Interview With A Maddog

DubiousFreak writes "Tinyminds.org sits down with Linux International Director, Jon "Maddog" Hall. Jon has been in the computer industry since 1969, using Unix since 1977, and Linux since 1994. He has been a software engineer, systems administrator, product manager, marketing manager and professional educator. Jon has been the Executive Director of Linux International since 1995, the first four years as a volunteer. Jon has been employed by VA Linux systems, Compaq Computer Corporation in the Digital UNIX Marketing group and Bell Laboratories among other companies. Read the full interview at Tinyminds.org."

Comments

Since maddog Hill reads slashdot undoubtably

[t0qer]

How about a "Ask Maddog" interview where he answers our top modded questions?

OSNews

[LittleLebowskiUrbanA]

Maybe /. and OSNews should try to work w/ each other since /. is routinely a few days behind OSNews. This article has been on OSNews for a few days.

Re:He's a good bloke...

[MotherSuperior]

Agreed.

I especially liked his point about the 'normal support channels'. In fact, I was just mulling over the same thought last night. What seems to be really missing from a user-appreciable desktop Linux experience is not so much technological, but personal. If Aunt Flo can't call up her next-door neighbor, and get a quick answer about something on her OS, we'll never see any rapid adoption. Remember, just because users have phone or e-mail based tech support available, it doesn't mean they want to use it. Most people tend to be intimidated and/or embarrassed about making that phone call, and will usually put it off until they've Really screwed things up.

A thankyou to free software developers

[argoff]

I just wanted to say that from the time I first started to embrace GNU/Linux in the mid-90's to now - it has been a bumpy ride, and I have suffered much scorn for my faith in it, first from my collegues who advocated SCO, then from those who advocated Solaris, and also from people who advocate Microsoft. But none the less, I still must say that my faith in Linux and the people behind it have never let me down. Thank you so much, you are making history and as the centuries pass - I truely believe that society will look back upon you as heros who have lifted humanity up with a gift that can never be taken away, not just the code, but a newfounded freedom that countless billions will addore you for.

Re:He's a good bloke...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, a very generous fellow. He once gave this guy I vaguely knew (it was a big class) a MP3 player for his graduation. Very classy guy. He also taught a computer class for underprivileged children across town.

1994

[zenyu]

GeForce Fx 5600. Um, the original *loud* one.

Have you tried anything else to cool it? I just got one hand as a hand me down when nVidia sent us a better one for one of the shared workstation. It was loud out on the lab floor, but is overwhelmingly loud on my desk...

[On Topic] I have a great deal of respect for Maddog Hall and felt good hearing he only tried Linux in 1994.. I was a big fan of the brand new pre-release Windows 95 that year but my music major roommate convinced me to try Linux as a dual boot option and my slow conversion began... That same year my university also switched me over from VMS on Sun hardware to OSF/1 on DEC, which was so much better, and soon being able to run the same programs on my home computer and the SGI's at the lab became a plus. As someone who had always tried to improve on the MS-DOS cli by using DR-DOS or the 4dos interpreter the tcsh default on Slackware was such a godsend that I begged the admins at the university to install it and switch me over. Before long Linux+GNU was a better unix than UNIX, irregardless of being cheaper. I even got excited by the Linux kernel by 1.3x... The GNU license didn't seem world changing at the time, but just a good hobbyist license. Able to inspire more development than BSD, because you didn't feel your ideas would be taken without compensation. It's amazing how this little thing has grown from something we had to convince the admins to allow us to use on the network in 1994 to something they use to run the network in 2003, and you don't need to make 23 uncorrupted floppies to install it anymore. For some reason the 18th or 19th floopy was always corrupted sending you back to download it and start over from #1... ;)

Re:Support your local Linux User Group.

[xilmaril]

a lug isn't chopped liver, but it isn't a family member either (consider the number of adults who use their friends/children as tech support)