OLPC Software Development

[Ed McNierney]

Folks -

Well, now that we've met I suppose I should introduce myself <g>.

I started at OLPC as VP of Software Development last week, so I am still
catching up on everything that's happening.  I have taken over all software
development responsibilities from Kim Quirk, who's now free to focus more on
deployments and support, and I'm also taking the School Server work under my
wing.  All Gen-2 efforts are still being handled by Wad and Jim Gettys, and
Kim's still taking primary responsibility for the 8.2 release so I don't get
in the way and slow it down.

I've been in the software development and graphics hardware business my
entire career.  I've been involved in development teams building
spreadsheets, document imaging and workflow software, educational games for
children, and high-end graphics display adapters.

Most recently (in 1999) I started TopoZone, the first online mapping service
to offer topographic maps and high-resolution aerial photos, later adding
street maps and other vector data.  I became a very active member of the
open source MapServer community as I transitioned my home-grown technology
to that platform.  My implementation was one of the earlier large-scale
MapServer sites, with over 50 TB of data across 18 servers running Fedora
and Windows serving over 500,000 map images daily.  As a result I became one
of the performance and scalability advisors to the group, as well as helping
with map projection issues for those put off by ellipsoidal trigonometry and
geodesy.  I was also able to see the evolution of that effort into the Open
Source Geospatial Foundation (www.osgeo.org) and watch the MapServer Users'
Group meeting become the polysyllablic Free and Open Source Software for
Geospatial Conference.

I've also been very active on the boards of several environmental and
conservation groups here in Massachusetts, where I live, and I'm one of the
founders of the Polistes Foundation.  Our Discover Life site
(www.discoverlife.org) provides species identification tools, photography,
maps (of course), and other information to encourage biodiversity education
in elementary and secondary schools worldwide, as well as providing
reference material accessible to anyone.

I'm very happy to be able to participate in the OLPC effort, and I'm looking
forward to getting to know many of you better.  I apologize for not having
spent more time trying to get in touch with people individually; please be
patient as you far outnumber me!

My main goals at OLPC concern the creation of a stable and productive
software development effort, both internally and with the larger community.
I will try to help however I can and you can expect to hear from me
regularly on this list.  You've all done some pretty amazing things already
and I hope I can make it easier for you all to continue to do so in the
future.  Thanks.

    - Ed

Ed McNierney
Vice President of Software Development
One Laptop Per Child
ed at laptop.org