Pull up the changelogs for the 2.2
kernel or the 2.4 ac branch. In most of them, you’ll find the name
Val Henson. Yes, that’s a woman. Not
only is Val Henson one of the top women
in Open Source, she’s one of the top
humans in Open Source: a true kernel
hacker.

In the Renaissance Period, (15th
century) women were expected to give
birth to boys and mind their manners.
Not to make spectacles of themselves.
But the woman known as the first lady of
the Renaissance, Isabella D’Este, didn’t
follow the trend. She became the ruler
of Mantua, Italy, at an early age. She
spoke Greek and Latin, played the lute,
and debated with men about politics and
war. She was in a small minority.

Today, even though women have more
freedom, there are still things we’re
expected not to do, like major in
computer science and become programmers.
Enter another trend-bucker, 23-year-old Henson. She lives in
Socorro, New Mexico. She’s a senior
software engineer at Synergy Microsystems, where she maintains
Linux for Synergy’s line of embedded
PowerPC-based boards.

“What I spend most of my time doing is
writing and debugging Linux kernel code
— which is also my favorite part of the
job,” says Henson. “I participate in the
various linuxppc-* lists more than linux-kernel, but I occasionally have a patch
to post to lkml. I also make our
installation CD work and answer
questions for our Linux customers.”

Henson was one of the first women to be
placed on LinuxChix’s growing list of
the Top Women in Linux. As the
first installment in a series about
women in Open Source, I recently had
the good fortune to ask
Henson about her life as a female geek.

Newsforge: Tell me about your
early experiences with computers, and
how you got hooked.

Val Henson: My first “computer”
was an Atari my mother brought home when
I was 4 years old. I still remember
how my sisters and I all laughed with
delight the first time we heard the
PacMan theme song played on the Atari’s
tinny speaker. A succession of “real”
computers followed, including an IBM PCjr, a Intel 286 with a monochrome monitor, and at
long last, the Intel 486 with color monitor. My favorite game on the
IMB PCjr was based on electrical engineering, but at the time, I just
knew that it had pretty colors, NOT-gates, flip-flops, electric wires,
and a fox that danced to a different song every time I solved a
puzzle. Later on, I still mostly used the computer for games, but I
also did a little BASIC programming and wrote a small newsletter using
WordPerfect 5.0.

The summer before I started college, I’m embarrassed to admit that I
went to a hacker convention. While I was there, I met several
computer professionals who were well-dressed, intelligent, funny,
attractive, outgoing, and well-paid. I wanted to be all those things.
I began college as a biology major, but switched to computer science
in my second semester and never looked back.

NF: Do you consider yourself a geek? What does that mean to you?

VH: Yes, I’m a geek. To me, being a geek means mostly that you don’t
think you’re this amazing, suave, cool person. It means that you have
unusual interests, a strong sense of humility, and you don’t take
yourself seriously. I have a large group of geek friends, and we
usually organize three or four social
activities a week, so being anti-social
or socially inept is not part of my
definition of geek. The best part about
being a geek is that you don’t have to
spend a lot of time keeping up
appearances. Yes, I am interested in
computers, and I don’t know what
happened on the latest episode of
“Friends,” and my fashion sense is
terrible — and that’s okay.

NF: When and how did you first
realize, “Hey, I’m a geek!”?

VH: Hmm, I was popular for a few
days in third grade. Other than that,
I’ve always considered myself a geek. I
finally met people like me when I went
to college, which was a revelation in
itself — people like me existed, and I
could have friends and still be myself.
I’m much happier now than when I was in

high school.

NF: We’ve seen your name in most
of the kernel updates. It’s obvious
you contribute a great deal to Linux.
How much of your spare time goes to
volunteer work?

VH: I’m paid to do Linux kernel work, although I do spend more time on it
than absolutely necessary because I enjoy operating system work so
much. I spend all my volunteer time on projects encouraging women in
computer science. My largest volunteer project is LinuxChix, where I’m teaching Linux
kernel hacking and running a women-only
mailing list. I recently started
mentoring women who were interested in
Linux kernel hacking, and that has
worked out really well so far.

NF: What other projects do you contribute to?

VH: I contribute little tiny snippets of code here and there, mostly as
bugfixes. I’m most proud of fixing a minor bug in the typo generating
code of the “xjack” hack for the
xscreensaver suite for Xwindows.
And every time I want to play Zork, I have to fix minor bugs
in the Linux Z-machine code. I should really submit that patch
someday…

NF: Why is it important to
increase awareness of women in
computing?

VH: I believe strongly in the equality of all humans. I’ve chosen to work
on encouraging women to enter computer science because it’s personally
meaningful to me, and because there is a lot of room for improvement.
My particular field, Linux kernel development, has far fewer than 1%
women.

Increasing awareness of women in computing is important because it
encourages women, especially younger women, to get into computing.
People, consciously or unconsciously, pick up clues about what they
should and shouldn’t do. One of those clues is, “Are other people
like me doing this?” If you’re a girl just about to graduate high
school, and you’ve never met or even heard of a woman in computer
science, you’re not likely to choose computer science as your career.

Part of the problem is that women have difficulty promoting
themselves. We tend to be self-effacing and modest and more
interested in helping other people than promoting ourselves. Women in
computing need to realize that they are
helping other people by promoting
themselves.

NF: Do you feel that women bring something to the field that would be
missing otherwise? In other words, how has Open Source in particular
benefited from the feminine presence? How has the world benefitted? And
how will women benefit from increased involvement in this area?

VH: A year ago, I would have said that women don’t bring anything new to
open source. Now I know I was totally wrong. Women are definitely
more cooperative, more polite, and better at mentoring. Our focus is
much more on getting things done and doing them correctly, rather than
defending our “turf.” We’re still independent and prefer to learn on
our own, but we don’t insist on the “sink-or-swim” model of getting
involved in a project.

Women benefit from being involved in open source financially,
professionally, and personally. Financially, because working on an
Open Source project can give you the training to get a better-paying
job. Professionally, because people recognize your name from project
OpenXYZ and respect you more for it. And personally, because having
your work accepted and used by the open source community is a huge
self-esteem boost.

In the broadest sense, the world benefits from women in open source
because it increases human happiness, both through increasing human
equality and through the benefit that Open Source gives to everyone.
But we’re getting dangerously close to philosophy, so I’ll leave it
at that.

NF: Do you have any mentors? Who, and how have they contributed to your
life?

VH:Cort
Dougan is my number one mentor. He
was a graduate student in computer
science at New Mexico
Tech at the same time I was an
undergraduate. I tried very hard not to
ask him questions, but when I was really
stuck, he would help me out. Mostly,
Cort always encouraged me in my
ambitions, in fact, always encouraged me
to raise my ambitions and aim higher
than I thought possible. He was also
the first Linux kernel hacker I met
(actually, he ported Linux to the
PowerPC and maintained it up until
recently, so he’s more than just another
kernel hacker).

NF: Who’s
your hero?

VH:Ellen Spertus,
currently at Mills
College. She has three degrees from
MIT in computer science, and did some
excellent work on women and
computer science in addition to her
purely technical CS research. She won
the “Sexiest Geek Alive 2001” competition on the basis that, as a
CS professor, she has reproduced more
geeks than anyone else. I admire her
immensely, and am considering going back
to college to get my PhD because of her.

NF: Free Software or Open Source?

VH: I prefer the term “open
source” for several reasons. Open
source has fewer strange implications
than the “free” in free software. I’m
also not a free software zealot. For
example, I really like the BitKeeper
license because it makes the
software free (as in beer) as long as
you are using it to write free software.
You can even use it for free to write
closed software, but you’ll lose some
privacy if you do. The BitKeeper license
isn’t a classic “free software” license,
but it is an “open source” license and
it actually encourages other companies
to open source their software. In
summary, I prefer software to be open
source, but I don’t believe that the
“free software” model makes sense for
all software.

NF: GUI or command line?

VH: It depends. I mostly prefer command line because I’m a control freak.
I like to fiddle and customize and make things work exactly the way I
want them too. But BitKeeper’s GUI
tools have shown me that GUI’s can
be useful and friendly to control
freaks like me as well as people
who just want to get things done with
the minimum of effort. I think GUIs
can be written to be appealing to
command line users, but usually aren’t.

NF: Distribution?

VH:FSMLab’s RTLinux Development kit.
It’s basically Red Hat with a lot of
bugfixes and a really nice
cross-compilation development
environment. Oh yeah, and you can use
it for developing RTLinux (hard
real-time) applications, too. I
cross-compile for PowerPC on my x86
workstation a lot, and it was wonderful
to just install the RPM’s and have them
work.

NF: Favorite beverage while coding?

VH: Water. It used to be Dr Pepper, but I can now stay up programming
all night without any help from caffeine. I’m a little disturbed by
this ability, but it’s nice to not get the shakes at 5 a.m. any more.
And you never run out of water.

NF: Best atmosphere for hacking?

VH: In my home office, with a big glass of water, and a good techno or
trance CD cranked up on the stereo. I’m a fan of Orbital, Paul
Oakenfold, and Juno Reactor.

NF: Hobbies?

VH: Hiking, fossil hunting, and hanging out with my friends. I’m also
collecting questions for the TCP/IP Drinking Game. I’d like
to take up kayaking, but I live in a
near-desert so that may be difficult.

NF: What do you do to get away
from the computer?

VH: Hiking. I live in a state that is more than 50% public lands, and
most of it is prime hiking territory. I am a 20-minute drive from
several hundred square miles of semi-badlands which I’ve only just
begun to explore, and an hour’s drive from four large mountain ranges.
Hiking is really exciting to me, especially when all I can see from
where I’m standing to the horizon is empty badlands with no sign of
humanity. Wow.

NF: Tell me something interesting
or unusual about you that not many
people know.

VH: When I was a teenager, I raised and showed dairy goats. I can milk a
goat, help a goat give birth, and drag a goat around a show ring in a
sad parody of the term “showing a goat.” I would like to own another
goat someday, but goats are a big responsibility and I’m not ready for
anything more demanding than a cat right now.

NF: Have you experienced any hardships directly related to being a woman in
Open Source?

VH: I have a somewhat gender-neutral name, and since most open source
development is conducted over email, I’d be surprised if many people
knew I was female. The biggest barrier to entry for me was
self-confidence, which is where Cort really helped me out a lot. The
hardest thing I have to deal with on a daily basis is when someone
makes an obnoxious comment about women on an open source mailing list
that I know is 99% men. I’m working hard on figuring out the best
response to that, considering the environment and culture of the
mailing list.

NF: Is there anything else you’d like to say?

VH: Women: Computing is fun! Lots of women are doing it! If you’d like
to find a peer group, I suggest joining one or more of the mailing lists
at
LinuxChix.

“Lindows.com today released copies of
its main opposition papers to the pending trademark lawsuit filed by
Microsoft Corporation at lindows.com/opposition.
In the lawsuit, Microsoft seeks to prevent Lindows.com from using the
term “LindowsOS” and “Lindows.com.”(This press release summarizes some, but not all of the major
opposition points. There are some portions which are not readable
because Microsoft claims that certain facts about what they have done
in the past should be kept confidential. Lindows.com intends to ask the
Judge to allow them to make those parts public, but until then, this is
all Lindows.com can share.)

According to a statement posted at their website, Lindows.com claims
Microsoft is trying to prevent the public from using a descriptive
English word “windows” which has had meaning in the computer industry
for years prior to Microsoft’s use. They explain how companies such as
Xerox, DEC, and Apple have used the term for years to describe
graphical user interfaces which incorporate graphical elements to
display and manage applications. Not until 1983 did Microsoft start
using the term ‘windows’, in connection with an operating system
product. Microsoft waited 7 years before they decided to file a
trademark application for “windows” in 1990. US Patent and Trademark
Office records show that at least one company lodged a significant
protest. The US Patent and Trademark Office subsequently rejected
Microsoft’s application because “windows” was a generic word.
(Microsoft has a pattern of pairing their name with a generic term such
a “Microsoft Word.” This is discussed in a Declaration by John Dvorak
in relationship to this case at www.lindows.com/opposition.) The US PTO
later reversed itself only after Microsoft .

A Washington, DC Court has found that over the last decade Microsoft
has engaged in unlawful practices and spent billions on marketing and
advertising to establish and extend an illegal monopoly. “No matter how
much money a company spends, they should not be allowed to prevent
others from using a descriptive term widely used in the industry;
especially if that company has been found guilty of illegal tactics to
build and maintain its monopoly.” said Michael Robertson, CEO for
Lindows.com. “This would be like a furniture company selling a ‘Super
Chair’, driving other furniture companies out of business illegally,
and then trying to gain exclusive rights to the word “chair” and block
all competitors from using it.”

Another critical fact that Lindows.com points to as clearly
illuminating Microsoft’s true motivations is that over the last 10
years Microsoft has never filed a lawsuit similar to the one they filed
against Lindows.com in spite of the fact that there are hundreds of
products which use the term “windows.” Lindows.com users helped to
identify hundreds of products which use or incorporate the term
“windows.” These products run on a variety of operating systems
(including Linux and Macintosh), and some are actually operating
systems themselves. There are commercial products, shareware, freeware,
open source, and even hardware products. None of these products are
made by Microsoft; none have licensed the term “windows” from
Microsoft, but Microsoft has never filed a lawsuit against any of them.
Take a trip to any computer store, flip through a mail order catalog or
visit any software site on the Internet and you will find many, many
products entitled windows something or something windows. Additionally,
hundreds more products containing “win” or other such variations, yet
Microsoft hasn’t brought any action against them. Ask yourself this —
“Why would Microsoft allow these thousands of products to use what they
claim to be their trademark with no protest whatsoever, but decide to
sue Lindows.com?” The fact that Microsoft is targeting only Lindows.com
demonstrates their real motivation is to stop a potential competitor
and NOT that they believe there’s confusion concerning the product
name.

While Microsoft alleges people will be confused when they asked the
judge to shut down Lindows.com, they offered no evidence whatsoever
that anyone was actually confused between Microsoft’s programs and
LindowsOS. In fact, an independent marketing company conducted a
survey, asking over 14,000 likely buyers to participate. The results
revealed that not even a SINGLE respondent was confused. The survey was
supervised by an expert from San Diego State University. Read about the
survey results at www.lindows.com/opposition. Microsoft offered no
expert testimony (apart from Microsoft employees). They conducted no
surveys, but if they had, they would have found out exactly what the
other research revealed; that there is NO confusion whatsoever among
potential buyers.

Michael Robertson commented, “We want to focus on building our product
and not fighting in court, but we also think it’s important to stand up
to the bully on the first playground encounter otherwise he’ll chase
you home every day. We have offered a compromise to Microsoft whereby
we would continue to use our company name Lindows.com since that bears
no resemblance whatsoever to Microsoft, but we would not use LindowsOS
as our product name. This offer was not accepted.”

The next step in the lawsuit is a court hearing February 27th where the
judge will hear oral arguments and then make his ruling either at that
time or a later date.

Lindows.com has just released a Sneak Preview of LindowsOS to a select
group of Insiders. The Sneak Preview is not a fully completed product
but showcases many of the unique features such as a friendly install
alongside an existing Microsoft Windows operating system, a streamlined
installation process which requires no computer knowledge and the
ability to run popular Windows-based programs. This will be followed by
version 1.0 which will go on sale later this year for $99. For more
information see www.lindows.com/products

To receive Lindows.com press releases via email signup at
www.lindows.com/mailing

About Lindows.com, Inc.

Lindows.com is a consumer company that brings choice to computer users.
Lindows.com, Inc. uses the latest technology to create affordable,
intuitive, user-friendly products. Lindows.com, Inc. was started by
Michael Robertson, founder and former CEO of MP3.com. At the core of
Lindows.com is a new operating system called LindowsOS?, a modern,
affordable, easy-to-use operating system with the ability to run both
Microsoft Windows® and Linux® software.

About Michael Robertson

On the frontlines of music aggregation and distribution, Robertson
founded MP3.com, Inc., the Internet’s premier Music Service Provider
(MSP) in March 1998. MP3.com revolutionized both the way new artists
distribute their music as well as the way music lovers acquire and
enjoy music. Robertson and the rest of the MP3.com team built a unique
and robust technology infrastructure that facilitated the storage,
management, promotion and delivery of digital music. MP3.com hosts the
largest collection of digital music available on the Internet with more
than 1 million songs and audio files posted from over a hundred
thousand digital artists and record labels with millions of music fans.
Robertson stepped down as CEO of MP3.com to start Lindows.com.
Robertson continues to serve in an advisory capacity to Vivendi
Universal. MP3.com, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vivendi
Universal, S. A.

VariCAD writes: “VariCAD is proud to announce the recent release of its MCAD – VariCAD 8.1. This compact CAD package features many powerful tools for 3D modeling and 2D drafting, libraries of mechanical parts, surface development (unbending), calculations of standard mechanical components, tools for working with non-graphical information (BOM), and many others. All these are included in this fully loaded version 8.1. VariCAD 8.1 can also import and export common CAD file types such as DWG, DXF, and IGES. VariCAD 8.1 is a “must-see” software for anyone involved with mechanical engineering design. Its low price of $399 makes this CAD package one of the smartest choices on the market today.”

Steve McGough writes: “Lani Matzelle, Controller of South Atlantic Services (SAS), announced the installation of a state-of-the-art inventory management application. This will allow SAS to more effectively manage the packaging services they provide to over 20 different companies from 2 manufacturing locations in Wilmington, North Carolina and Houston, Texas. The initial application combines the acceptance of electronic order input via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) with the management of inventory for all of their serviced companies. The system provides EDI confirmations and creates the required shipping document. This was all done using an Internet based application, which greatly reduced installation and operational costs.”

SAS has been in business since 1970. It started packaging Anti-freeze for Texaco and has grown to provide services to greater than 20 companies representing more than 100 different products ranging from railroad cars full of powder to small bottles of liquids. Keeping track of the diversity of inventory components has been a challenge as well as servicing the different transportation logistic requirements for the various companies. An Internet based EDI application was installed in 1999 by Internet Technologies Inc. (Inttek) with headquarters in Wilmington, NC. In September of 2001, SAS contracted with Inttek to develop an Internet based inventory application and integrate it with the EDI application. Development was completed last November and a parallel test was completed in January 2002. Due to the application’s powerful behind-the-scene functionality and its low implementation cost, Inttek has named its product “Inventory Wizard”.

Key objectives were to have a seamless migration from the old inventory system to the new application and to insulate the serviced companies from the normal conversion headaches. The application supports purchase orders, receipt of items, producing or blending the items into finished goods, shipping orders, and the creation of all shipping documents. Each serviced company can have a unique set of inventory items. Provisions can be made to project future inventory requirements. Reports are available to support all facets of the operation.

Internet Technologies, Inc.
Phone: 910-792-1786;
WWW.INTTEK.NET
INFO@INTTEK.NET

Founded in 1996, Internet Technologies, Inc. (Inttek) focuses on the development of e-business and e-government solutions. Inttek’s software is based entirely on Open Source technologies and the Linux operating system, providing the client cost effective software without locking them into a proprietary solution. Inttek’s goal is to deliver quality, mission critical technologies, on time, and within budget.”

NewsFactor Network writes: “Despite all the hype about the wonders of the wireless Web, the available mobile devices are not able to provide a wireless Web adventure that would impress anybody. Transmission speeds lag behind the dial-up access rates the average AOL user gets at home. And the big question remains, who needs it? In other words, the wireless Web’s time has not yet come.”

LinuxPR: “CUPS 1.1.14 is a security release that fixes two buffer overflow bugs in
the IPP code.”

AsiaBizTech: “Hitachi Ltd. and Red Hat Inc. said they will
cooperate to provide consultation services related to the introduction of
Linux systems.

From Feb. 6, the two companies began to provide an “Opportunity
Assessment” service for evaluating the feasibility of introducing Linux
into a user company’s core system.”

NewsFactor Network writes: “Amid a rising chorus of criticism following the revelation that it tracked the Web activities of its more than one million Internet subscribers, cable giant Comcast agreed Wednesday to stop the practice immediately. Comcast also said it stores sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and passwords, in a database managed by network infrastructure specialist Inktomi.”

Jason writes: “As noted on OSNews, John Carmack speaks his mind again, this time against NVidia’s recently announced GeForce4-MX. This is supposedly the cut-down/cheap version of GeForce4, but both Tom’s Hardware and John Carmack claim that this is nothing but a bumped-up GeForce2-MX, and has almost nothing to do, feature-wise, with the real GeForce4. NVidia’s agressive marketing may leave many customers unhappy, letting them think that they bought the latest and the greatest, while in reality they bought a renamed, 2-years old technology, unable to play modern games like Doom3 in a satisfiable manner.”

MSNBC: “Just in time for Valentine’s
Day, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates wooed software
developers not with a box of candy, but with a box filled
with new software programming tools. Microsoft on
Wednesday shipped Visual Studio.Net, a revamped
package of the company’s popular software development
tools that includes Visual Basic, Visual C++ and its new
Java-like language, C#.”