[UFO Chicago] Apple hires chief evangelist for FreeBSD
Thomas
thomas@chicagomac.com
Tue, 26 Jun 2001 11:34:24 -0500
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Just relaying this for any who may not of heard...
Jordan Hubbard, release engineer and chief evangelist on the FreeBSD =
project, has been hired by Apple to help with Darwin development and =
encourage a working relationship between Apple and the open source =
community
Dear members of the FreeBSD community,=20
As many of you know, I've spent the last 7 years working at Walnut =
Creek CDROM, BSDi and, for the last 3 months, WindRiver Systems as a =
general FreeBSD evangelist and product manager for the FreeBSD CDROM =
product line. That work has certainly been important to the community =
and it's been very satisfying to see FreeBSD products appear on store =
shelves and on web sites, to say nothing of the many thousands of CDs =
we've been able to make available to schools and people doing FreeBSD =
promotional events. We've also gone from being just one person working =
on FreeBSD releases to a small team which also works on FreeBSD =
infrastructural support and "focused efforts" like the SMPng project. By =
any metric given the economic situation these days, FreeBSD's progress =
has been very strong and it's been my privilege to be able to work with =
so many talented people in enhancing its commercial potential. It's my =
sincere hope that WindRiver will continue these initiatives as well as =
providing unique and significant value of its own to the FreeBSD =
community.=20
Those who've been following my writings about and general enthusiasm =
for Apple's OS X lately also won't be surprised by the news that I'm =
going to work for Apple Computer. Ever since Apple released the initial =
public Beta, I've been following OS X's progress with great interest and =
an increasing desire to get involved with it somehow. For those who've =
been living under a rock this last year, OS X has finally managed to =
achieve what's been something of a holy grail for the Unix community - =
take a powerful Unix core (BSD) and mate it with a usable desktop, GUI =
development tools and some real applications, all without sacrificing =
access to the underlying features of Unix. Apple has even bundled tools =
like PERL and EMACS as part of the base system, proving that they're =
more than willing to appeal to the techies out there as well as the =
general consumer who may never get past the desktop. From the Open =
Source perspective, Apple is also making a strong play with Darwin, the =
core OS component of OS X. Full sources are available to the general =
public and Apple is making full use of CVS and other tools which will =
help keep the development process coherent, just as FreeBSD has done. =
For a "day job", I really couldn't ask for a better combination of open =
source community work and cutting-edge commercial development which will =
help me expand my horizons and hopefully learn more about the =
intricacies of user interface/human factors engineering. I expect both =
to help me significantly in the FreeBSD work I will also continue to do. =
Which brings us to the next topic: "What does this mean for FreeBSD?"=20
Let me assure you all that Apple does fully understand the importance =
of FreeBSD and they don't want me or anyone else to stop working on it. =
FreeBSD doesn't compete with Apple's product offerings in any way and =
provides an excellent source of technology for them. Darwin is =
substantially based on FreeBSD 3.2 and Apple certainly doesn't want the =
technology transfer to end there or to be strictly one-way. Part of my =
mandate will in fact be helping Apple to be an even better Open Source =
citizen, increasing collaboration and strengthening relationships with =
FreeBSD and other Open Source projects.=20
With the release of OS X, Apple will literally be the largest Unix =
vendor on the planet. They take this very seriously, and realize that =
their involvement with the Open Source community is a critical component =
of their success. They've also been very good about giving FreeBSD =
credit for its contributions during their presentations and on their web =
site, so this is far from being just another (usual) case of someone =
taking FreeBSD and burying it deep into some completely closed-source =
product. Apple is proud of its BSD-derived technology and it's not =
afraid to say so, something which removes a lot of the concern over a =
potential conflict of interest from my shoulders. I think that an =
expanded relationship between FreeBSD and its "sister" project Darwin =
can only be to the benefit of both groups. If you think about it, our =
"mandates" are essentially identical: To provide BSD technology to the =
mass market and work on making it as approachable and robust as =
possible. Only the types of hardware each focuses on are different, and =
in areas where there's overlap (USB, firewire, etc) we can certainly do =
our best to collaborate.=20
As has probably already become rather obvious, I'm very excited to be =
joining Apple and look forward to working with some fascinating people =
and products. Wearing my "FreeBSD.org hat", I will also continue to =
support WindRiver's efforts in any way I can to ensure that the FreeBSD =
product line there continues and that FreeBSD can continue to be a =
solution which is broadly applicable to a wide array of markets. The =
FreeBSD product line has reached the stage where I feel comfortable =
taking a job which allows me to focus more on Darwin. While I have =
enjoyed my time working with the people and projects at BSDi and =
WindRiver, I simply couldn't resist the opportunity of working at Apple. =
Sincerely,=20
- Jordan
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT size=3D-1>Just relaying this for any who may not of=20
heard...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D-1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D-1>Jordan Hubbard, release engineer and chief =
evangelist on=20
the <A href=3D"http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD project</A>, has been =
hired by=20
Apple to help with Darwin development and encourage a working =
relationship=20
between Apple and the open source community</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D-1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D-1>Dear members of the FreeBSD community, </DIV>
<P>As many of you know, I've spent the last 7 years working at Walnut =
Creek=20
CDROM, BSDi and, for the last 3 months, WindRiver Systems as a general =
FreeBSD=20
evangelist and product manager for the FreeBSD CDROM product line. =
That work=20
has certainly been important to the community and it's been very =
satisfying to=20
see FreeBSD products appear on store shelves and on web sites, to say =
nothing=20
of the many thousands of CDs we've been able to make available to =
schools and=20
people doing FreeBSD promotional events. We've also gone from being =
just one=20
person working on FreeBSD releases to a small team which also works on =
FreeBSD=20
infrastructural support and "focused efforts" like the SMPng project. =
By any=20
metric given the economic situation these days, FreeBSD's progress has =
been=20
very strong and it's been my privilege to be able to work with so many =
talented people in enhancing its commercial potential. It's my sincere =
hope=20
that WindRiver will continue these initiatives as well as providing =
unique and=20
significant value of its own to the FreeBSD community.=20
<P>Those who've been following my writings about and general =
enthusiasm for=20
Apple's OS X lately also won't be surprised by the news that I'm going =
to work=20
for Apple Computer. Ever since Apple released the initial public Beta, =
I've=20
been following OS X's progress with great interest and an increasing =
desire to=20
get involved with it somehow. For those who've been living under a =
rock this=20
last year, OS X has finally managed to achieve what's been something =
of a holy=20
grail for the Unix community - take a powerful Unix core (BSD) and =
mate it=20
with a usable desktop, GUI development tools and some real =
applications, all=20
without sacrificing access to the underlying features of Unix. Apple =
has even=20
bundled tools like PERL and EMACS as part of the base system, proving =
that=20
they're more than willing to appeal to the techies out there as well =
as the=20
general consumer who may never get past the desktop. From the Open =
Source=20
perspective, Apple is also making a strong play with Darwin, the core =
OS=20
component of OS X. Full sources are available to the general public =
and Apple=20
is making full use of CVS and other tools which will help keep the =
development=20
process coherent, just as FreeBSD has done. For a "day job", I really =
couldn't=20
ask for a better combination of open source community work and =
cutting-edge=20
commercial development which will help me expand my horizons and =
hopefully=20
learn more about the intricacies of user interface/human factors =
engineering.=20
I expect both to help me significantly in the FreeBSD work I will also =
continue to do. Which brings us to the next topic: "What does this =
mean for=20
FreeBSD?"=20
<P>Let me assure you all that Apple does fully understand the =
importance of=20
FreeBSD and they don't want me or anyone else to stop working on it. =
FreeBSD=20
doesn't compete with Apple's product offerings in any way and provides =
an=20
excellent source of technology for them. Darwin is substantially based =
on=20
FreeBSD 3.2 and Apple certainly doesn't want the technology transfer =
to end=20
there or to be strictly one-way. Part of my mandate will in fact be =
helping=20
Apple to be an even better Open Source citizen, increasing =
collaboration and=20
strengthening relationships with FreeBSD and other Open Source =
projects.=20
<P>With the release of OS X, Apple will literally be the largest Unix =
vendor=20
on the planet. They take this very seriously, and realize that their=20
involvement with the Open Source community is a critical component of =
their=20
success. They've also been very good about giving FreeBSD credit for =
its=20
contributions during their presentations and on their web site, so =
this is far=20
from being just another (usual) case of someone taking FreeBSD and =
burying it=20
deep into some completely closed-source product. Apple is proud of its =
BSD-derived technology and it's not afraid to say so, something which =
removes=20
a lot of the concern over a potential conflict of interest from my =
shoulders.=20
I think that an expanded relationship between FreeBSD and its "sister" =
project=20
Darwin can only be to the benefit of both groups. If you think about =
it, our=20
"mandates" are essentially identical: To provide BSD technology to the =
mass=20
market and work on making it as approachable and robust as possible. =
Only the=20
types of hardware each focuses on are different, and in areas where =
there's=20
overlap (USB, firewire, etc) we can certainly do our best to =
collaborate.=20
<P>As has probably already become rather obvious, I'm very excited to =
be=20
joining Apple and look forward to working with some fascinating people =
and=20
products. Wearing my "FreeBSD.org hat", I will also continue to =
support=20
WindRiver's efforts in any way I can to ensure that the FreeBSD =
product line=20
there continues and that FreeBSD can continue to be a solution which =
is=20
broadly applicable to a wide array of markets. The FreeBSD product =
line has=20
reached the stage where I feel comfortable taking a job which allows =
me to=20
focus more on Darwin. While I have enjoyed my time working with the =
people and=20
projects at BSDi and WindRiver, I simply couldn't resist the =
opportunity of=20
working at Apple.=20
<P>Sincerely,=20
<P>- Jordan</FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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