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Rob Malda: The Geek Who Built the Linux Clan's Gathering Ground At Slashdot.org -- a window into the vibrant Open Source software community -- he stirs the true believers with his firebrand commentaries For computer industry folk who want to plug into what's going on with the Linux operating system, the first stop is often Slashdot.org -- a Web site that posts articles and commentary about everything that's relevant to the 10-million-strong Open Source software community. Slashdot is to Net culture what 125th Street in Harlem is to clothing companies that want to latch onto hip-hop: the window in. The guy who built and operates that window is Rob Malda. Malda, 23, is not your typical Net businessperson. He's got some money, thanks to Andover.net's acquisition of Slashdot for $1.5 million in June, and he'll get more when Andover.net goes public in a few weeks. But Malda is motivated little by greed or by the notion of building a company. He's content to stay in the little town where he grew up and went to school -- Holland, Mich. -- and keep doing what he has been doing -- running Slashdot. His self-styled title: Webmaster.
The movement he's talking about is Open Source. Members of this clan believe that the best way to create software is through the collective efforts of thousands of volunteer programmers. Linux is such a program. It's gaining a tremendous head of steam -- 16% of the market for server operating systems last year, according to International Data Corp. Members of the Open Source movement keep in touch with each other almost exclusively via the Web. In many cases, since they use online names (Malda's is CmdrTaco), it's not even clear who they are. But they need places to assemble. And Slashdot is one of the most popular gathering places, attracting tens of thousands of visitors per day. "It's the back fence of the Linux community -- where people go to hear the latest hot gossip," says Eric Raymond, president of the Open Source Initiative, an advocacy group. "It's a valuable early warning system." GEEK COMPOUND. That's certainly true for outsiders. Take Corel Corp., which is creating Linux versions of all of its desktop PC software applications and is even coming out with its own version of Linux. In October, after Corel posted a test version of its Linux online, Slashdot participants erupted in a storm of criticism. It looked as though Corel had violated one of the basic tenets of Open Source software in the fine print of the software license -- limiting what programmers could do with it. Corel's engineers spotted the angry postings on Slashdot and quickly clued management into their faux pas. Within a couple of days, Corel published a clarification that satisfied it critics. And some of the gurus of the Open Source movement weighed in on Slashdot to support Corel. One of them, Bruce Perens, called on people to cool their anti-Corel rhetoric: "They did the right thing. Now give them a break." Most days, the mood on Slashdot is something akin to a bull session in a college dormitory. ("Slashdot's median age is 12," jokes Perens.) That's no surprise, though. Malda created the site two years ago when he was a student in computer science at Hope College. And he still lives a student lifestyle. He sleeps and works in what he and his pals call GC3 (Geek Compound 3), one of a string of duplexes in Holland occupied by young hackers who have set up a wireless computer network that links the computers in the apartments to one another. For Malda, Open Source is a passion. He's a true believer. But he's no purist, and he's not anticapitalist. "I'm no communist. I'm not a hippy. I'm a geek. This is just a better way to make software," he says. While Malda believes Microsoft Corp.'s Windows monopoly is "definitely crippling an industry," he doesn't see Linux as a weapon against Microsoft. "It's just a faster car to drive. Microsoft has a Ford. We have a Ferrari," he says.
With the sale of Slashdot to Andover.net, Slashdot has gone from being a hobby for Malda to being a business -- supported by online advertising. But Malda doesn't feel that he sold out. It's important to him that the company isn't aligned with any of the versions of Linux. And he was assured by Andover.net CEO Bruce Twickler that there would be no corporate interference with the site's editorial content. So far, that has been true. The main thing the sale has done is give him a small paid staff. "A year ago this was a one-man band," says Malda. Now I can call when I need help." If Linux keeps booming, Malda might have to hire a whole human resources department. Hamm covers technology for Business Week. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |
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RELATED ITEMS BW, Nov. 15, 1999: "The Wild and Woolly World of Linux" BW e.biz, June 30, 1999:"The Linux Missionary Who's Taking on Microsoft" WEB POINTERS Click here to visit some of the sites mentioned in the story: Slashdot.org Andover.net Open Source Initiative Corel Foresight Institute Free Software Foundation Linux Online Linux.com Red Hat International Data Corp. | ||||||||||||
