Andrew Morton (computer programmer)
Encyclopedia
Andrew Keith Paul Morton (born 1959 in England
) is an Australia
n software engineer
, best known as one of the lead developers of the Linux kernel
. He is currently a co-maintainer of the Ext3
file system and the journaling
layer for block devices (JBD).
In the late 1980s, he was one of the partners of a company in Sydney, Australia that produced a kit computer called the Applix 1616
, as well as a hardware engineer for the (now-defunct) Australian gaming equipment manufacturer Keno Computer Systems. He holds an honours degree in electrical engineering
from the University of New South Wales
in Australia.
Morton maintains a Linux kernel patchset known as the mm tree
, which contains work-in-progress patches that might later be accepted into the official Linux tree maintained by Linus Torvalds
. "mm" as a primary testing ground became unmanageably large and busy, and in 2008 the "linux-next" tree was created to fill much of this role.
In 2001, Andrew Morton and his family moved from Wollongong, New South Wales
to Palo Alto, California
.
In July 2003, Morton joined the Open Source Development Labs
under an agreement with his then-employer Digeo Inc. (makers of the Moxi
home entertainment media center), in which OSDL supported Morton's Linux kernel development work while he continued in his official role as principal engineer at Digeo.
Since August 2006, Morton has been employed by Google
and continues his current work in maintaining the kernel.
Andrew Morton delivered the keynote speech at the 2004 Ottawa Linux Symposium. He was also a featured speaker at MontaVista
Software's Vision 2007 Conference.
He is an expert witness in the SCO v. IBM
lawsuit contesting UNIX
copyrights.
Andrew is also known by his username akpm, as found in e-mail addresses and as part of the URL to his now-defunct webpage. On being asked what the initials KP stood for, he replied, "Some say 'Kernel Programmer.' My parents said 'Keith Paul.'"
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n software engineer
Software engineering
Software Engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software...
, best known as one of the lead developers of the Linux kernel
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
. He is currently a co-maintainer of the Ext3
Ext3
The ext3 or third extended filesystem is a journaled file system that is commonly used by the Linux kernel. It is the default file system for many popular Linux distributions, including Debian...
file system and the journaling
Journaling file system
A journaling file system is a file system that keeps track of the changes that will be made in a journal before committing them to the main file system...
layer for block devices (JBD).
In the late 1980s, he was one of the partners of a company in Sydney, Australia that produced a kit computer called the Applix 1616
Applix 1616
The Applix 1616 was a kit computer with a Motorola 68000 CPU, produced by a small company called Applix in Sydney, Australia, from 1986 to the early 1990s. It ran a custom multitasking multiuser operating system that was resident in ROM. A version of Minix was also ported to the 1616, as was the...
, as well as a hardware engineer for the (now-defunct) Australian gaming equipment manufacturer Keno Computer Systems. He holds an honours degree in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
from the University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
in Australia.
Morton maintains a Linux kernel patchset known as the mm tree
Mm tree
Among Linux kernel developers, the -mm tree used to refer to a version of the kernel source code maintained by Andrew Morton.The -mm kernel tree used to fill the role of Linux kernel development builds, formerly identified by odd minor version numbers . New and experimental code used to find its...
, which contains work-in-progress patches that might later be accepted into the official Linux tree maintained by Linus Torvalds
Linus Torvalds
Linus Benedict Torvalds is a Finnish software engineer and hacker, best known for having initiated the development of the open source Linux kernel. He later became the chief architect of the Linux kernel, and now acts as the project's coordinator...
. "mm" as a primary testing ground became unmanageably large and busy, and in 2008 the "linux-next" tree was created to fill much of this role.
In 2001, Andrew Morton and his family moved from Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...
to Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
.
In July 2003, Morton joined the Open Source Development Labs
OSDL
Open Source Development Labs was a non-profit organization supported by a global consortium tasked to "accelerate the deployment of Linux for enterprise computing." Founded in 2000, its goals included "to be the recognized center-of-gravity for the Linux industry."On January 22, 2007, OSDL and the...
under an agreement with his then-employer Digeo Inc. (makers of the Moxi
Moxi
Moxi is a line of high definition Digital Video Recorders produced by ARRIS Group, Inc. Moxi was originally released only to cable operators but in December 2008 was released as a retail product to the general public. The current retail product, the Moxi HD DVR, provides a high definition user...
home entertainment media center), in which OSDL supported Morton's Linux kernel development work while he continued in his official role as principal engineer at Digeo.
Since August 2006, Morton has been employed by Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
and continues his current work in maintaining the kernel.
Andrew Morton delivered the keynote speech at the 2004 Ottawa Linux Symposium. He was also a featured speaker at MontaVista
MontaVista
MontaVista Software is a software developer that develops embedded Linux system software, development tools, and related software. Its products are targeted at other corporations developing embedded systems such as automotive electronics, communications equipment, mobile phones, and other...
Software's Vision 2007 Conference.
He is an expert witness in the SCO v. IBM
SCO v. IBM
SCO v. IBM is a civil lawsuit in the United States District Court of Utah. The SCO Group asserted that there are legal uncertainties regarding the use of the Linux operating system due to alleged violations of IBM's Unix licenses in the development of Linux code at IBM.-Summary:On March 6, 2003,...
lawsuit contesting UNIX
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
copyrights.
Andrew is also known by his username akpm, as found in e-mail addresses and as part of the URL to his now-defunct webpage. On being asked what the initials KP stood for, he replied, "Some say 'Kernel Programmer.' My parents said 'Keith Paul.'"
External links
- Andrew Morton's LinkedIn profile
- Interview: Andrew Morton; Jeremy Andrews; Kerneltrap; February 14, 2002.
- Interview; Nadia Cameron; LinuxWorld; July 16, 2003.
- Keynote speech; Ottawa Linux Symposium, 2004
- Interview; Ingrid Marson; ZDNet UK; May 5, 2006.
- Interview; Fosdem Conference; Feb 06, 2007.
- Audio of Talk at SDForum
- Video with Andrew Morton at Hannover Industry Trade Fair, Germany, May 2008
- Link to his patches
- Link to his own kernel tree
- Archive of his now-defunct webpage, hosted by Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...