Photo: m:user:Elian / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Ettrich is exactly the type of unsung hero I love writing about. Most readers will not recognize his name, yet millions have used the KDE desktop he founded as a student in Tübingen, plus the LyX document system. The 2009 Order of Merit was well earned. What strikes me is the generosity of building free tools that quietly shape daily computing worldwide. He has no glamour, no public persona, just decades of foundational work that others stand on. I value that kind of contribution enormously, and I think it deserves far more recognition than it gets.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Matthias Ettrich
- Name (Japanese)
- マティアス・エトリッヒ
- Reading
- まてぃあす・えとりっひ
- Born
- June 14, 1972 (age 54)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Rat
- Origin
- Bietigheim-Bissingen, Stuttgart Government Region, Germany
- Occupation
- software engineer / computer scientist / engineer / programmer
2. Background
- University
- University of Tübingen
Awards & achievements
- 2009 Medal of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Matthias Ettrich born?
Born June 14, 1972 (age 54).
Where is Matthias Ettrich from?
Matthias Ettrich is from Bietigheim-Bissingen, Stuttgart Government Region, Germany.
What does Matthias Ettrich do?
Matthias Ettrich works as software engineer, computer scientist, engineer, programmer.
Computer scientist — see all → · More people from Germany →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.