July 2008

R.I.P. Joe Barr, linux advocate, ham operator, Austinite

Submitted by Lynn Bender on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 11:00pm
Joe Barr image courtesy of triple3ranch

For years, Joe Barr (wikipedia entry) was a indefatigable Linux/open source advocate, ham radio operator, and fixture in the Austin tech community. Many of us came to know him though his Dweebspeak Primer which first appeared in '93. Joe later went on to write for Linux.com, News Forge, and a host of other folks. Even this year, he was still posting insightful articles -- like his post on Nmap for linux.com

His biting rebukes were always entertaining and to the point. He wasn't afraid to call a piece a slop-bucket full of self-serving hogwash and then to thoughtfully explain why it was. Those who didn't know Joe personally might have been inclined to think him bitter. Once you met him, it was evident that he was more of a rascal who enjoyed his "J'accuse".

Folks like Cujo, who are more eloquent, and Roblimo, who knew him better than I, have written notes of Joe's passing. I first met Joe at a party I hosted for Tim O'Reilly and Eric Raymond back in 1999, and last saw him at the December '07 happy hour whurley and I hosted at Joe Dimaggio's. Although I knew Joe mostly through his writing and appearances at the Austin Linux Group, he always found time to respond when I needed advice and personally reply -- even if the answer was no -- to every invitation I sent.

Rest in peace, Joe.

A sample of Joe's writing for Linux.com can be found on Google.

Geek Austin What message does Austin send?

Submitted by Lynn Bender on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 11:00pm

I recently read Paul Graham's essay on Cities and Ambition. It was a timely read, as I've been party to so many discussions regarding where Austin's tech community is, and where folks want it to be. People come to me at GeekAustin events saying "If we'd all get together, we could compete with Silicon Valley," or "Austin could be really great if only we'd....." All of these folks seem to believe that the Austin tech community needs to be sending some message, or whatever message we should be sending .... doesn't seem to be getting through. I wonder if the message the Austin tech community sends too often is one of envy.

According to Graham, Boston/Cambridge sends the message that you should be smarter. Silicon Valley sends the message that you should be more powerful. Then Graham makes the distinction that: "Power matters in New York too of course, but New York is pretty impressed by a billion dollars even if you merely inherited it. In Silicon Valley no one would care except a few real estate agents. What matters in Silicon Valley is how much effect you have on the world. " Of Berkeley, the city which Austin is most often compared to, Paul says that the message Berkeley sends is: "you should live better. Life in Berkeley is very civilized. It's probably the place in America where someone from Northern Europe would feel most at home. But it's not humming with ambition.". I'm not sure about the civilized part, but not humming with ambition certainly sounds like 78704.

Hardly a week goes by that I don't hear a friend say: "Should I stay in Austin? or move to the Valley." For these friends, the question is simply "Do I go where things are already happening? Or do I try to make things happen here?" Graham believes that cities are, primarily, collections of people; and people who do great things tend to gather in groups in a few places where great things are already happening. For some, the answer is easy, follow the message and move. For those who don't want to leave, you only need to look at what Cody Marx Bailey has done in Bryan/College Station for a compelling counterexample.

As many people as there are in the tech community saying that we need to band together and communicate with one voice, that together we can make Austin the Emerald City, there is a larger number who seem to believe Austin already approaches the Emerald City; and you only need to look at their bumper stickers to see what message they are trying to communicate: Keep Austin Weird.