Bdale Garbee

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Bdale Garbee
Bdale pic1.jpg
Bdale Garbee in 2007
Born Alfred Dickinson Barksdale Garbee II
Nationality American
Other names Bdale Garbee
Spouse(s) Karen Garbee
Children 2
Website
www.gag.com/~bdale/

Bdale Garbee /ˈbdl ˈɡɑrb/[1] is a computer specialist who works with GNU/Linux, particularly Debian. He retired at the end of August 2012 from long service as the Open Source & Linux Chief Technologist at Hewlett-Packard.[2]

Garbee has been a Debian developer since the earliest days of the project in the mid-1990s. He set up the original developer machine named master.debian.org in 1995. He served as a Debian Project Leader (DPL) for one year (2002-2003),[3] and currently serves as chairman of the Debian Technical Committee.[4]

Garbee has served on the board of directors of Software in the Public Interest, the non-profit organization that collects donations for Debian and many other Free Software projects, since July 29, 2004, and was elected president on August 1, 2006.[5]

Garbee represents the interests of individual members and developers on the board of directors of the Linux Foundation.

In September 2008, he received a "Lutèce d'Or" during the French event Paris Capitale du Libre as the FLOSS personality of the year.

He is also an amateur radio hobbyist, a member of AMSAT, Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (former vice-president) and the American Radio Relay League.

The name "Bdale" is an abbreviation of "Barksdale", given in honor of his maternal grandfather, Alfred D. Barksdale.

At linux.conf.au 2009, Garbee's 27-year-old beard was removed by Linus Torvalds to raise funds for Tasmanian Devil facial tumour disease research.[6][7] They raised between AU$35,000 and AU$40,000.

In March 2011, Bdale Garbee agreed to join the FreedomBox Foundation's board of directors and chair its technical advisory committee.[8]

References [edit]

  1. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaJnl89wfWU
  2. ^ Garbee, Bdale (2012-08-01). "Early Retirement". Retrieved 2013-04-14. 
  3. ^ "Debian Project Leader Elections 2002". Debian Project. 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2013-04-14. 
  4. ^ "Debian's Organizational Structure". Debian Project. 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2013-04-14. 
  5. ^ Graham, David (2006-08-01). "New board officers appointed". Software in the Public Interest, Inc. Retrieved 2013-04-14. 
  6. ^ Of beards and saving the Tasmanian devil http://www.itwire.com/content/view/22814/1090/
  7. ^ Pictures and shaving story at LWN.net http://lwn.net/Articles/316282/
  8. ^ http://freedomboxfoundation.org/news/Bdale_Garbee_Joins_Foundation/index.en.html

External links [edit]

Preceded by
Ben Collins
Debian Project Leader
April 2002 – April 2003
Succeeded by
Martin Michlmayr