Why do I do it?
I started because I couldn't find anything similar available for FTP
(this was in the days before even Gopher, let alone WWW) and because I
wanted to play with net software. I carry on because I enjoy
providing a service that's used by thousands of people around the
world. It's great to get all the positive feedback and help from the
net and to find out what the hot topics in the world of computing
are.
I've learned a hell of a lot about computing, comms, maths and other
interesting subjects, thanks to many excellent contributions from the
knowledgeable and kind people on the net.
It's been amazing watching the access statistics growing as more and
more people get on the Internet. The dictionary aims to help new
Internet users cope with all the terminology, buzzwords, and acronyms
they run up against.
Apart from all those important reasons, it looks good on my CV.
Why don't you try to make money from it?
When people hear how popular FOLDOC is, they often say "Why don't you
charge for it?" or, more recently, "Why don't you sell advertising
space?" Firstly, that's not what I'm interested in. I already have a
full-time job and if I charged for FOLDOC then I'd have to guarantee
some level of service whereas at the moment I do as much or as little
as I want.
Secondly, it's not mine to sell. It belongs to the net - to all the
good folk who've helped make it what it is. I do claim copyright on
it, but mostly to ensure that it remains free.
Lastly, it's against college rules. Imperial College Department of Computing has been
very understanding and supportive, though the dictionary has never
been an official project and has never had any direct funding of any
sort.
What qualifies you as an expert on computing?
I'm more of a jack-of-all-trades than an expert. I'm 45 years old and
have worked on or studied many aspects of computing, including VLSI
design, electronics, logic design, processor architecture, parallel
processing, assembly language, BASIC, C, Lisp, Prolog, functional
programming languages, natural language processing, AI, Visual Basic,
Java, Perl, networking, Unix kernel hacking, Windows registry hacking,
COBOL, VMS, umpteen Unixes, RISC OS, NEXTSTEP, George 9, DOS, Windows
and quantum mechanics. I've worked in industrial research and
development, academic research, and corporate IT. Having said that, I
rely on help from contributors and users for the vast majority of the
knowledge contained in FOLDOC.
Last modified: Mon Nov 20 00:45:50 GMT 2006
Denis Howe