Open Source » Interviews »

  • Open source identity: Bitcoin technical lead Gavin Andresen

    Originally from Melbourne, Australia but now living in the US, Gavin Andresen is the technical lead of the Bitcoin virtual currency system. Started by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, Bitcoin is a digital currency system consisting of an open source client and P2P network. The aim of the Bitcoin project is a decentralised, secure peer-to-peer currency system that does not rely on banks or central transaction processing authorities. To generate “Bitcoins” people on the network use a cross-platform, open source client developed in C++. In addition to the open source aspect of Bitcoin, there is now an emerging market in services around the cryptocurrency such as exchange portals and virtual clearing houses. Previously, the Open Source Identity series has featured interviews with Ruby on Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson, Linux’s Linus Torvalds, Jan Schneider of Horde, Mark Spencer of Asterisk fame, Spine CMS creator Hendrick van Belleghem, Free Telephony Project founder David Rowe, and PulseAudio creator Lennart Poettering. This time we talk to Gavin Andresen about the new, decentralised approach to money – Bitcoin.

    Written by Rodney Gedda • 21 March 11 14:29
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    Q&A with Richard Stallman

    Free software is a different beast from gratis software. Free software activist, Richard Stallman, discusses the importance of freedom across all modes of computing.

    Written by Renai LeMay • 11 Aug. 10 11:32

  • The A-Z of programming languages: Groovy

    Groovy’s Project Manager, Guillaume Laforge, tells the development story behind this language and why he thinks it is grooving its way into enterprises around the world.

    Written by Dahna McConnachie • 14 Sept. 09 12:13
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    The A-Z of Programming Languages: Clojure

    Our series on the most popular programming languages continues as we chat to Clojure creator, Rich Hickey.

    Written by Kathryn Edwards • 10 Aug. 09 22:47

  • KOffice on version 2.0, extensions, and being like Firefox

    The idea of an application that supports third-party extensions and add-ons users can download and install in one click may be more applicable to Web browsers than office suites, but the developers at the open source KOffice project have developed such an architecture where all components are modular. TechWorld interviews the marketing coordinator for KOffice, Inge Wallin, to find out where this lesser-known of the open source office suites is headed now version 2.0.0 has arrived and what excites its developers. Building an easy, intuitive, cross-platform, and extensible platform like Firefox is high on the agenda.

    Written by Rodney Gedda • 28 May 09 16:05
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    Oracle, SAP are roadkill: Technology One chairman

    The business model used by Oracle and SAP is fundamentally flawed and will lead to their downfall within the next decade, said Technology One chairman Adrian Di Marco.

    Written by Joshua Gliddon • 27 May 09 16:23
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    The A-Z of Programming Languages: Tcl

    Our series on the most popular programming languages continues as we chat to Tcl creator John Ousterhout.

    Written by Kathryn Edwards • 08 May 09 13:22

  • The A-Z of Programming Languages: Falcon

    Computerworld's investigations into the most widely-used programming languages continues as we chat with Giancarlo Niccolai the creator of the Falcon programming language.

    Written by Kathryn Edwards • 09 April 09 11:10

  • Open source identity: Spine CMS creator Hendrik Van Belleghem

    Looking for a Web-based content management system that uses Perl instead of PHP? Want to serve dynamic and static content with PostgreSQL, not MySQL? What started out as a hobby project by Hendrik Van Belleghem, based in Bazel, Belgium, has grown into Spine – a Perl Web content system for Apache on Unix systems. With so many LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) content systems available, Spine offers a refreshing alternative with the tried and tested Perl language and is database independent. Open Source Identity interviews Van Belleghem about Spine, a lesser-known alternative to the popular Web CMSs.

    Written by Rodney Gedda • 04 March 09 11:02

  • Open source identity: Linux founder Linus Torvalds

    Linus Torvalds is a regular visitor to Australia in January. He comes out for some sunshine and to attend the annual linux.conf.au organised by Linux Australia. He took some time out to speak to Rodney Gedda about a host of topics including point releases, filesystems, what it is like switching to GNOME, and puts Windows 7 in perspective.

    Written by Rodney Gedda • 22 Jan. 09 12:24
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    Wikia co-founder on the good, the bad and the ugly of collaboration

    Wikis could take a trick or two from Facebook and social networking sites in order to draw more contributors in the new year, says co-founder of Wikia, Angela Beesley, one of the keynote speakers at the upcoming linux.conf.au. She shares her thoughts on wikia, wikis and wikipedia as well as their place in the enterprise with Computerworld.

    Written by Dahna McConnachie • 13 Jan. 09 07:42

  • Flying high with open source

    To say Sabre Holdings is a believer in open source technology is an understatement. Its IT department supports the Travelocity Web site, the Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Airline Solutions, and the company has been using open source tools for some 10 years, according to CTO Robert Wiseman. Cost certainly factors into the reason, but it's Sabre's ability to control its own destiny by making whatever changes it deems necessary that's the real motivation. Along with Kevin Bomar, Sabre's senior principal of middleware services, Wiseman explains how open source software and the community that supports it help Sabre deliver solutions that meet its demanding uptime requirements.

    Written by Paul Desmond • 11 Nov. 08 11:30

  • Microsoft exec touts mixed source ventures

    Microsoft has been making moves on the licensing front and accommodations with open source, such as its controversial 2006 agreement with Novell pertaining to Suse Linux. Looking to elaborate on Microsoft's activities, Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft vice president and deputy general counsel for Intellectual Property and Licensing, met last week with Paul Krill in San Francisco. Companies today, Gutierrez said, have become "mixed source" ventures rather than the world being divided up between open source and proprietary.

    Written by Paul Krill • 21 Oct. 08 07:54

  • Solaris exec touts Unix platform's strengths

    Solaris has been Sun Microsystems's bread-and-butter Unix system since 1992. While Unix platforms such as Solaris now are up against the open source Linux juggernaut, Sun maintains it has the technological advantages and accommodations for open source to keep Solaris in the game. The company also cites important customer wins as evidence of the platform's continued strength. To hash out the state of Solaris in today's marketplace, InfoWorld editor at large Paul Krill recently met with Jim McHugh, vice president of Solaris marketing at Sun, at the company's California campus.

    Written by Paul Krill • 14 Oct. 08 09:38

  • Torvalds talks about his brand new blog

    We tend to think that everybody who's anybody in the tech world has a blog, right? Well, Linus Torvalds didn't have a blog, at least not until dipping his toe into the waters with this one -- "Linus' Blog" -- which launched last Thursday.

    Written by Paul McNamara • 09 Oct. 08 09:25

  • How the OLPC can help beat Taliban in Afghanistan

    In one of the final scenes of the movie, "Charlie Wilson's War," the story of America's part in Afghanistan's victory over the Soviet Union, Congressman Wilson is shown asking for more funding to rebuild Afghanistan, a request that is denied.

    Written by Dan Nystedt • 09 Sept. 08 10:05

  • Red Hat VP readies virtualisation roadmap

    Paul Cormier is Red Hat's executive VP and head of Red Hat products and technologies divisions. His experienced thumb is firmly planted in many Red Hat pies; including engineering, product management and product marketing. The company credits the introduction of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to Cormier's leadership and experience in enterprise technology. Cormier has returned Down Under on another visit to Red Hat's research and development team in Brisbane, and took some time out to chat with Computerworld about the anticipated boom in virtualisation, cloud computing, Microsoft's open source initiatives, CentOS, JBoss Application Server 5.0, how open source software can aid the current economic downturn, and of course, the growing role of Linux and RHEL in the enterprise.

    Written by Andrew Hendry • 11 Aug. 08 09:57

  • The low-down on Open Source Law

    Open Source Law founder, Brendan Scott, discusses the legal implications of FOSS in Australian government and enterprise organisations.

    Written by Andrew Hendry • 25 June 08 08:58

  • Red Hat CEO on patents, open-source virtualization

    A half-year after becoming president and CEO of Linux vendor Red Hat, Jim Whitehurst was in Boston last week for the annual Red Hat Summit. The former COO of Delta Air Lines sat down with Network World's Jon Brodkin to discuss open source, a new patent settlement, and Red Hat's moves in virtualization.

    Written by Jon Brodkin • 23 June 08 13:41

  • Open Enterprise Interview with Ryan Bagueros, North-by-South

    Like the future, open source is already here, it's just unevenly distributed. In particular, Latin America is emerging as a real hotbed of not only free software coding, but free software uptake by governments - to an extent that puts the UK's pathetic bumblings in this area quite to shame.

    Written by Glyn Moody • 19 June 08 12:40
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