How Software is Built

Interviewers: Scott Swigart and Sean Campbell

Interviewee: Mitch Bradley

In this interview we talk with Mitch Bradley - who was responsible for developing the firmware for the OLPC project. In specific, we talk about:

• Mitch’s history with Sun, FirmWorks, and elsewhere
• Evolution of One Laptop Per Child
• Novel hardware in OLPC laptops
• Propagating technology from OLPC to the mainstream
• Open-source intersections with the commercial sector
• Open-source firmware and community
• History and future of firmware’s place on computers

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Interviewers: Scott Swigart and Sean Campbell

Interviewee: Ross Gardler

In this interview we talk with Ross Gardler - Service Manager for OSS Watch. OSS Watch is an organization that helps institutions in the UK make decisions in and around open source topics. In specific, we talk about:

• Different cultures in open source projects
• Notions of value and control in the software business
• Commercial involvement in open source and giving back to the community
• Comparing open source in the UK and the US

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Interviewers: Scott Swigart and Sean Campbell

Interviewee: Mike Shaver

In this interview with talk with Mike Shaver, Chief Evangelist for Mozilla. In specific, we talk about:

• Governance of the project and how people get involved
• Changing contributors who fill key roles
• Roles of independent contributors versus employees
• Ensuring high usability in an open-source project
• Protecting reliability in a world of many extensions
• Tools used by the Mozilla team
• Reflections on open and closed development models

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Interviewers: Scott Swigart and Sean Campbell

Interviewee: Marc Frons

In this second interview with Marc Frons, CTO for the New York Times digital operations, we discuss the Times use of open source in their infrastructure. In specific, we talk about:

• WordPress and blogging at the New York Times
• New York Times investment in open source
• Licensing issues and corporate citizenship
• How they address open-source application support and evolution
• The role of content management systems
• The future of corporate investment in open source

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Interviewers: Scott Swigart and Sean Campbell

Interviewee: Mark Osborne

• Challenges unique to building developer tools
• Changes to how Microsoft is now building its developer tools
• Using "Feature Crews" to build product
• Predictability, efficiency, and agility in software development
• Preventing "corner cutting" in development
• Defining and enforcing quality gates
• 600 features, and no single development methodology
• Managing dependencies

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