The secret of success in Open Source

Chia-liang Kao . OSCON 2008

Tom Lehrer

For many years now, Mr. Tom Lehrer, who has been my particularidol since childbirth, has been doing a routine about the greatRussian mathematician Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky and thesecret of success in the mathematic profession. And I thought itwould be interesting to stea... to adapt this idea to the fieldof open source. I always like to make explicit the fact thatbefore I went off not too long ago to code in hotsprings, I was aopen source hacker by profession. I don't like people to get theidea that I have to do this for a living. I mean, it isn't asthough I had to do this, you know, I could be making, oh, 3000dollars a year just coding.

Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky

Be that as it may, some of you may have had occasion to run intohackers and to wonder therefore how they got that way, andhere, in partial explanation perhaps, is the story of the greatPerl hacker Lavrenti Arnoldovich Walkovszky

Who made me the hacker I am today,The ones whose modules all others import,Who'se the linguist that made me that way?The greatest that ever wrote bugs in his code,

Who made me the hacker I am today,The ones whose modules all others import,Who'se the linguist that made me that way?The greatest that ever wrote bugs in his code,

Lavrenti Arnoldovich WalkovszkyOne man deserves the credit,One man deserves the blame,And Lavrenti Arnoldovich Walkovszky is his name.Hi!Lavrenti Arnoldovich Walkovszkyy

I am never forget the day I first meet the great WalkovszkyIn one word he told me secret of success in open source software:

Plagiarize

Plagiarize!Plagiarize,Let no one else's work evade your eyes,Remember why the good Lord made your eyes,So don't shade your eyes,But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize -Only be sure always to call it please

'sharing'.And ever since I meet this manMy life is not the same,And Lavrenti Arnoldovich Walkovszkyy is his name.Hi!Lavrenti Arnoldovich Walkovszkyy

I am never forget the day I am given my first module to write.It was Temporally Quaquaversal Virtual Nanomachine Programming InMultiple Topologically Connected Quantum-Relativistic ParallelTimespacesBozhe moi!This I know from nothing.What-i'm going-to do.

Temporally Quaquaversal

Virtual Nanomachine Programming In

Multiple Topologically Connected

Quantum-Relativistic Parallel

Timespaces

I am never forget the day I am given my first module to write.It was Temporally Quaquaversal Virtual Nanomachine Programming InMultiple Topologically Connected Quantum-Relativistic ParallelTimespacesBozhe moi!This I know from nothing.What-i'm going-to do.

Lavrenti Arnoldovich WalkovszkyBut I think of great Walkovszky and get idea - ahah!

I have a friend in moose,Who has a friend in joost,Whose friend in digg,Has friend in Kink,With friend in amazon.His friend in exxonHas friend in python,Whose friend somehowIs solving nowThe problem in OSCON.

And when his work is done -Ha ha! - begins the fun.From OSCONTo python,By way of twiiter,And flickr,To Exxon to AmazonTo Kink to diggTo joost to mooseTo me the news will run,Yes, to me the news will run!

OSCONPythonExxon

AmazonKinkDiggJoost

mooseI have a friend in moose,Who has a friend in joost,Whose friend in digg,Has friend in Kink,With friend in amazon.His friend in exxonHas friend in python,Whose friend somehowIs solving nowThe problem in OSCON.

And when his work is done -Ha ha! - begins the fun.From OSCONTo python,By way of twiiter,And flickr,To Exxon to AmazonTo Kink to diggTo joost to mooseTo me the news will run,Yes, to me the news will run!

mooseJoostDiggKink

AmazonExxonflickr

twitterPython

OSCONI have a friend in moose,Who has a friend in joost,Whose friend in digg,Has friend in Kink,With friend in amazon.His friend in exxonHas friend in python,Whose friend somehowIs solving nowThe problem in OSCON.

And when his work is done -Ha ha! - begins the fun.From OSCONTo python,By way of twiiter,And flickr,To Exxon to AmazonTo Kink to diggTo joost to mooseTo me the news will run,Yes, to me the news will run!

I have a friend in moose,Who has a friend in joost,Whose friend in digg,Has friend in Kink,With friend in amazon.His friend in exxonHas friend in python,Whose friend somehowIs solving nowThe problem in OSCON.

And when his work is done -Ha ha! - begins the fun.From OSCONTo python,By way of twiiter,And flickr,To Exxon to AmazonTo Kink to diggTo joost to mooseTo me the news will run,Yes, to me the news will run!

And then I hackBy morning, night,And afternoon,And pretty soonMy name in OSCON is cursed,When he finds out I upload first!

Hack Hack Hack

And then I hackBy morning, night,And afternoon,And pretty soonMy name in OSCON is cursed,When he finds out I upload first!

Yatta!

And then I hackBy morning, night,And afternoon,And pretty soonMy name in OSCON is cursed,When he finds out I upload first!

Lavrenti Arnoldovich WalkovszkyAnd who made me a big successAnd brought me wealth and fame?Lavrenti Arnoldovich Walkovszky is his name.Hi!

I am never forget the day my first CPAN module is uploaded.

Every function I stole from somewhere else.

Test suite I copy from old VAX installation CD.

Oreilly Radar:

This module was sensational!Radar - well, Oreilly Radar said: "天將降大任於斯人也，必先苦其心志，勞其筋骨，餓其體膚，空乏其身，行拂亂其所為，所以動心忍性，曾益其所不能" It stinks.

Oreilly Radar:

天將降大任於斯人也，必先苦其心志，勞其筋骨，餓其體膚，空乏其身，行拂亂其所為，所以動心忍性，曾益

其所不能

This module was sensational!Radar - well, Oreilly Radar said: "天將降大任於斯人也，必先苦其心志，勞其筋骨，餓其體膚，空乏其身，行拂亂其所為，所以動心忍性，曾益其所不能" It stinks.

Oreilly Radar:

天將降大任於斯人也，必先苦其心志，勞其筋骨，餓其體膚，空乏其身，行拂亂其所為，所以動心忍性，曾益

其所不能

It stinks

This module was sensational!Radar - well, Oreilly Radar said: "天將降大任於斯人也，必先苦其心志，勞其筋骨，餓其體膚，空乏其身，行拂亂其所為，所以動心忍性，曾益其所不能" It stinks.

Techcrunch:

But Techcrunch! Techcrunch said: "彼節者有閒，而刀刃者無厚；以無厚入有閒，恢恢乎其於遊刃必有餘地矣，是以十九年而刀刃若新發於硎"It stinks.

Techcrunch:

彼節者有閒，而刀刃者無厚；以無厚入有閒，恢恢乎其於遊刃必有餘地矣，是以十九年而刀刃若新發於硎

But Techcrunch! Techcrunch said: "彼節者有閒，而刀刃者無厚；以無厚入有閒，恢恢乎其於遊刃必有餘地矣，是以十九年而刀刃若新發於硎"It stinks.

Techcrunch:

彼節者有閒，而刀刃者無厚；以無厚入有閒，恢恢乎其於遊刃必有餘地矣，是以十九年而刀刃若新發於硎

It stinks

But Techcrunch! Techcrunch said: "彼節者有閒，而刀刃者無厚；以無厚入有閒，恢恢乎其於遊刃必有餘地矣，是以十九年而刀刃若新發於硎"It stinks.

For six million yankee pesos!

Metro-Goldwyn-OSCON bought movie rights

Changed the title to ‘The Infinite Loop’

Metro-Goldwyn-OSCON buys movie rights for six million yankee pesos,Changing title to 'The Infinite Loop',

With Artur Bergman playing part of segfault.

With Artur Bergman playing part of segfault.

Lavrenti Arnoldovich WalkovszkyAnd who made me a big successAnd brought me wealth and fame?Lavrenti Arnoldovich Walkovszky is his name.Hi!Lavrenti Arnoldovich Walkovszky

Thank you!