http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/31/ian-murdock-a-tribute-to-the-man-and-his-work-on-linux https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Murdock Debian was named after Debra Lynn (his then girlfriend), and himself (Deb and Ian) He was just 42 and cause of his death is not made public. Mayuresh