Service: The Promise of Free and Open Source Software
With Jon “Maddog” Hall.
Software was at one time tailored directly to the needs of the customer. Then product-oriented software entered the marketplace as a mechanism to reduce the cost of software and therefore increase the use of computers. This talk will show why that promise of reduced costs and increased utilization is not only unrealized, but is dying. Free and Open Source software is the revitalized path to true service in the software marketplace, saving the end business customer time, money and frustration with non-working code.
Jon “Maddog” Hall
Jon “Maddog” Hall is the
Executive Director of Linux International (www.li.org), a non-profit
association of computer vendors who wish to support and promote the Linux
Operating System. During his career which spans over thirty years, Mr. Hall
has been a programmer, systems designer, systems administrator, product
manager, technical marketing manager and educator. He has worked for such
companies as Western Electric Corporation, Aetna Life and Casualty, Bell
Laboratories, Digital Equipment Corporation, VA Linux Systems, and is
currently funded by SGI.
He has taught at Hartford State Technical College, Merrimack College and Daniel Webster College. He still likes talking to students over pizza and beer (the pizza can be optional).
Mr. Hall is the author of numerous magazine and newspaper articles, many presentations and one book, “Linux for Dummies”.
Mr. Hall serves on the boards of several companies, and several non-profit organizations, including the USENIX Association.
Mr. Hall has traveled the world speaking on the benefits of Open Source Software, and received his BS in Commerce and Engineering from Drexel University, and his MSCS from RPI in Troy, New York.
In his spare time maddog is working on his retirement project:
maddog's monastery for microcomputing and microbrewing
