Matthew Garrett

Last updated

Matthew Garrett
Matthew Garrett "You're not even a wiki" (cropped).jpg
Born
Galway, Ireland
Other namesmjg59
EducationComputational Genetics
Alma mater University of Cambridge
Occupation Software developer
EmployerAurora
Known for Free software development and advocacy
Awards Free Software Award
Website mjg59.dreamwidth.org

Matthew Garrett is an Irish technologist, programmer, and free software activist who is a major contributor to a series of free software projects including Linux, GNOME, Debian, Ubuntu, and Red Hat. [1] He has received the Free Software Award from the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for his work on Secure Boot, UEFI, and the Linux kernel. [2]

Contents

Life and career

Garrett was born in Galway, Ireland, [3] and has a PhD in genetics from the University of Cambridge. [4] He is the author of several articles on Drosophila melanogaster (i.e., fruit fly) genetics. [5] [6] [7]

Garrett has been a contributor to the GNOME [8] [9] and the Debian Linux projects, was an early contributor to Ubuntu, was an initial member of the Ubuntu Technical Board, worked as a contractor at Canonical Ltd., and worked at Red Hat. [1]

At Canonical Ltd. and Red Hat, Garrett worked on power management in Linux. [10] While at Red Hat, Garrett also worked on issues relating to Secure Boot and UEFI and the Linux kernel to preserve users' ability to run the operating system of their choosing on hardware supporting Secure Boot. [11] This work eventually led to his being awarded the 2013 FSF Free Software Award. [2]

Garrett worked at the cloud computing platform company CoreOS and is cited in the press as an expert in cloud computing issues. [12] From 2017 until 2021, he worked for Google [13] and is currently employed at Aurora.

On January 9, 2023, Garrett was selected to the member of Debian Technical Committee. [14]

He has received the Free Software Award from the Free Software Foundation for his work on Secure Boot, UEFI, and the Linux kernel. [2]

Advocacy

Garrett has been a strong advocate for software freedom and compliance with the GNU General Public License (GPL) in the Linux kernel. For example, Garrett filed a complaint with US Customs against Fusion Garage due to violations of the GPL. [15] [16]

In March 2021, Garrett, who had served on the Free Software Foundation's board of directors, signed an open letter to the FSF calling for the removal of its entire board and for Richard Stallman to be removed from all leadership positions. [17] [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debian</span> Linux distribution based on free and open-source software

Debian, also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software and optionally non-free firmware or software developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of Debian (0.01) was released on September 15, 1993, and its first stable version (1.1) was released on June 17, 1996. The Debian Stable branch is the most popular edition for personal computers and servers. Debian is also the basis for many other distributions that have different purposes, like Proxmox for servers, Ubuntu or Linux Mint for desktops, Kali for penetration testing, and Pardus and Astra for government use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free software</span> Software licensed to be freely used, modified and distributed

Free software, libre software, or libreware is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, not price; all users are legally free to do what they want with their copies of a free software regardless of how much is paid to obtain the program. Computer programs are deemed "free" if they give end-users ultimate control over the software and, subsequently, over their devices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GNU</span> Free software collection

GNU is an extensive collection of free software, which can be used as an operating system or can be used in parts with other operating systems. The use of the completed GNU tools led to the family of operating systems popularly known as Linux. Most of GNU is licensed under the GNU Project's own General Public License (GPL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linux distribution</span> Operating system based on the Linux kernel

A Linux distribution is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and often a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one of the Linux distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices and personal computers to powerful supercomputers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GNU Project</span> Free software project

The GNU Project is a free software, mass collaboration project announced by Richard Stallman on September 27, 1983. Its goal is to give computer users freedom and control in their use of their computers and computing devices by collaboratively developing and publishing software that gives everyone the rights to freely run the software, copy and distribute it, study it, and modify it. GNU software grants these rights in its license.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GNU/Linux naming controversy</span> Issues of what to call a system with the GNU toolchain and the Linux kernel

Within the free software and the open-source software communities there is controversy over whether to refer to computer operating systems that use a combination of GNU software and the Linux kernel as "GNU/Linux" or "Linux" systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FSF Free Software Awards</span>

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) grants two annual awards. Since 1998, FSF has granted the award for Advancement of Free Software and since 2005, also the Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memtest86</span> Computer memory diagnostics software

MemTest86 and Memtest86+ are memory test software programs designed to test and stress test an x86 architecture computer's random-access memory (RAM) for errors, by writing test patterns to most memory addresses, reading back the data, and comparing for errors. Each tries to verify that the RAM will accept and correctly retain arbitrary patterns of data written to it, that there are no errors where different bits of memory interact, and that there are no conflicts between memory addresses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FOSDEM</span> Annual event in Brussels centered on free and open source software development

Free and Open source Software Developers' European Meeting (FOSDEM) is a non-commercial, volunteer-organized European event centered on free and open-source software development. It is aimed at developers and anyone interested in the free and open-source software movement. It aims to enable developers to meet and to promote the awareness and use of free and open-source software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFI</span> Operating system and firmware specification

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface is a specification that defines the architecture of the platform firmware used for booting the computer hardware and its interface for interaction with the operating system. Examples of firmware that implement the specification are AMI Aptio, Phoenix SecureCore, TianoCore EDK II, InsydeH2O. UEFI replaces the BIOS which was present in the boot ROM of all personal computers that are IBM PC compatible, although it can provide backwards compatibility with the BIOS using CSM booting. Intel developed the original Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) specification. Some of the EFI's practices and data formats mirror those of Microsoft Windows. In 2005, UEFI deprecated EFI 1.10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linux</span> Family of Unix-like operating systems

Linux is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution (distro), which includes the kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses and recommends the name "GNU/Linux" to emphasize the use and importance of GNU software in many distributions, causing some controversy.

gNewSense Linux distribution

gNewSense was a Linux distribution, active from 2006 to 2016. It was based on Debian, and developed with sponsorship from the Free Software Foundation. Its goal was user-friendliness, but with all proprietary and non-free software removed. The Free Software Foundation considered gNewSense to be composed entirely of free software.

GNU variants are operating systems based upon the GNU operating system. According to the GNU project and others, these also include most operating systems using the Linux kernel and a few others using BSD-based kernels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of free and open-source software</span>

In the 1950s and 1960s, computer operating software and compilers were delivered as a part of hardware purchases without separate fees. At the time, source code, the human-readable form of software, was generally distributed with the software providing the ability to fix bugs or add new functions. Universities were early adopters of computing technology. Many of the modifications developed by universities were openly shared, in keeping with the academic principles of sharing knowledge, and organizations sprung up to facilitate sharing. As large-scale operating systems matured, fewer organizations allowed modifications to the operating software, and eventually such operating systems were closed to modification. However, utilities and other added-function applications are still shared and new organizations have been formed to promote the sharing of software.

Linux began in 1991 as a personal project by Finnish student Linus Torvalds to create a new free operating system kernel. The resulting Linux kernel has been marked by constant growth throughout its history. Since the initial release of its source code in 1991, it has grown from a small number of C files under a license prohibiting commercial distribution to the 4.15 version in 2018 with more than 23.3 million lines of source code, not counting comments, under the GNU General Public License v2 with a syscall exception meaning anything that uses the kernel via system calls are not subject to the GNU GPL.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to free software and the free software movement:

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed under copyleft terms, such as with its own GNU General Public License. The FSF was incorporated in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, where it is also based.

rEFInd Boot manager for UEFI systems

rEFInd is a boot manager for UEFI and EFI-based machines. It can be used to boot multiple operating systems that are installed on a single non-volatile device. It also provides a way to launch UEFI applications.

References

  1. 1 2 Gareth Greenaway (27 January 2013). "INTERVIEW: Matthew Garrett". SCALE. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Matthew Garrett, GNOME Foundation's Outreach Program for Women are Free Software Award winners". Free Software Foundation. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Garrett, Matthew (11 August 2014). "birthplace". mjg59's journal.
  4. ↑ Garrett, Matthew James (2010). "Comparative genomic analysis as a tool for locating novel functional elements in D. melanogaster". Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ↑ Garrett, Matthew; Ane Fullaondo, Larent Troxler, Gos Micklem, David Gubb (22 October 2009). "Identification and analysis of serpin-family genes by homology and synteny across the 12 sequenced Drosophilid genomes". BMC Genomics. 10 (1): 489. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-10-489 . ISSN   1471-2164. PMC   2770083 . PMID   19849829.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ Hudson, Stephanie G.; Matthew J. Garrett, Joseph W. Carlson, Gos Micklem, Susan E. Celniker, Elliott S. Goldstein, Stuart J. Newfeld (1 November 2007). "Phylogenetic and Genomewide Analyses Suggest a Functional Relationship Between kayak, the Drosophila Fos Homolog, and fig, a Predicted Protein Phosphatase 2C Nested Within a kayak Intron". Genetics. 177 (3): 1349–1361. doi:10.1534/genetics.107.071670. ISSN   0016-6731. PMC   2147949 . PMID   18039871 . Retrieved 23 March 2014.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Guo, Jiannan; Matthew Garrett, Gos Micklem, Saverio Brogna (15 February 2011). "Poly(A) Signals Located near the 5′ End of Genes Are Silenced by a General Mechanism That Prevents Premature 3′-End Processing". Molecular and Cellular Biology. 31 (4): 639–651. doi:10.1128/MCB.00919-10. ISSN   0270-7306. PMC   3028650 . PMID   21135120.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ Garrett, Matthew (27 July 2004). "Application from Matthew Garrett". GNOME Foundation Membership Applications mailing list.
  9. ↑ Garrett, Matthew (5 May 2014). "Application from Matthew Garrett". GNOME Foundation Membership Applications mailing list.
  10. ↑ "Intel's Rapid Start Technology Will Soon Hit Linux". EFYtimes.com. 6 July 2013.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ↑ "Microsoft, Red Hat spar over secure boot-loading tech". Computer News Middle East. 25 September 2011.
  12. ↑ Magnanti, Dr Brooke. "Could the UK really block internet porn?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "Matthew Garrett / Linux Plumbers Conference: Developing the Kernel, Libraries and Utilities".
  14. ↑ Carter, Jonathan. "New appointment for the Debian Technical Committee: mjg59". lists.debian.org. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  15. ↑ Matthew Garrett files case with US Customs against Fusion Garage LWN.net, 2010.
  16. ↑ Meeker, Heather J. (2012). "Open Source and the Age of Enforcement". Hastings Science & Technology Law Journal. 4 (267).
  17. ↑ Brodkin, Jon (23 March 2021). "Free software advocates seek removal of Richard Stallman and entire FSF board". Ars Technica . Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  18. ↑ "An open letter to remove Richard M. Stallman from all leadership positions" . Retrieved 25 March 2021.
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