Posts by Category

Open Source

Let’s Open Ag-Tech

1 minute read

Today I’ve joined Semios to lead open source strategy and start an OSPO.

Hire me!

1 minute read

Thanks to good progress on the book, I’m able to join your team. What can I do for you?

📖 FOSS License Compliance Enforcement

3 minute read

Don’t worry and don’t believe the FUD. If your company is aware of the links in its software supply chain, does its good faith best to remain in compliance w...

Hello, Wipro!

2 minute read

I’m very happy to announce that as of today I’ve joined Wipro as Open Source and Technical Strategist.

📖 FOSS’ killer app: Licensing innovation

3 minute read

FOSS licenses are the ‘killer app’ of free and open source software. Rather than waiting for a lawyer to draft a custom license for the software, you can sel...

Elasticsearch and Kibana are now business risks

4 minute read

If your organisation uses the open source versions of either Elasticsearch or Kibana in its products or projects, it is now at risk of being forced to releas...

Spread the word: Marketing your FOSS project

4 minute read

You have a new open source project and you’d like to publicise it to a wide audience. How can you get started with the marketing? I provide several pointers.

Personality in Open Source

5 minute read

In September I was interviewed for an article about how personality affects the development process in open source projects. The article was inspired by a st...

An Easy Introduction to Open Source Projects

7 minute read

Welcome to open source! We have thousands upon thousands of projects available for you to use and contribute to. This might seem a bit overwhelming, but it’s...

The Real Costs of Open Source Sustainability

53 minute read

How much do you know about your open source supply chain? Are there any weak links in that chain? Do you know what to do about that? This talk will give you ...

A Brief Introduction to Copyright and Licensing

5 minute read

This is an excerpt from my book ‘Forge Your Future with Open Source’. It does exactly what it says in the title: provides a brief introduction to copyright a...

The Past, Present, and Future of Open Source

5 minute read

Last week Christina Cardoza of SD Times published an excellent article about the first 20 years of open source. I was interviewed for the article, but natura...

The OpenStack identity crisis

2 minute read

Does OpenStack have an identity crisis? I think it does, and solving it will help the project establish itself in the minds of infrastructure deciders.

Jump-start your career with open source skills

3 minute read

Although attending college is not required for success in software development, college programs can provide a great deal of useful information in a relativ...

No, I will not “lighten up”

1 minute read

Here’s a conversation I was in recently. It’s paraphrased and anonymized because I’m not here to name-n-shame.

Uploading a Video to Internet Archive

4 minute read

I make no secret of the fact that OSCON is one of my favorite conferences. I try to speak at it whenever I can and do what I can to support its community. Wh...

Open Source Leadership Succession Plan?

1 minute read

I present at a lot of FOSS conferences and therefore have the chance to meet and speak with a lot of FOSS luminaries. These are inspiring people who’ve been ...

OSCON Portland, 2015

4 minute read

Oh, my. My last OSCON trip report is only two posts back. It seems I’ve been rather a slacker on the blogging front. I’ll see what I can do to change that. I...

OSCON 2014

1 minute read

Another year, another OSCON. Now that I’m approaching caught up, here’s a quick recap of that busy week.

Announcing the Perl Companies project

1 minute read

A month or so ago Jeff Thalhammer and I were chatting Perl over burritos. We got to discussing how many companies were currently using Perl actively and wond...

Improving Perl’s New Programmer Outreach

4 minute read

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much demand for programmers or programming training. In an economy that’s still recovering from the recession, the remarkably...

Back to Top ↑

Business

Let’s Open Ag-Tech

1 minute read

Today I’ve joined Semios to lead open source strategy and start an OSPO.

Hire me!

1 minute read

Thanks to good progress on the book, I’m able to join your team. What can I do for you?

📖 FOSS License Compliance Enforcement

3 minute read

Don’t worry and don’t believe the FUD. If your company is aware of the links in its software supply chain, does its good faith best to remain in compliance w...

Hello, Wipro!

2 minute read

I’m very happy to announce that as of today I’ve joined Wipro as Open Source and Technical Strategist.

📖 FOSS’ killer app: Licensing innovation

3 minute read

FOSS licenses are the ‘killer app’ of free and open source software. Rather than waiting for a lawyer to draft a custom license for the software, you can sel...

Elasticsearch and Kibana are now business risks

4 minute read

If your organisation uses the open source versions of either Elasticsearch or Kibana in its products or projects, it is now at risk of being forced to releas...

Back to Top ↑

Tech Management

3 ways to improve your hiring process

5 minute read

The new year often brings the end to a lot of finance- or holiday-imposed hiring freezes and a rush to get the hiring process wheels back into motion.

Badass: Making Teams Awesome

3 minute read

I read Kathy Sierra’s BADASS: Making Users Awesome back in February and haven’t been able to get it out of my mind since. The premise of the book rang true i...

OSCON 2014

1 minute read

Another year, another OSCON. Now that I’m approaching caught up, here’s a quick recap of that busy week.

Dear Mister Independent Recruiter,

less than 1 minute read

Hello. I saw your resume on the web and am writing to see if you or anyone that you know who may be interested in the following position in $city. It i...

Stop Hoarding Knowledge

5 minute read

Imagine a manufacturer who starts up a production line knowing that each time a worker reached a certain point in the process she or he would have to walk ov...

Common Resume Mistakes

7 minute read

I’ve been hiring in the tech industry for the past ten years or so. In that time I’ve looked at hundreds—if not thousands—of resumes from people applying for...

Managers: It is NEVER OK to be a jerk

2 minute read

Earlier today I had a conversation with a friend. She had just been chewed out by her manager. It seems my friend had let a typo slip into some copy. Normall...

Back to Top ↑

Strategy

Let’s Open Ag-Tech

1 minute read

Today I’ve joined Semios to lead open source strategy and start an OSPO.

Hire me!

1 minute read

Thanks to good progress on the book, I’m able to join your team. What can I do for you?

📖 FOSS License Compliance Enforcement

3 minute read

Don’t worry and don’t believe the FUD. If your company is aware of the links in its software supply chain, does its good faith best to remain in compliance w...

Hello, Wipro!

2 minute read

I’m very happy to announce that as of today I’ve joined Wipro as Open Source and Technical Strategist.

📖 FOSS’ killer app: Licensing innovation

3 minute read

FOSS licenses are the ‘killer app’ of free and open source software. Rather than waiting for a lawyer to draft a custom license for the software, you can sel...

Elasticsearch and Kibana are now business risks

4 minute read

If your organisation uses the open source versions of either Elasticsearch or Kibana in its products or projects, it is now at risk of being forced to releas...

Back to Top ↑

Book

📖 FOSS License Compliance Enforcement

3 minute read

Don’t worry and don’t believe the FUD. If your company is aware of the links in its software supply chain, does its good faith best to remain in compliance w...

VS Code Extensions for Writing

4 minute read

I’ve slowly acquired a small handful of VS Code extensions that have been invaluable in the process of writing this book.

📖 FOSS’ killer app: Licensing innovation

3 minute read

FOSS licenses are the ‘killer app’ of free and open source software. Rather than waiting for a lawyer to draft a custom license for the software, you can sel...

Back to Top ↑

Uncategorized

Google, can we talk?

1 minute read

The following is an edited screenshot of my Google Account profile:

Adding a Slack network to your znc IRC bouncer

2 minute read

Slack is taking the online world by storm. Most everyone I know in technology is a member of at least one Slack teams, and it’s not rare to find people who a...

Program Like a Pixar Story Artist

3 minute read

A friend recently tweeted a list of story basics from Pixar Story Artist Emma Coats. These basics are some of the story-writing guidelines Emma has learned f...

Rant: I Am Not a Cat Herder

1 minute read

It’s a no-brainer. It’ll happen. If I were the betting kind I’d lay good money on it. Any time I’m mingling at some social event (cocktail party, BBQ, confer...

Online Services I Find Worth Paying For

4 minute read

While I appreciate getting something for free [1] as much as the next person, I’m also very willing to shell out cash for online services which I find both u...

It’s Called Marketing for a Reason

2 minute read

Let’s do a little experiment. The next time you’re in a room full of techies, say something along the lines of, “Hey, how about that marketing department, eh...

It’s About Needs.

3 minute read

I’ve been doing various bits of writing lately, both for my blogs and for other purposes. This morning I was sitting at a cafe, scrawling ideas in my notebo...

Watch this space

less than 1 minute read

Sixteen months ago I made the choice to stop posting to this blog as a way to reduce obligations on my time and free up some mental space for other personal ...

Back to Top ↑

Community

8 tips for attending virtual conferences

3 minute read

The health and safety of our community are more important than anything else, which means in-person events are now a no-go. Rather than canceling, most tech ...

A Brief Introduction to Copyright and Licensing

5 minute read

This is an excerpt from my book ‘Forge Your Future with Open Source’. It does exactly what it says in the title: provides a brief introduction to copyright a...

Jump-start your career with open source skills

3 minute read

Although attending college is not required for success in software development, college programs can provide a great deal of useful information in a relativ...

No, I will not “lighten up”

1 minute read

Here’s a conversation I was in recently. It’s paraphrased and anonymized because I’m not here to name-n-shame.

Back to Top ↑

Personal

Let’s Open Ag-Tech

1 minute read

Today I’ve joined Semios to lead open source strategy and start an OSPO.

Hire me!

1 minute read

Thanks to good progress on the book, I’m able to join your team. What can I do for you?

Hello, Wipro!

2 minute read

I’m very happy to announce that as of today I’ve joined Wipro as Open Source and Technical Strategist.

Hire me!

3 minute read

Does your company or organisation need help with its open source strategy? Does it want to know how its open source use and involvement can help its bottom l...

Farewell, Juniper Networks

3 minute read

On May 27, 2020, Juniper Networks laid off its open source team. I’m now free to pursue other opportunities. What may I do for you?

Thinking Outside the Big Green Box

2 minute read

In October I had the dubious honor of laying off my entire team (they’ve all found excellent new positions). At the time I was to have joined them in a workf...

I’m in the Market for a New Job

1 minute read

After over a year working on my own projects, I find I really miss leading and working with a team of good people. Working alone has its advantages but isn’t...

Back to Top ↑

Free Software

Spread the word: Marketing your FOSS project

4 minute read

You have a new open source project and you’d like to publicise it to a wide audience. How can you get started with the marketing? I provide several pointers.

Personality in Open Source

5 minute read

In September I was interviewed for an article about how personality affects the development process in open source projects. The article was inspired by a st...

An Easy Introduction to Open Source Projects

7 minute read

Welcome to open source! We have thousands upon thousands of projects available for you to use and contribute to. This might seem a bit overwhelming, but it’s...

The Real Costs of Open Source Sustainability

53 minute read

How much do you know about your open source supply chain? Are there any weak links in that chain? Do you know what to do about that? This talk will give you ...

A Brief Introduction to Copyright and Licensing

5 minute read

This is an excerpt from my book ‘Forge Your Future with Open Source’. It does exactly what it says in the title: provides a brief introduction to copyright a...

Back to Top ↑

Hiring

3 ways to improve your hiring process

5 minute read

The new year often brings the end to a lot of finance- or holiday-imposed hiring freezes and a rush to get the hiring process wheels back into motion.

Dear Mister Independent Recruiter,

less than 1 minute read

Hello. I saw your resume on the web and am writing to see if you or anyone that you know who may be interested in the following position in $city. It i...

Common Resume Mistakes

7 minute read

I’ve been hiring in the tech industry for the past ten years or so. In that time I’ve looked at hundreds—if not thousands—of resumes from people applying for...

Back to Top ↑

Perl

OSCON 2014

1 minute read

Another year, another OSCON. Now that I’m approaching caught up, here’s a quick recap of that busy week.

Announcing the Perl Companies project

1 minute read

A month or so ago Jeff Thalhammer and I were chatting Perl over burritos. We got to discussing how many companies were currently using Perl actively and wond...

Improving Perl’s New Programmer Outreach

4 minute read

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much demand for programmers or programming training. In an economy that’s still recovering from the recession, the remarkably...

Back to Top ↑

Public Speaking

8 tips for attending virtual conferences

3 minute read

The health and safety of our community are more important than anything else, which means in-person events are now a no-go. Rather than canceling, most tech ...

Advice for new speakers

10 minute read

After my speaker training workshop at /dev/world/2017 last week, one of the attendees approached me asking whether they could contact me with some more quest...

Public Speaking Resources

2 minute read

Had you told me 10 years ago that not only would I be on the open source/tech conference speaking circuit but that I would love it, I would’ve looked at you ...

Back to Top ↑

Job Hunt

Organise your job hunt with Trello

8 minute read

Because I’ve moved on from previous job I have the legitimate pleasure to be speaking with a number of organisations about my next steps. At current count I...

Thinking Outside the Big Green Box

2 minute read

In October I had the dubious honor of laying off my entire team (they’ve all found excellent new positions). At the time I was to have joined them in a workf...

Back to Top ↑

Writing

VS Code Extensions for Writing

4 minute read

I’ve slowly acquired a small handful of VS Code extensions that have been invaluable in the process of writing this book.

Back to Top ↑

Book Review

Back to Top ↑

Marketing

Spread the word: Marketing your FOSS project

4 minute read

You have a new open source project and you’d like to publicise it to a wide audience. How can you get started with the marketing? I provide several pointers.

Back to Top ↑

Software Development

Back to Top ↑

Transcripts

The Real Costs of Open Source Sustainability

53 minute read

How much do you know about your open source supply chain? Are there any weak links in that chain? Do you know what to do about that? This talk will give you ...

Back to Top ↑

New Contributors

A Brief Introduction to Copyright and Licensing

5 minute read

This is an excerpt from my book ‘Forge Your Future with Open Source’. It does exactly what it says in the title: provides a brief introduction to copyright a...

Back to Top ↑

Book Excerpt

A Brief Introduction to Copyright and Licensing

5 minute read

This is an excerpt from my book ‘Forge Your Future with Open Source’. It does exactly what it says in the title: provides a brief introduction to copyright a...

Back to Top ↑

Licensing

Elasticsearch and Kibana are now business risks

4 minute read

If your organisation uses the open source versions of either Elasticsearch or Kibana in its products or projects, it is now at risk of being forced to releas...

A Brief Introduction to Copyright and Licensing

5 minute read

This is an excerpt from my book ‘Forge Your Future with Open Source’. It does exactly what it says in the title: provides a brief introduction to copyright a...

Back to Top ↑

Learning

Ops/DevOps Learning Resources

1 minute read

Last night I was speaking with a junior engineer who’s entering the job market. She’s had no trouble getting development internships (she has four of them un...

Back to Top ↑

Remote

Back to Top ↑

Career Development

Jump-start your career with open source skills

3 minute read

Although attending college is not required for success in software development, college programs can provide a great deal of useful information in a relativ...

Back to Top ↑

IRC

Using Slack with IRCCloud

1 minute read

A while back I wrote a guide on how to add a Slack team to your ZNC IRC bouncer. Soon afterward, I switched from using ZNC to IRCCloud. I’m consistently impr...

Back to Top ↑

Travel

My travel habits

16 minute read

Over the years I’ve developed some habits that have made my travel life, while not easy, at least less unpleasant. As I complete my final trip for the year i...

Back to Top ↑

Interview

Back to Top ↑

Publishing

Back to Top ↑

Software Supply Chain

Back to Top ↑