Paying It Forward

Once upon a time, a friend of mine told me to crank up the tunes in his living room. I wandered over to his desk, pressed the space bar on the keyboard and was presented with this utterly unfamiliar foot thing floating around the screen. After asking "Um, what the hell is this?," my buddy proceeded to tell me all about what Open Source software is, why people write it, why people use it, and why I could still play music files in this then foreign environment. Life was good. I also got the sense that this whole Open Source thing was for coders only. I didn't think much about it for a long time, other than being very excited that programmers were thinking about their work along ethical lines and viewing the tools they create as a form of speech. Such is the way the world is changed.

Seven years later, I was chatting with some folks at SIGCSE when a text message came through from this same friend. "Just heard you on the lottalinuxlinks podcast. Nice interview." Clearly, a lot can change in seven years. Thanks for the kind words Nathan, and thanks for that early lesson. I'm proud I could pay it forward.

I'm curious to know what folks think of the podcast, so let me know. I have a few more to promote Summer of Code coming up in the next few weeks, so all feedback appreciated.

And while we're at it, feedback on this video interview with Linux Magazin Online from FOSDEM also welcome. The video of my talk should be posted soon. Eh, why not give my official conference press interview a read, too.

Life is good.