I think you lived your life remarkably and I hope your idea would come to be true one day. I pray that your soul rests in piece.

Pase lo que pase jamás van a apagar nuestro Fuego Revolucionario! Gracias Ilya por tu visión, tu liberación, tu revolución! Una gran inspiración que no se apaga, se expande! Y ahora a seguir trabajando por un mundo mejor...

We send our condolences.....it's always sad to see brilliance gone too soon but thank you for your pioneering work for which you will always be remembered =( http://static.respectance.com/m1/memories/ba1m3odep15e8x_s.png

A true friend.

young men- don't let your inner dragons slay you. of something doesn't seem to be working out, that's just God's way of saying he has something better for you.

Usually I don't cry for the loss of someone I do not know directly. But this time I did. Because of his young age maybe, and because the great work done on building Diaspora. When someone working for the community (above all, a community of mostly unknown people) flies away, I feel respect and gratitude, and a sharp soul pain. Thanks Ilya, your parents will be proud of you.

Thank you for your ideals Ilya Zhitomirskiy. Many of us feel motivated by your work and your spirit to make a freer, more just, and better world. Your message has traveled far in the distance, and deep in our hearts. Diaspora* will be your legacy, our legacy to future generations.

May you rest in peace, Ilya. My deepest sympathies to Ilya's family.

You had soul

in heaven, brother!

Dear Illy, it is very unfortunate that you passed away before the world has learnt alot from your talent. We expected more sociable works out of you. We shall really miss u. Ibrahim Abdulgadir Abdalla Lado

He was a freedom fighter. thanks for work in a free software project, Ilya!

Ilya was the kind of person who would brighten your day just by being around. He was very dedicated to his work. Along with his co-founders, He was creating something great and sharing it with the world in a free and open way. He earned my highest level of respect. I am lucky to have been his friend.

Nelly

13 years ago

llya has done grate and we will miss him just cant believe he is gone my heart is full of pains he is the unforgotten miss you llya

I only joined Diaspora about a week ago, I had been enjoying the site. I am so sorry to hear this news.

I had never heard of Diaspora until today while reading about this young mans passing. This is so sad....he had such dreams and aspirations. My prayers go out to his family and many friends and may he rest in peace.

To the parents, family, and friends: My family sends their heartfelt love and prayers to you. Their is always a pain that goes with losing a loved one, but when one loses a child at such a young age it can be so unsettling My family send love to you, and ask God to ease your pain.

Unfortunately I never got a chance to meet him but he and team Diaspora inspired me to start my own tech company and every goal my company achieve will be a sign of admiration for Ilya and team Diaspora my prayers are with his family and friends .

Ilya, you were always up for adventure and looking at things in a new way. You used to sit in my living room and passionately describe hacker culture and your visions of freedom. You said we were alike because we both made things and you were so sure you could do anything that you inspired me. Now that you're gone I keep thinking you'll show up at a pool party or call everyone in your phone on New Years. I keep hoping I'll hear you laugh again.

My deepest sympathies to this young man's parents and family. I wish to extend my gratitude to him and his friends for the great good they've done, and I admire their vision and courage.

I didn't know much about you..then,when i open the yahoo website..I've so shocked when I see the news..Thank you very much for being the one who created the software open source.. we love you so much.. <3

I did not know you other than by your pictures and your achievements but I know you did so much for others in your short life and that you had so much more yet to give. You will be missed by many and will never be forgotten and your legacy will live on in their hearts and memories forever. My heart goes out to your family and friends and I wish them peace at this sad time. Rest in Peace Illya, God will look after you now xxxxx

I didn’t know you well at all, but I remember the glint you always had in your eye when i talked to you. i looked at you and thought, this person is different from everybody else. there’s something behind his eyes, there’s something in his mind, that is extraordinary. i remember when you came down to our room and we talked for an hour about the things you were passionate about: people’s privacy, the future, the way we lived our life. at the age of 20 your intelligence and passion already soared above us all— I wish then that I hadn’t been too young to appreciate the things you said. some people thought you were annoying, but you proved them wrong. you went and you did something: you stood out among all the over-ambitious sternies/ pretentious cas students at nyu: an unassuming russian transfer student from courant who- who would’ve thought? actually had the power to change the world. remember those “brain machines” you would build? you said they would make us hallucinate and take us to different places as you secured them on our heads those nights after our drunken college-party rounds of kings. I wish I could build something like that to bring you back, because you were too young, too brilliant, to die. but, of course, i can’t. that kind of talent is yours and yours only. rest in peace ilya.

I haven't spoken to Ilya in about 2 years, and I really only knew him for one 6 or 7 months when I used to live next door to him. He as the kind of person you could never ignore -- he was always happy, always had too many ideas than he knew what to do with, and was just so strangely different and optimisitic that you couldn't help but smile when you listened to him talk about things he was passionate about, which was just about everything. He used to come over and we'd give him haircuts and he'd bring me breakfast when he cooked too much. I am so sad to hear about this and know that the world didn't just lose a smart, talented guy but a good soul too. RIP Ilya.

You can see so clearly the burning intelligence and kindness of this young man in his eyes. Let's hope that his legacy will be the liberation of mankind from the tyranny of corporate-controlled and privacy-evading social networking sites. Thank you, IIya, for your contributions to the world, and sorry you had to leave much too soon.

I never knew who he was but now I know who he stood for change in the social media arena. Too bad he is gone too soon and too young. I hope his colleagues continue with his tireless efforts to bring change to social media networks.

I just read this article of him and i was a bit of shocked because i discover that he is now making a new kind of social networking site that would possibly make a big hit! Hope that his/her workmates will continue his works and probably launch it....

My heart goes out to friends and family at this difficult time. I did not personally know Ilya but it sounds like he was a wonderful young man.

Moving to see the news; never knew him in person but had spoken to him through diaspora to help contribute to the Diaspora project. Very saddening, RIP IlyaZ.

I didn't know Ilya very well but I remember being in the same group as him in World History freshman year of high school. He was a nice guy. Quiet but would occasionally say something out of nowhere that was completely hilarious. Very intelligent and very nice. Very talented guy. You just don't expect to hear about something like this happening to the kind, smart, geeky kid that had done so well so quickly. Tragedy doesn't even begin to describe this. A loss for the entire work.

its very sad to know that you are no more. so young. may your soul rest in peace.

This is how I find you? I've been thinking about you lately you crazy Russian. It's been a while since you've walked up to me in matching denim washed out clothes, smiling and hitting on me. Looks like you created some beautiful things. Missed you when you moved away. Deeply regret loosing touch. Wish we could talk all night like we used to. Your passing is tragedy. Goodbye Ilya, see you on the flip side. My heart goes out to your friends and family.

You have obviously touched so many, and had great ideas and did it all for the people of this great country. When you have those talents and put them to good use as you did, this is what spells the true "AMERICAN DREAM". May you rest in peace and for the ones that knew and loved him, you will be in our prayers always. Take care, Ray

I didn't know you all that well Ilya, but you were a very pleasant guy to be around. Your goofy behavior always put a smile on peoples' faces and you seemed to always be in a good mood. Your death means the loss of a great visionary and a great man.

“This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.” ― Rumi

This deeply sadded me to see this and I wanted to give my condolences to the famly and friends of this young, bright, caring young man. May he rest in peace and be happy in God's beautiful kingdom Heaven forever.

The life is sometime no sense! Ilya was someone with great ideas for the world community... At only 22, he had a lot of talent to offer yet. It's an injustice to have took him so young. All my sympathies go to the family and his friends.

I'll never forget the way you would wander into my dormroom with that lazy grin on your face, rambling on about robots and things too complicated for me to understand. RIP Ilya.

I know that you have ascended to the next place, where your mind and ideas will know no frustration, no bounds, and where you will be more creative, even than you were while here on Earth. I still grieve for those of us left, without the great minds of those like you. I grieve for those who knew you well and those who loved you, and raised you. God has places for those with great computer and systems minds. Know that you really were loved and appreciated on Earth, even though it may not always have seemed so, to you. Godspeed.

First met Ilya Z. at SF Chinatown's Four Seasons restaurant after a talk on Freedom Box. He then sent a Diaspora invite to myself and others, as well as encouraged its use (and requested donations). Here's to hoping that Diaspora continues and that Ilya may R.I.P.

Ilya will live on forever through Dispora. He changed the way social networking is done and for that he will always be remembered.

Great creator, the world will miss Ilya Zhitomirskiy. My sympathies to the family.

You will always be remembered, missed and loved.

Much love to you, and to all those who's lives you touched.

for not knowing you before.

Ilya: Gracias por laburar para Diáspora, para la comunidad, por creer que cambiar el mundo es posible... Se va un soñador, pero deja sueños para trabajar :)

Ilya, you and your friends are visionaries, and you have created something amazing. I received my invitation to join Diaspora alpha on the same day this sad news broke. Thus, it is with mixed emotions that I create my profile and join the decentralized social network you helped create. God bless, and rest in peace Ilya.

and, may your family and friends find peace and rest as well... To someone who accomplished more in his short life than others may do in twice as many years...thank you Ilya! May Ilya's short but very fruitful life bring about dreams that are greater than any/all of us: "Dreams are like stars...you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny."