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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."
How about a "Ask Maddog" interview where he answers our top modded questions?
What more could one want? :-)
Paranoia isn't an infectious condition, it's a way of life
The next in the long awaited series of interviews, Tinyminds.org sits down with Linux International Director, Jon "Maddog" Hall.
From LI.org: 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.
Before that he was Department Head of Computer Science at Hartford State Technical College, where his students lovingly (he hopes) gave him the nickname maddog. Maddog as he prefers to be called, has an MS in Computer Science from RPI (1977) and a BS in Commerce and Engineering from Drexel University (1973).
Tm: Anyone who searches for your name online, will come across an organization known as Linux International. What are LI's goals and what is its general purpose?
MD: In 1994 an Australian named Patrick D'Cruze saw the need for a vendor-based organization to care about vendor needs with Linux. He tried to start the organization in Australia, but found that the Australian Linux market was not ready for it at that time. Instead he transferred the idea to the United States where a group of small companies ran with the idea.
Linux International's job is simply to promote Linux among companies and governments. We try to do what is difficult for any one company or individual to do. It was Linux International who first protected the Linux trademark from being held captive by an individual who wanted to hold it ransom, and got the mark assigned to Linus. LI member companies also started the Linux Standard Base project, which later spun off to become the Free Standards Organization.
LI helped to sponsor the concept of Systems Administration Certification, and now works closely with the Linux Professional Institute to spread this concept around the world.
LI has helped major tradeshow and conference companies (IDG, Jupitermedia, Logon, Messe) to put on Linux Conferences and events all over the world.
Finally, LI has tried to act as a vendor-neutral, rational voice for the Linux community to the press.
Tm: What part do you play in Linux International?
MD: Since 1995 I have been Executive Director
Tm: As the mess with SCO unfolds, where do you see Linux heading? Is there really anything to be concerned about regarding their claims?
MD: What mess with SCO?
Seriously, this issue comes down to two issues:
when will SCO disclose whatever code they say is "tainted"
how long after that will it take for the Linux community to either:
prove it is untainted (i.e. it is not SCO's code)
remove whatever code may belong to SCO from the kernel
SCO HAS to disclose the code under current copyright law. Some of this code has leaked, and people have stated that the leaked code is not SCO's to claim. If the rest of the code that SCO claims is also not theirs, then there will be nothing to remove. This type of issue has happened before with proprietary code, and even in cases of blatant copying, the courts have given time for the offending code to be removed.
Tm: What role will Linux International play in the SCO debacle?
MD: My lawyers tell me not to say anything. Sorry.
Tm: Anyone who reads your bio will note that you've been using Unix since the late 70's and Linux since 1994. What are some of the greatest advances you feel that have been made in the operating system in that time?
MD: Unix in the late 70's was a scientific operating system, not a business-oriented system. It had no real scalability. It was not SMP, could not do threads, had no journaled filesystem, no clustering (not even failover), no async I/O, a very simple scheduler, no ability to do soft realtime. Today, commercial
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.
This guy is way out there
Posting annon because I am not a karma-whore. Here is the article before it gets /.ed.
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And of course, the size of your computer says something about the size of other important bits and pieces :)
:: runs away crying ::
Me? Uh, I've got a dual opteron with GeForce Fx 5600. Um, the original *loud* one. Yeah...
Okay, fine, I've got a laptop...
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
And the local LUG is what? Chopped liver?
The strength of the Mac community, from the very start, was the local MUG. There have been Mac User Groups around since 1984. Here's one that's been around almost that long: http://www.lamg.org/. LUGs, Linux User Groups, were an emulation of the successful MUG phenomenon, and in a lot of respects have transcended even the success of the MUG. Probably every weekend, somewhere close to you, there is an installfest/tweakfest going on thanks to your friendly neighborhood LUG. Since installing Linux has become easier as time goes on, installfests/tweakfests have become more of an occasion for Linux advocacy.
SBLUG, the Santa Barbara Linux User Group, has been running a booth at the Santa Barbara Computer Fair every time the Computer Fair people see fit to run one. The last one was last week, the next one is November 8th. People actually *do* go to the Fair to get a computer and wind up leaving not only with the Windows they thought they were going to install but also a copy of Knoppix to try out and kick the tires on. Some people even decide that maybe installing Windows on that beige box of their dreams isn't such a great idea with Linux being more mature and useful than they expected. "If I only have to pay $1/disk for this free OS, I can take the money I save and get a bigger monitor or a DVD-RW instead of the CD-RW I budgeted for!" Yes, this really does happen! I've seen it.
If you really want to see Linux move into the desktop arena in a big way, you need to get active with your local LUG.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
The clothing may vary (locals seem to have t-shirt and sandals)... but the beard is almost necessary.
I have a dual-boot machine in home. One of the recent Hugish Uptimes was due to the fact that my electric razor is broken and I was out of shaving cream for weeks and couldn't bother to get more. I couldn't bring myself to boot to Windows with a beard like that! No way!