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Interview: Ask Alan Cox
If you've been using Linux or reading Slashdot for more than a few months, we don't need to tell you about Alan Cox. (If you are new to Linux and/or Slashdot you can learn more about him here.) Anyway, this is your chance to ask Alan anything you want. Post your question(s) below. Moderators will choose the most interesting ones. Answers will appear Friday. Please try to ask only one question per post. Thanks.
I always see that you've created a new piece of software, or a new device driver, getting new hardware, etc. My question is, how much of your software development is done because of a contract, and how much just for the fun of developing?
I been tring to look for info on the ext3 project.
What is the status on it? And where can I find more info on it?
alan, where do you see the future of linux going?
do you think it will surpass NT eventually?
Global warming is good for you!
Do you think that non-x86 versions of Linux will forever remain on the periphery, or will Linux actually become a force for platform independence?
(currently testing something about signatures here)
Do you think xfs will become the filesystem for linux? Matt Fuqua mfuqua@lgc.com
I see lots of Anonymous Coward postings signed by you! ;)
Geeky modern art T-shirts
Hi Alan,
;)), I am also interested about GNOMOvision...
/. feature to ask you about GNOMOvision. Are there any sources at all or roadmap or some information for potential 'coders' to help, and if so where?
:)
Although what on of the things I most love about you is your kernel hacking (no, this is not a marriage proposal
I know there's a link in your v4l page, but it links to GNOME instead. Not willing to disturb you with one more out of thousands of email you must receive, I use this
Many thanks, and nice work!
1.Alan with the large amount of money being suddenly pumped into Linux and the media coverage do you ever wish back for the good old days when Linux was unknown to most people?
2. Do you think the lucrative jobs opening up for Linux developers will cause people to defect to the coporate world and hurt Linux as a whole ?
3. Do you see yourself still working on Linux 5 years from now ? What about other people on the Kernel mailing list ? And do you think the quality of the code people now write for Linux is still up to the standards of the old days ?
4. What are your thoughts on the Red Hat IPO ?
5. Who do you think is the most underrated contributor to the Linux movement ?
finall thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.
Vidi, vici, veni. (I saw, I conquered, I came)
What do you like most about Linux from a developer's point of view and where do you see room for improvement?
assert(expired(knowledge));
Okay, there's not a Linux hacker on the face of the planet who wouldn't kill to have your job.
- Paid by RHADL.
- Wake up when you want, work when you want.
- Go to all the big trade shows.
- Work with the likes of Linus and all the other regulars.
- Get free toys (and I mean good toys) like PA-RISC systems from HP and Athlons from AMD.
But it wasn't always that way. Back before even RedHat paid you, back when you hacked on your aging spare equipment, what drew you to it? How did you know this was what you wanted to do before you knew about all the perqs involved, or that there would ever be perqs?
Will the e2fs compression patches (at http://opensource.captech.com/e2compr/) be put in the mainstream kernel? What is the maximum state of intoxication allowable to be working on a computer? Should /dev/penguin be manitory on all Linux distro's, or just a bundled "plush Tux"? And by the way, what's the count of penguin at your house anyway?
---
Spammed? Click here for free slack on how to fight it!
--
# Canmephians for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.net";
I'm always concerned with redundancy and I think the linux kernel development could benifit from it the same way our servers can. If something were to happen to Linus (albeit very tragic) would you or someone else be able to take the weight that he bears for the kernel development process? I fear that the community is putting all it's eggs in one basket and perhaps you are the only viable replacement.
-Aaron Dokey
----------------- Who is Jesus?
It's been reported that Microsoft extended you a job offer once.
How much was it for?
--
What direction do you see RedHat going in now that they've IPO'd?
-Laktar, a.k.a. Nick Rosen, laktar.dyndns.org
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord:
26. No matter how attractive certain members of the rebellion are, there is
probably someone just as attractive who is not desperate to kill me.
Therefore, I will think twice before ordering a prisoner sent to my
bedchamber.
-- Peter's Evil Overlord List, http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html
First....where is linux's smp heading? 2.2 gave us major changes in that area.....any more comming with 2.4?
Second....how is the new quicker release cycle going to affect kernel development in your opinion? Is it going to slow down/speed up anything? Or is it just so suits realise that development IS being done....
Third....how is the whole linux-on-sgi thing going? You were originally the guy behind that....what's your opinion on the sgi embracing linux stuff happening now?
Alan,
I am very interested in kernel development and writing device drivers. I'm reasonably well versed in C, and I own the "Writing Linux Device Drivers" book, but even still I find learning these things daunting. Could you delineate a strategy by which one could get started in kernel development? If you could make a list, step 1 through step n, of "Things to do to be able to join in developing the Linux kernel", what would it be?
A learning strategy would be helpful. For example: how do you test a device driver? Where do you start? How do you get the design specs for hardware memory registers? etc.
Thanks
Alan-
What I find most impressive about your life is not simply the excellent technical work, but the fact that you seem to have a life outside work as well... I'm most interested in your recent trip to Iceland. As someone who has Iceland solidly inked at the top of the travel list, are there any locations that you would classify as absolutely must-see? Good bars and restaurants in Reykjavic? Local brews that merit tasting?
I'd like to see a little more local flavor and a little less tourist fare while I'm there, and would guess that you took a similar approach...
Thanks!
I notice here that you were involved in the creation of the nano-x project at some point. What is your opinion on the continued viability of X-Windows? Should the open source community be focusing on developing something better, or is X the best we can hope for?
-- Slashdot sucks.
What is your opinion of large companies, like Sun, that are trying to claim they are open source but in the end their licenses are much too strict to seriously be thought of that way (e.g. Sun's SCSL)?
Do you think they will add or take away from the success of Linux?
If FreeBSD has such a superior code base as its users claim, why doesn't a renown talented hacker like yourself work on it more then Linux?
Thanks for volunteering your time on Linux and answering these questions.
-- Tal
Do you think that Linux will ever become an enterprise class OS or will that position remain the domain of other Unices, and if so, how long do you think it will take?
-Laktar, a.k.a. Nick Rosen, laktar.dyndns.org
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord:
76. If the hero runs up to my roof, I will not run up after him and struggle
with him in an attempt to push him over the edge. I will also not engage him
at the edge of a cliff. (In the middle of a rope-bridge over a river of molten
lava is not even worth considering.)
-- Peter's Evil Overlord List, http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html
Are you ever going to cut yor hair short?
I'm confused by the ac kernel patches. It seems that when a new kernel comes out it is almost immediately followed by a flurry of ac patches. Whats the deal?
The difference between Canada and the USA is that in Canada healthcare is a right and gun ownership is a privilege.
Some time ago you mentioned on your diary that work was 10% complete on the secret project. What is the secret project? Or when can we know about it?
I'm very happy in seeing your interest in develop one GNU Cobol. I think this is very important: about 90% of the software in the word use Cobol.
Talk to us about the state of the project and it's future!
...
Thanks for your work!
Alan,
I've asked this question on lk-ml but I'll re-ask it here. When will the RAID 0.90 code be forced into the official kernel? It was kinda disappointing to have it in 2.2.12-final only to be pulled in 2.2.12-forlinux. What's the major holdback? Is it the "upgrade" requirements? Do you see the RAID code getting to a state that is more like the ISDN fiasco? Will be only be able to upgrade RAID code during major release cycles (like 2.4, 2.6, 3.0, etc)?
Sorry to be a pest, but this is getting a little rediculous. People don't HAVE to upgrade their kernel to the latest stable release. Most people DON'T upgrade their kernel and only load the distribitions' releases (For instance, RedHat is still back on 2.2.5). What's the big deal?
fwr
If you were a daemon, what kind of daemon would you be and which do you think is cooler, the FreeBSD or OpenBSD Daemon?
-Laktar, a.k.a. Nick Rosen, laktar.dyndns.org
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord:
1. My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not
face-concealing ones.
-- Peter's Evil Overlord List, http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html
Alan, with the upcoming 2.4 kernel is there any work being done to address Linux tcpip performance issues? Is there any plans on making the IP stack multi-threaded and what about the stack spin lock issues on SMP machines?
Do you see the kernel split into desktop and server version occuring? Torvalds to server and you heading desktop would seem a good fit.
Various ramblings
I've noticed there are large file patches available for Linux (here for example), and glibc 2.1 (as included with RH 6.0) has userspace support for the LFS calls. When (if ever) can we expect to see such support in the standard Linux kernels?
If you were stranded on a desert island, what ten albums and ten books would you want with you?
pronoblem
Who's your favorite hacker and why?
-Laktar, a.k.a. Nick Rosen, laktar.dyndns.org
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord:
78. I will not tell my Legions of Terror "And he must be taken alive!" The
command will be "And try to take him alive if it is reasonably practical."
-- Peter's Evil Overlord List, http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html
Where do you see linux development going after 2.3? What do you think the "Next Big Thing (TM)" is going to be in the computer scene (not just kernel-wise) ? What lessons have you learned from working on the kernel source? If you could restructure the kernel architecture with the snap of your fingers, what would you change? At this stage of the game, would you reinvent the wheel with a superior design even if it changed everything that was built on it? Can Linux remain an "experimental" OS?
I'll answer that for you: yes. It would not be visble seen from the front (until the car hits you) but it would be visble from say 45 degrees of the traveling direction.
Jilles
Hi Alan, Reading your diarie, it seem you are reading (well, processing) hundreds of email a day, and sometime end up with a backlog of a few thousands message. Beside heavy use of the "d" key, how can somebody don't end up buried alive under such a massive amount of email ?
:wq
Who do you look up to?
-Laktar, a.k.a. Nick Rosen, laktar.dyndns.org
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord:
91. I will not ignore the messenger that stumbles in exhausted and obviously
agitated until my personal grooming or current entertainment is finished. It
might actually be important.
-- Peter's Evil Overlord List, http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html
But here goes:
In 25 words or less, could you tell me why NT sucks so badly?
-- The Sage does nothing, and nothing is left undone. --Lao Tzu
Linus has promised shorter development times between new kernel series.
What I want to know is do you think this will be hard on you and how do you think you'll handle it?
Currently you maintain 2.0 and 2.2, if Linus' plan holds you may be maintaining 2.4 by the end of the year. Keeping 3 kernels and their drivers up to date will be hard task, what happens next year if it becomes 4 kernels? But at the same time there is a huge install base of 2.x machines that need support.
----- obSig
Suppose both Linus and yourself get run over by a bus on the same day. Who would take over the major kernel decisions?
S
I'm a network security person and have always been intrigued by the concept of the 'hardened' BSD kernel (which isn't really THAT hard), and some of the role-based and compartmentalized systems out there.
What is the status of the security of Linux's internals compared with other OS'es, (mostly as regards potential buffer overflows and root hacks) and what do you see as the overall direction, if any, of Linux's security beyond the standard UNIX security model.
jf
Do you ever get a haircut?
Linux kernel version 2.2.12 was recently released.
In the release notes on http://www.linux.org.uk/
there is a note that says 2.2.12 will have
problems when compiled with the gcc 2.95 series
of compilers.
Why are "stable" kernels being released that will
not compile with the latest GNU C compiler? This
doesn't seem very "stable" to me.
While I realize that you might not be completely objective about this question, what do you think of the design of the HURD, as it compares to Linux?
I once asked Linus himself this question and he replied in rather annoyed tones that "the HURD is a great academic design that would never work in practice" (or something along those lines).
Richard Stallman has been steadfast in refusing to endorse Linux as the GNU kernel. Does he raise these objections merely for emotional reasons, or does he see the HURD as having real technical advantages to the current monolithic design?
Forgive me if I am uninformed on these issues; I am not a kernel developer.
I disagree. I don't think you would *see* a car traveling that fast. I think it would pass without you noticing it. This is ~52 miles per second.
What do you think Alan?
could you give up welsh cakes ?
could you live without delays on trains ?
could you live without wales ?
would you ever leave the UK ?
bigger wage but have to live in a dead end part of the US
(I hope not !)
what do you think of microsofts new UK building ?
pround of being in the EU and international
regards
john jones
a poor student @ bournemouth uni in the UK (a deltic so please dont moan about spelling but the content)
What are your thoughts on the matter? What possible problems do you see with a pure OO kernel?
--
There isn't any plans to include support for DVD in 2.4 and the near future as far as I understand. One of the biggest obstacles of course being patents and closed information. I would still like to know what your opinion is about when we can get that into Linux anyway and how much support in the kernel is needed?
:-) has been done before, eg. Wine and Samba.
It may not be necessary with special kernel support if the interface is something like IDE,SCSI, etc. and only the protocols to unscramble the video-stream is necessary in user-space, and some kind of reverse-engineering or should I say re-implementation
AC #967
You did some work on a driver for the maestro sound chipset. However this seems to have stagnated, how come ?. Is there anybody who took over ? My main interest in this is ofcourse that
I have a maestro-2e in my toshiba and the oss support is terrible (clicking and squeeking noises)
1. What do you think about graphics (i.e. KGI) in the kernel?
2. Now that Redhat is worth billions, have you asked for a raise?
--- A Jesus Fish eating a Darwin Fish only proves Darwin's point.
Was it a difficult decision for you when you left ZZ Top. They were one of my favorite bands and I was really sorry when you left tnem. Are you planning a reunion tour someday?
Does she know the real root passwords?
Ha ha ho ho
Four-digit slashdot ID. Recognize.
I heard you don't even use a screen editor, but instead use sed and work purely in STDIN and STDOUT. Is this true?
support gun control: take guns from cops
Thank you for your attention.
-- $SIGNATURE
I've heard lots of times you took the BSD
code and just cosmetically changed it.
I did look at both and they do look too
similar and BSD's was earlier.
And also heard you are the guy to blame on
some anti-posix function implementations.
How much of that is true?
I have been using Linux since kernel 0.98. I've always wanted to contribute to the code base on one project or another, but I only have two college semesters of C programming.
The code that I've read in the Linux source tree is almost always far and away better than what I think I could do. I'm a decent programmer, but the people who are contributing to Linux are far more experienced.
How can I get on one of the projects without being a C wizard?
** Black holes are where God divided by zero **
Can we send half a dozen teenage idiots to your house and film you twenty four hours a day for a week, then show edited highlights on MTV?
Oops, wrong interview.
--
E_NOSIG
When did you first start coding? And what was your first computer?
#1: Where do you find the time for all that Hacking!
#2: You are a famous kernel hacker. How much money do you make?
-Oy Vey
I had the pleasure once of meeting a girl from Iceland, and she was probably the most horrendously amazing babe I have ever seen in my life. I wanted to throw her boyfriend from a moving train and claim her as my own, but that's kind of hard to do when your drinking beer in someone else's living room, and she probably could have kicked my ass anyways.
Question: Are ALL the women in Iceland amazing? Should I move there, or just go straight to jail?
Ahhh, sweet Oblivion...
**>>BELCH
Have you ever wanted to just bypass that finnish ...
guy and release your own OS... Coxux? Alux? Alcux?
whatever. If no, how comfortable are you with your situation in the Linux development?
-
sig sig sputnik
Have you ever wanted to just bypass that finnish ...
guy and release your own OS... Coxux? Alux? Alcux?
whatever.
If no, how comfortable are you with your
situation in the Linux development hierarchy?
-
sig sig sputnik
Make sure your room is properly mounted, and then use the 'Locate' command. Don't forget to update the database:
/dev/room /myroom
>mount -t my
>updatedb
>locate remote
**>>BELCH
Alan,
don't you think that the present "Linux fever" will cause a lot of good developers turn away from linux and transfer their efforts to some other system(s)?
thanks,
Alex
From what I understand, only a small part of the kernel needs to be retailored for new processor designs. The rest is architecture independent.
But will libraries have to be reinvented for palmtop computers or will PC size programs port reasonably easily to these platforms? Can you run gtk, tk, or tcl, progs on palmtops?
An example: gnomehack or Qtnethack. Can I play that on the road? Or will I have to perform drastic surgery on the source?
The message on the other side of this sig is false.
1- You have programmed Alan J. Cox modplay mod player on the PC?.. i mean, you are THAT a. cox? :)
2- Why i cant compile my kernel without the smp option? (compile time error)
3- Your Opinion about Hurd / Microkernels.
You say you don;t use EMACS or VI for editing - so what do you use? More importantly WHY?
Regards, Cliff
Does it ever happen? Your working hours are well known and programming (even kernel stuff) whilst occupying the mind does not satisfy the baser needs.... :-)
Regards, Cliff
Well, the Cerenkov radiation might be a tip-off...
pooptruck
For those that can't keep up with lkml, when will the "real" software raid 0.90 stuff make it into a vanilla kernel? What's left holding it up?
Various ramblings
Mr. Cox, would you rather see Mae Ling Mak:
a. Naked
b. Petrified
c. Naked and Petrified
d. ANDOVER SUX!!
I'm curious as to what you thought of Abe the Punk Hacker Kid. I think we Slashdot readers would agree that he's a hard act to follow - d'ya think your replies can be as well-versed, timely, and informative as his? And be frank here: which of you two is the better hacker?
As I understand it, Linux's memory subsystem has seen a major overhaul in 2.3 to correct some early design flaws.
Some people seem to think Linux still has design flaws. (I see people in the BSD and fledgeling Darwin communities claim that their kernels are have a better architecture than Linux, although I rarely see much substantiation of these claims.)
So, are these people zealots, too deeply invested in their operating systems to face the truth that Linux is at least as good, architecturally; or were they right once, but the architecture problems have been resolved in 2.3; or are there still architectural weaknesses in Linux 2.3.
If so, what are these weaknesses and how serious are they? And how would you answer if we were comparing Linux's architecture to that of a commercial OS like Solaris.
So, basically, as you look at Linux, do you see parts of the code where you think `If we had it to do over again, we'd never do it like *that*'. And do you think Linux is any worse than other operating systems in that regard.
Dear Sir,
The use of seamless compression on my system is very important to me as it applies to linux. I was wondering what the status of integrating e2compr filesystem compression for ext2 is at? I am wondering this since the project has been proceding for approx. 2+ years in development.
Slashdot social engineering at it's finest
These questions are prompted by something Alan mentioned in that brief Ottawa Citizen article I'd submitted a short while ago. Re. enabling Third-world intellectual infrastructure development.
:-)
How has the multicultural and multilingual participation affected the development of Linux as a whole?
Have you begun to see evidence of third-world participation effecting the progress of Linux yet, or is it still in the "hope to see soon" category? What needs to be done/changed to assist in the cross-cultural adoption of Linux? (Unicode?)
When can we expect to see a Linux Universal Translator Engine?
--The more you know, the less you know.
Alan, have you ever had a First Post on /.?
Hi Alan. I'm a Java developer and try to do as much work as possible on Linux. Lately, I've noticed that the kernel's thread model is still somewhat lacking compared to what Java really likes (things like sharing PID's between threads and having unique thread-ID's would be a good start). This appears to have been a serious problem for the blackdown team as well. I'd love to contribute in this area (though I have no Linux-kernel experience), but was uncertain how to proceed after searching the linux kernel mailist archives (there seemed to be conflicting strategies/issues). Can you suggest a person to contact on this issue?
sigs are a waste of space
Sure, there's not a geek on the planet who wouldn't allow you into the "circle of geeks", so to speak, I'm mean, jeepers - you're the guy who wrote my tcp/ip stack! :) My question, though, is this: would you consider yourself a geek? Do you fall into any of the other categories of geekdom? (Ex - Reading comic books, being a Sci-fi fan, preferring books over TV, being a pro wrestling fan, etc).
"I like to put my bum on things. It's fun for everyone." - Tom Green
# wrote sig.txt, 23 lines, 31337 chars
Do you see or envision a need to support hardware in a different method other than direct kernel support? What are the pro's and con's of direct kernel support vs. software drivers, ie; windows, mac, be?
:)
I am under the assumption that the kernel is primarily comprised of hardware support right now?
Forgive me if these are moot questions. Thank you.
I noticed from the FreeBSD site that you are one of the core developers for FreeBSD. How involved are you in the development? Do you predominantly spend most of your time and effort on Linux development?
Alan,
Are there any current plans to add kernel support for a single system image across a cluster? What do you have to do to add that support?
Thanks for all of your work!
What (is|are) your favorite(food|drink) [groups]?
There's more to it than this.
I noticed bttv locks up when capturing over 10fps and all software has one workaround or another to defeat this bug. Is this a hardware problem or a driver problem that you've given up on?
After using and abusing Linux since the .9 era I find that the 2.2 kernel series to be, how should I put this..., a little less than what I've come to expect. Mainly the 2.2 series to date have had some problems that I've never seen in the 2.0 series or previous as far as random file system corruption, networking problems etc...Is it that it has become more complex or shorter turn around without enough regression testing.
P.S. Even with the problems experienced Linux is still a far better choice for a development platform than anything I have ever used...
.MD (pronounced dot doc)
Will we see mosix or mosix like functionality in the main kernel distributionin the near (far) future? If not, what are the main issues?
Do you still have time to spend with your wife & family?
Washington, DC: It's like Hollywood for ugly people.
judging by your large chranium(sp) and almost mad scientist look, i find it hard to believe you're willing to only use your powers for good, and not evil. is it true that your linux efforts are just an attempt to distract us mere mortals from your vast array of weather control satellites? i think "linux world dominionation" is an ironic divertion from your true plans of world dominionation through the diabolical use of weather control devices to raise the seas and create storms of mass destruction at will.
note: i will not accept "muhahahaha" as a valid response.
Okay, you don't use (X)Emacs, and you don't use Vi. So just what is the mystery editor that's used to craft all that code?
Have you ever considered starting a cult of some sort? We could all get together and worship the holy penguin king of zamboozie. :)
I'd join it, anyway.
-Mike
How did someone as scary looking as you(@ least from what I can tell from pictures of you), did you get a girl like Telsa to even go out with you, let alone marry you? OK, its a troll question, but I been meaning to ask Telsa it so I thought I might ask you first. Second question, do you get paid for your published articles (ex. Linux Mag)? Steve
Whenever the mainstream media talks about Linux, they talk about Linus, forgeting all the people behind it. How is it to be behind Linus shadow? Are you doing this just for a better world, or also for the fame, fortune and chicks? :) How do you see the future when Linus gets tired, and the revolution is in your hands?
TIA,
There has been much frustrated lamenting on the Linux sound development mailing list regarding the less-than-ideal support that Linux has for audio. I have found that even if I pay for the commercial drivers, I get buggy and incomplete support, even for common hardware. Also, there are concerns regarding issues within the kernel that prevent the creation of truly world-class audio applications on Linux. I know that you are working to improve this situation, and I was wondering what we can expect in upcoming releases of the kernel.
Alan, yesterday on slashdot, there was a reference to an article about FreeBSD where basiclly they came right out and admitted to being snobs and 'not accepting code from just anyone'. The metric in the Linux community seems to be if it's good code and makes sense, include it. Do you agree that this leads to a less-tightly integrated system, or are the BSD guys simply whining because nobody wants BSD and they've finially realised that they need to care what us peon users think after all?
That's an interview, not a hotline.
To answer your question: it tries to access something for which there is no driver loaded. What device it is exactly depends on the number. Or if it's char not being block device is that it tries to mount a drive which in fact is not a drive.
He's part of the Puffin Project. I know he's got a pa-risc based workstation so he's definately running HPUX.
Will DVD manufacturers every support Linux?
Light travels in a straight line...the only way to see it at a 45 degree angle is if it were to reflect off os something else.
this space for rent
Companies like Microsoft and Sun spend millions of dollars on software testing. Can the open source community really replace all those professional software testers? What tools or techniques do you personally use to test your code? What programs do you use to "stress test" Linux?
cpeterso
Why don't you shave?
Alan, now that your software company is a big success are you going to continue to cross-dress?
Marjo Wycam, Master of the Programming Arts
1. Sound is bloody difficult to set up. But
when isn't it?
2. On a more serious note, my isp switched to
a vpn system and boy did I have problems.
Please fold a pptp mechanism into a kernel
module.
What's your favorite type of beer (specific brand/brew or general style)?
Hi Alan,
Did you grow that beard before or after you started on Linux kernel hacking and do you use it to point out that there is no such thing as a Linux Geek stereotype ?
If you were an animal, what would you be? What kind of animal would you want to be if it's not the one you would be? (I'd be a stallion ;) but I'd want to be a duck or a badger. Ducks can swin underwater, on top of water, they can walk on land and fly, it's hard to beat that.)
Is U2 greater than the Beatles? Who was the best Beatle?
While I'm on this Beatles vibe and to knock off Tarantino, are you an Elvis man or a Beatles man?
Who do you like in the next World Cup? Any opionions on Lance's emotional win in the tour?
Any opinion on transubstantiation? or religion in general?
Who's your favorite painter? If you had a painting by them would you save it instead of whatever you picked for answer 1?
Now that we're done with the warm ups...
What's your feeling on the WWW and how LaTeX fits into it? Should web pages really be PDFs or DVIs? Do you care?
How do you feel about garbage collection? Good? Bad? The hacker in me wants to do it "my way" but in my wisened mid 20's I've grown to appriciate garbage collection, especially in the hands on non-expert programmers. Do you sometimes wish that the kernel had garbage collection when you're fixing leaks? (not that it would be practical)
How do you feel about the future of programming and computers in general? There is a strong trend to dumb computers down a lot for "end users" (a la KDE and GNOME among other GUIs) Do you think this is good in the long term and do you think the same thing should be done with programming on a large scale? (as it is, there is an astronomical number of CS grads who come out with very little programming skill or experience, there also appears to be a growing number of people who can write scripts (perl) but can't code at a lowlevel, so it appears to be happening) Do you think programming should be stressed more as a skill all computers users need? Do you think that in the future everybody will be a programmer and then there will be a few hardcore hackers who do the real work? (which is really how it is now) Or will society and civilization as a whole be able to fully utilize computers without becoming a society full of programmers? There is kind of a lot in this question, I went through a very tough and rigorous university CS program and because I'm a computer geek I loved it but a lot of people there could have got by with a lot less and still been able to be productive members of the software industry, should CS become more of a specialized discipline for hackers and should liberal arts become an introductory basic programming type degree with a focus on liberal arts?
As an add-on, Linux is a tremendously rich programming platform, lot's of compiler development takes place on linux and you can find a complier for just about any langauge or programming system. Do you think that gives it a natural advantage over windows in a "programmer's" society? Despite the programmer friendliness of the Linux community and development it still looks like Linux lacks in some ways compared to Windows. For example, you can script just about anything with MS Office objects and Visual BASIC, it's extremely flexible, I don't know of anything on linux that combines that power with that level of ease. How do you think we can fix that if we need to? This is kind outside kernel space... Just curious what you think about apps and the development going on there.
The new emerging sex symbol for the new millenium seems to be the hacker/geek/technical professional/programmer type. They've even had a pseudocracker on an MTV program (or so I've read on Slashdot.) How do you feel about this trend? As with most things in the fashion world, it's all about image and the the symbols themselves seem to be largely fraudulent, I don't know of any real hackers who are being touted as sex symbols or models. Imitation is supposed to be the most sincere form of flattery though, do you feel flattered?
Speaking of making a buck.. (I always associate making a buck with sex symbols because they are all just marketing creations) How do you feel about the RedHat IPO? Good for linux? Bad for linux? Good for free software? Bad for free software? Just a few guys trying to make a buck?
Are there any directions the kernel is going in that you don't fully agree with? Is there something that isn't happening that you'd like to happen? I'd kind of like to see ACLs... with coda in the kernel and xfs on the way they might become more popular.
What's your favorite architecture to write assembly for?
Thanks for your time and all your work.
This is my signature. There are many signatures like it but this one is mine..
Is Linux 2.0.x dead? Will you keep supporting it? Will there be a Linux 2.0.39?
cpeterso
Alan, Haw about Linux really use unicode through all the OS? There is Unicode Conference is going on in San Jose, is anyone from Linux core develores being there?
Then we can say we worship Cox.
It may be strange, but Alan is the only hero of mine.
Hey Alan...
So, do you do any hacking on your Sinclair Spectrum +3 any more? Or has all that fallen by the wayside these days?
Thanks,
Simon Cooke
(Your Sinclair magazine's ex technical ed)
Coming soon - pyrogyra
Whoa, I'm trying to grok simultaneous dialation and contraction at the same time and feeling my FPU processing is bound, even much mental panic. Ok, sqr root, so what happens if it's two cars heading toward each other at light speed, each driven by Shroedinger's cat, with black holes parallel to their interception path, then they flip on their headlights, then the 4-way flashers, then the high beams and...and yes, get this...meowing and honking the horn??? How about an equation for all them photons and waves? Huh, well, smarty, got it? So what does the cat see and hear? Can SMP solve that? Hmmm, will that give Linux the left and right brain needed to solve it in parallel? Seriously and with reverence, I suggest we give Linus Torvalds the moniker 'OSmoses' for his ability to slip under the surface tension of corporate resistance and leading us away from the tyrannical monolithic slavery of pharoah Gates, where one window pane fits all views. And Sir Allen of Cox would be his rod bearer, as 'brother' Aaron. Thank you, thank you both! Just help us avoid the Golden Calf scene, ok? I'd hate to see the kernel source code tablets breaking over the false idols of gold. Apologies for the metaphoracide. wall Blessings to all net stations, PB8
From a technogical standpoint, what is most lacking in the kernel? Support for a specific technology (e.g., DVD), implementation of a specific technique, a change in organization, or something else entirely?
Conversely, is there anything you think may happen or is happening that we would be better off without?
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
Linus has said that he considers the most interesting part of the developement of Linux to be the GUI. What do you think the most interesting part of the developement is?
Do you ever get pressure from RHAD labs to work on this or that piece of hardware from the latest Red Hat partner? And if so, how do you handle that? Thanks for all of you hard work on the kernel.
There are a lot of things geeks like me admire about you, but the one part of your life where it spills over into sheer envy involves your wife, Hobbit. How'd you meet her? (I assume you had to be awake during the day at least once? And possibly even in or through the Big Blue Room at least briefly...?)
Should Wales really be considered the "Wild Wild West?"
Alan,
I have been using (and benefieting from) your work (and that of the linux community in general) for about six years. I'll take this sentence to say that the experience has been fantastic, from the first day; Thank You, and All.
My question is this: now that I've got a little experience under my belt, and I kind of 'have a clue', so to speak, where would you suggest I direct my efforts at this point to best further the effort? which is to say, what part of linux most desperately needs attention? I know quite a bit of perl, a lot of C, and never cracked the first book on C++...
-videoranger
Heaven offers little comfort like winamp and a big disk full of Dave Matthews MP3s
I, like a lot of programmers, have a mane. Long hair. Lots of it. Alan, ye of the flowing locks, what shampoo do you use? What is the manner of your care regime? Or is a comb a scary object, full of fear and loathing? Inquiring minds, y'know.
Jeremy Lee | Orinoco
Hi there Alan,
everybody knows what a prolific contributer you are to the community. How much time to you spend each day hacking to produce as much as you do. And have improved hacking tools reduced the amount of time you must spend at the console, or just allowed you to produce that much more?
TIA,
Paul Dorman.
Wellington, New Zealand.
Hi,
Uh, I posted that question, and I am quite serious.
No troll was attempted, sorry if it came through as such - but I have been wondering about that for quite some time.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is kinky.
Alan, most people when working on an seemingly neverending project set a timeline of expectations or goals. Have you established a set timeline/priority for adding features to linux or do you just write code for whatever sounds interesting at any given time?
I was going to ask this as well - but in a slightly more broad terms.
Alan,
When are we going to see a multi-threaded I/O subsystem/framework, where non-brain dead devices can be utilised to their maxiumum potential on SMP machines like mine?
keep up the good work
Andrew van der Stock
Alan;
/.?? "Ask Alan Cox"
First thing this morning, I get a question via ICQ about the ac kernel source distributed with S.u.S.E. On the way to work, I pick up a book. You're given grand kudos for having lent extensive technical expertise to the author while he was writing it. Two hours later, I am told your patch fixed an intermittant development box that I had hacked for a week to no avail. After lunch, I am asked by some junior exec what exactly v4l is, and why did IS propose to use it for teleconferences.
Now I'm home. What's the lead article on
Are you stalking me?
No, seriously. This really was my day. Where do you get the endless energy? (and is it available in finer drug-stores everywhere?)
.sig: Now legally binding!
I want to know when the ip stack will be multithreaded. Make sure the parent is a five! :)
(okay, I'm going to get reamed on points myself, but it's worth it)
-Chris
Do you personally know the other Alan Cox (alc@FreeBSD.org)
What do you think of the brits keep correction your fall/autumn spell?
(Okay not important questions, you can answer it later.)
CY
Alan,
What do you think about Ken Thompson's saying about Linux?
thanks,
Alex
What do you think of the brits keep correction your fall/autumn spell?
(Okay not important questions, you can answer it later.)
CY
You can't go at the speed of light. As you approach the speed of light your mass increases and it takes more and more energy to accelerate. You can't actually hit 'c' unless you're massless (like a photon), in which case you're always going at 'c'.
.999c or whatever and you turn the lights on, the light from the headlights will still appear to be going at 'c' relative to you to observers (_not_ .001c).
If you're at
Alan, thanks first for taking the time to do this "interview" with /.
I'm wondering what you think about the recent "competing" Unix vendors decisions to jump on the Linux bandwagon? I'm thinking of IBM, SGI, HP, and Sun for example... all of them have unices they sell with thier boxen, yet they've started jumping in and trying to support/ship Linux? I've heard the opinions of the folks who develop one of those unices... so I'm interested in yours for comparison.
[Truth in advertising: I work for one of these companies, but not anywhere near our Linux efforts; sigh.]
Is there going to be any work before or during Linux 3.1 to make kernels 'hot-swappable'? Finally getting rid of the one reason to reboot a machine. Or perhaps even work on just an ultra-fast-reboot. I'm sure some software wouldn't need to be killed. Even a way to just select processes you don't want killed during a kernel upgrade.
Cheers on your achievements,
fou aje oym asoyf ueyf jaffaq afset su!6j!/\ op 'ua>|7!>| ppn7
We all know that hacking can be fun. But what keeps you going through the tough times when you're hacking for no money? Don't you wake up some times and think "I'm wasting my life in a dark room with a machine writing code that may be obsolete in 5 years".
You're doing a fantastic job, I just don't know how you keep it up, especially before you were able to get paid for doing it.
I think Telsa would appreciate it. And you could fit more computers in there! YES!
fish and pipes
What do you think about the fact that there are gazillions of 'Alan Cox'es out there? It does get confusing at times.
--------
"I already have all the latest software."
Alan,
I noticed there are no drivers for the ATA/66 or UDMA66 drivers yet. I'd love to see my Dual 400 MHz Celerons be able to exploit this. I tried to patch the 2.2.11 kernel with a 3rd party driver for a Western Digital, but, to no avail. Now, at 2.2.12, still no UDMA66.
Rumour has it, October? Thoughts?
Regards,
Van
www.dedserius.com
VB != VisualBasic
Hi Alan,
Could you please give us the status of the
ISDN/PPP/MPPP projects and how they'll fit into
the release of the 2.4 kernel?
I have a question about what appears to be a problem with the scheduler in the 2.2.x kernels.
;)
Is the scheduler in 2.4.x going to allow linux to work well with multiple NICs ?? This is where the finger was pointed at over the Mindcraft "benchmark", from what I understand.
Will we be able to show Microsoft what a fully functional battle station looks like with 2.2.4??
--fatboy
I've been watching you add awesome functionality and stable bug fixes into the linux kernel for years, and I must admit, it makes me drool. I was just wondering if you had any pointers for a little wanna-be kernel hacker like myself to become a full fledged kernel hacker. I'm not asking you to teach a couse or hold my hand, but I'd just like to get pointed in the right direction. What would you recommend as excersizes to become more filmillar with the kernel's inner workings?
I came. I saw. I coded.
If we were to send you free stuff, what would you like to get most?
-AP
Alan, I know you do a great deal of sound hacking, and I'm particulary looking forward to a time when meaningful full-duplex support is available without paying tribute to OSS. I've attempted to use their SB16 and Ensoniq support in their trial package, and the experience was excruciating. I banged my head to no avail. Abominable documentation. Our own free stuff is far better, IMHO. I ran out of time on their trial edition, and w/o source, I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong, unlike the free drivers, which though sketchy, I could fathom.
Any hope for folks like me?
Brak: What's THAT?
Thundercleese: A light switch.. of TOTAL DEVASTATION!
Do you feel that Linux should play a role in setting new, really open standards, esp. within Posix specifications, also in favour of other Posix-compliant operating systems?
In the past year I have noticed a 'race' between
kernels released by you (2.2.*ac) and those
released by Linus. So, is it really a race?
are those kernels more or less in sync? is it
heading to a two-camp kernel tree (well, from
the mainstream at least)?
Alan,
My vision of the future does not see people being so interested in using overpowered machines on their desktops. Instead, I believe, we'll see a move towards smaller, more personal and more specific devices.
The general desktop machine will be replaced with one tailored to the task it must peform. People will carry with them personal devices that are simply not meant to be used by others.
We already know that Microsoft is pushing this idea with Windows CE. We also see that EPOC making a move to get in on the act.
My question is now obvious: Do you believe the Linux Kernel and the rest of the GNU OS can ever compete on the small devices arena?
I know it's been done on the palm, the psion etc But that's only been for novelty value, not as a serious application.
Cheers,
A FruitCake.
do you see the quality of open source software, especially of linux, as the surveyor's rod for the software industry, quasi as orientation help for both - users and producers ?
-- sigh
The Linux Hype is increasing alot lately, And according to Linus Trovas he would like too see linux being on the shelves with windows as a alternative to windows.But I find Alot of user's decend away from windows to use a Operating System
that keeps you intouch with the system not future away from it. Wouldn't attempting to put linux up on the same level as windows destroy what it hold's allready.?
The Linux Hype is increasing alot lately, And according to Linus Trovas he would like too see linux being on the shelves with windows as a alternative to windows.But I find Alot of user's decend away from windows to use a Operating System that keeps you intouch with the system not future away from it. Wouldn't attempting to put linux up on the same level as windows destroy what it hold's allready.?
Your diary says:
"Emacs, not just a way of life but a complete waste of disk space"
I've been with the linux community since 1996, and I have noticed the vi/emacs question is one of the religious ones. Maybe you can tell me why some people _hate_ emacs, and other - like me - loves it?
As long as I see more promising HURD than Linux on the kernel side.
Do you plan working on HURD?
Do you consider HURD as the future free software kernel (replacing Linux)?
Alan,
What is your opinion on devfs? Is it likely to go into 2.4?
Alex.
-- Thorin sits down and starts singing about gold.
What is your background? i.e. education/when did you start hacking/what was your first computer..
How often (if ever) do you trim your beard?
Silver
What does Alan Cox do with the spare CPU cycles on his computer? IE does he run SETI or anything else?
Only 'flamers' flame!
I get the impression that you're involved in putting X on the RH5.2 Linux for MIPS on the Indy.
Do you have any idea when that'll be done or what's holding it up?
Alan,
it is clear from your diary that you don't use {X,}Emacs nor vi for coding. What is the blessed editor of your preference then?
Didn't you used to write text adventures?
In the shoot-out between Linux and WNT done by PC Week, WNT won on every front. As I understand it, the problem is a lack of threading in the network code in the Linux kernel. So what's the scoop on this?
Do you ever feel that Linus is blocking the advancement of the kernel? (e.g. GGI, EvStack, raw IO, devfs)
Can you see a time in the future when a group of people such as yourself might have a quiet word with Linus and ask him to step aside? Or even mutiny and fork kernel development entirely?
Paul.
Alan,
:-) What is is that makes Linux run 64bit apps, but causes Win64 to fail? Any insights a layman would appreciate would be most helpful. Thanks.
I'm interested to know why the forthcoming Intel 64 bit processor will happily compile and run Linux but won't run Win64. I find this highly amusing (I'm still giggling), but I wanna know why and how M$ has got it all wrong
Alan,
Are you supporting the development of an alternate GUI system for Linux, ie the Berlin Project? It seems to me that X is falling behind other OS GUIs and its age is beginning to show. XFree86 release 4 may be the shot in the arm X needs to keep its momentum up, but we don't know when we'll see it. Key technologies such as TType and direct rendering to hardware need to come to Linux in a compatible and robust manner, and they need to come soon. Any thoughts?
I think this has been pretty much answered: Updates will only be done if serious bugs are discovered. Seems pretty unlikely, after all this time... But you never know.
Editor of choice?
What is your educational background? How and when did your skills as a coder evolve? And what brought you to apply those skills to the linux kernel?
What happened to buildings one and two? :^)
How is your Mac II holding up?
I was trying to write a thoughtful question, but my post actually looks like a total troll now that I re-read it. Please ignore it --- I'll shut up and go back to writing code now....