Linux.conf.au 2019 – Friday – Keynote: A linux.conf.au Story – Rusty Russell

Rusty Russell
  • Bitcoin Billionare
  • 1992
    • The days of SunOS
    • Read the GNU Manafesto
  • 1995
    • Using GPP compiler at work
    • First patch accepted on November 1995
  • 1997
    • USENIX Conference in california
    • UseLinux – Had a track for Linux
    • Hung around a bunch of top guys in Linux talked about added SMP to Linux
    • Talk on porting Linux to Sparc by David Miller & Miguel de Icaza. Going into improvements and showing how Linux port to sparc bet Solaris in the Lmbench benchmarks on same hardware.
    • Relaized lived in a world where students could create and port OS that bet the original OS from the vendor
  • 1997 – 1998
    • Wrote (with another guy) and got ipchains added to Linux
    • “I woke up one morning and I was kernel firewall maintainer”
    • Got job people paid to work on Linux firewall code
  • 1998
    • Decided needed an Australian Linux conference
    • Oct-Nov visited a bunch of LUGS to invite people and find person to collect money.
    • People not sure what they wanted to go to a Linux conference ( $380 bucks)
    • Invited John Maddog Hall
    • Created and ran a slashdot ad
    • Created card got into $14k negative
    • Last session of the 3rd day, reran the 3 best talks
  • Three stories from 1998
    • Tutorial Books for each of the tutorials- Couldn’t get photocopies from commercial facility, so had to make 400 copies of books via 4 coin operated photocopiers
    • Tridge bought up a triple-CD burner. People ran it in relays
    • Somebody said. “I can’t believe you don’t have conference tshirts”. He bought white tshirts, got them screen printed and sold them.
  • End of conference Tridge organised a gift from the Speakers to Rusty. Pewter Beer mug
  • Linux.conf.au after 1999
    • 2001 scheduled 3 talks from Rusty. At the same time
    • Met Tridge at LCA – Moved to Canberra they did AusLabs
  • How Great Projects
    • Smart and Capable enough to complete them
    • They are Dumb enough to try
    • When somebody tells you about a project?
      • That sounds Great, Tell me more
      • What can I do to help
    • Enable people’s enthusiasms
    • Collaboration is a super Power
    • Get along with people is a skill
    • “Constructive absenteeism”
  • Headwinds to collaboration
    • Signs are welcoming to some people
    • Other people get signs that they are not so welcoming
    • Good are seeing them when they are aimed at them, not so good are even seeing they exist when they are not aimed at them.

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