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At Home with Tim O'Reilly (Videos 1 and 2 of 6)

Posted by Roblimo on from the not-just-a-man-but-a-vital-force-behind-open-source dept.

Wikipedia says Tim O'Reilly "is the founder of O'Reilly Media (formerly O'Reilly & Associates) and a supporter of the free software and open source movements." And so he is. O'Reilly Media is also the company from which Make magazine and the assorted Maker Faires sprang, before spinning off into an ongoing presence of their own. (This year's Solid conference, as well as the confluence of hardware and software at OSCON demonstrate O'Reilly's ongoing interest in the world of makers, though.) O'Reilly has been a powerful force in technical book publishing, popularized the term Web 2.0, and has been at least a godfather to the open source movement. He's also an interesting person in general, even more so when he's hanging out at home than when he's on stage at a conference or doing a formal interview. That's why we were glad Timothy Lord was able to get hold of Tim O'Reilly via Hangout while he was in a relaxed mood in a no-pressure environment, happy to give detailed responses based on your questions, from small (everyday technology) to big (the Internet as "global brain").

We've run a few two-part videos, but this is the first time we've split one video into six parts -- with two running today, two tomorrow, and two Thursday. But then, how many people do we interview who have had as much of an effect on the nature of information transmission -- as opposed to just publishing -- as Tim O'Reilly? We don't know for sure, but there's a good chance that O'Reilly books are owned by more Slashdot readers than books from any other publisher. That alone makes Tim O'Reilly worth listening to for nearly an hour, total. (Alternate Video Links: Video 1 ~ Video 2; transcript below covers both videos.)

11 comments

  1. "Please update your browser ... HTML5" by carlhaagen · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Which is a bit funny considering that my browser plays HTML5 video content from exactly everywhere else on the internet.

  2. "maker" is the worst fucking word by kruach+aum · · Score: -1, Troll

    Why don't my turds count as things that I make? They're perfectly organic, reproducible by anyone on earth, and individualized to my specific colon.

    1. Re:"maker" is the worst fucking word by neminem · · Score: 1

      I disagree. Maker is a totally great word. Makers are those with magical anti-entropy powers, who devote their lives to stymying the plots of the Unmaker. It's a pretty common trope, and a good word for that sort of character.

      (On the other hand, the definition used in *this* article, is as dumb as you are arguing. I just like to imagine that people using the word are using it in the OSC definition, thus making articles just *so* much more entertaining.)

  3. Who writes these crappy intros? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: -1, Troll

    >> Wikipedia says (whatever.) And so he is.
    >> That alone makes Tim O'Reilly worth listening to for nearly an hour, total.

    You just can't make this kind of crappy intro up - are the interns running things over there for the summer?

    1. Re:Who writes these crappy intros? by caferace · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Some people don't need embellished intros. How would you have done it?

    2. Re: Who writes these crappy intros? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Just wait until you see the intro they're writing for the video of the guy who founded Packt Publishing.

    3. Re:Who writes these crappy intros? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 0

      >> don't need embellished intros

      Hmmm..."godfather"..."powerful force"..."as much of an effect on the nature of information transmission" - sounds like a little embellishment to me. ;)

      So, how do you write an intro that gets more than 8 comments (as of 24 hours) when you're stuck with a full hour of video of some old guy talking at a webcam (yawn). Do what any good journalist would do: scan the transcripts and pull out the 2-3 most provocative things he said, then build a teaser around it. Finally, write a headline like "O'Reilly (Yes, THAT O'Reilly) Says [Some S*** You Wouldn't Believe]".

      As things are, I can't even tell from the summary what he's about to cover (some upcoming OSCON event? dunno) or why anyone would care.

    4. Re:Who writes these crappy intros? by caferace · · Score: 1
      TBH, I didn't watch the video and just read the transcript. :)

      An hour with him is worth it. He's been around since before /. ... well worth it.

  4. What's with the tangled headset cord? by jcfandino · · Score: -1, Troll

    Couldn't you untangled that before the interview?

  5. Poor Tim. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    With little interest on his recent slashdot "interview" and now just eight posts on this video series, it seems as if Tim's relevance has vanished along with the publishing industry. No doubt, Tim's pub people will keep trying to drum up attention for a guy and a company that developers under 30 have never heard of and don't care to.

  6. My god, the comments... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Look at all the comments for this amazing story! Can slashdot's servers handle this kind of load?