Essays Section Menu

Shlomi Fish’s Writings about Computing

Introduction

Being a software developer, that is also very interested in computers and like to program for fun, I started conveying some of my thoughts about computing and this field’s social aspect in various essays I wrote. I hope to concentrate all of them under this section of the homepage.

Some of these essays will require some technical knowledge, but most of them can be read by anyone with a pseudo-technical background.

The Articles and Essays

Articles about Open Source Software

These are essays about Free and Open Source Software, which is software that is available along with the original source code, and can be freely distributed and modified.

Open Source, Free Software and Other Beasts

An article that introduces the Open Source world to people who are not very familiar with it.

How to Start Contributing to Open Source

An article explaining in brief how to start contributing to open-source software. I’ve been asked this question a lot.

The GPL, the BSD Licence and Being a Sucker

An essay that explains why contributing to open source software under any licence does not cause you to be exploited by others.

The Linus Torvalds Bus Factor

An essay that explains why it is a good idea to have multiple committers to a central repository in a project, and why overthrowing the project’s benevolent dictator is a good idea. It then touches on some logical fallacies.

FOSS Licences Wars

This article gives an overview of the various options in picking up a licence for one’s Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) project, and tries to give some guidelines choosing one.

Why I don’t trust Non-open-source Software

Explaining why I prefer not to use and depend on non-open-source software.

Articles about the World-Wide Web (WWW)

Articles about the Web, or the Internet in general.

Create a Great Personal Homesite

Why and how to create a great personal homesite.

Revision 2

Revision 2, published in 2009, with many updates, and corrections:

It’s amazing how much has changed since I’ve published this article a few years ago. The most important trend was probably that personal blogs seem to have become much more prevalent than personal web-sites up to the point that some people referred to www.shlomifish.org as a blog. I have been annoyed at this to some extent, and even wrote an entire essay about the distinction between a home page and a blog and why this homepage is not a blog.
Nevertheless, as an active blogger, it’s not that I hate blogs or try to underrate them - it’s just that I think that I invest more effort and rigour in writing articles or essays on my home page, than I do on the various random stuff I post to my blogs. (Or to other similar public channels, such as mailing lists, web forums, comments on other people’s blogs, etc.). I also feel that it is easier to find posts on my personal web-site than on most people’s blogs.

Which Open Source Wiki Works for You?

An overview of some popular open-source wiki engines.

Choice of Document Formats

About the choice of various document formats available today for publishing on the web.

The “Use qmail instead” syndrome

Someone has a problem with technology A and other people tell him to use technology B instead. Please don’t do that.

Homepage vs. Blog

About the difference between a homepage and a blog and why this site is a homepage.

Reflections on Online Communities

Do’s and Don’t’s for online communities - how to structure them and grow a community.

“Alternative” Models for Web-Based Commerce

A list of some models for online content-creation commerce that do no involve intrusive advertising.

Validate Your HTML Markup

To educate the world about the benefits of making sure their markup of HTML and other web and non-web languages is valid according to the web standards.

Articles about Software Management

Software management: leading a team, designing software, working on software, hiring employees, growing a user base, software engineering, etc.

“How to Get Help Online?”

A guide that points to the Internet resources that one should consult for getting help online.

“What Makes Software High-Quality?”

An overview of the parameters that make software high-quality, with a focus on open-source software, and the various methods that can be used to maintain good quality and increase it.