Nikolai Bezroukov
Encyclopedia
Nikolai Bezroukov is a Senior Internet Security
Analyst at BASF
Corporation, Professor of Computer Science
at Farleigh Dickinson University (New Jersey
, United States
) and webmaster
of Open Source Software University, a volunteer technical site for the United Nations
Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) that helps with Internet connectivity and distributes Linux
to developing countries.
He was the author of popular in the USSR software development environment Neat and compiler to the relational database language RYAOD. Editor Neated and formatter Neatxt, which were parts of Neat package, were popular tools for publishing Samizdat books on computers.
From 1989 to 1996 he was founder and editor in chief of Softpanorama bulletin, an influential Russian language e-zine. From 1996 he is the webmaster or Softpanorama.org, a site devoted to "slightly skeptical" materials for computer science education.
He created one of the first classification system for computer virus
es, an influential Russian language
book on the subject, Computer Virology(1991) and organized the first conference of anti-virus researchers for the region. The latter helped to gain popularity for Lozinski and Kasperski antiviruses. Both were presenters at the conference along with Vesselin Bontchev (Burgaria). His later VB97 conference review became popular and is reproduced by multiple hacker and antivirus defence web sites.
From 1994 to 1996 he was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Pittsburg working of issues of anti-virus and UNIX security research.
He claims that he coined the term "Orthodox File Managers
" in 1996 in the first e-book devoted to the subject that systematized the field and tried to refine the common features of major implementation of this class of file managers such as FAR, Total Commander and Midnight Commander. It also defined the standard for OFM implementations that are periodically revised the by the author.
Since 1998 he became prominent, albeit controversial, critic of simplistic, quasireligious views on possibilities of open source and dangers of its commercialization. In 1999 he introduced highly controversial term "Vulgar Raymondism" and in 2005 coined the names of two philosophical schools to writing open source software: "Software Realism" and "Software idealism".
In 1999 he published two influential papers devoted to analyses and critique of Eric Raymond's views on the development of open source software " and
in which he argues against idealistic view on open source a panacea from all software ills. The first paper produced sharp response from Eric Raymond.
In 2000 he published a third paper in which he analyzed the essence of Stallman's software development model and provided a compehensive critique of GPL's foundations.
In 2005 he published the next of his series of papers devoted to the critical assessment of open source development in which he tried to analyze achievements and pitfalls of two similar operating system Linux and Solaris.
He is also the author of popular biography of Donald Knuth
Internet security
Internet security is a branch of computer security specifically related to the Internet. Its objective is to establish rules and measures to use against attacks over the Internet. The Internet represents an insecure channel for exchanging information leading to a high risk of intrusion or fraud,...
Analyst at BASF
BASF
BASF SE is the largest chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Germany. BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik . Today, the four letters are a registered trademark and the company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and Zurich Stock...
Corporation, Professor of Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
at Farleigh Dickinson University (New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) and webmaster
Webmaster
A webmaster , also called a web architect, web developer, site author, or website administrator is a person responsible for maintaining one or many websites...
of Open Source Software University, a volunteer technical site for the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) that helps with Internet connectivity and distributes Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
to developing countries.
He was the author of popular in the USSR software development environment Neat and compiler to the relational database language RYAOD. Editor Neated and formatter Neatxt, which were parts of Neat package, were popular tools for publishing Samizdat books on computers.
From 1989 to 1996 he was founder and editor in chief of Softpanorama bulletin, an influential Russian language e-zine. From 1996 he is the webmaster or Softpanorama.org, a site devoted to "slightly skeptical" materials for computer science education.
He created one of the first classification system for computer virus
Computer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
es, an influential Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
book on the subject, Computer Virology(1991) and organized the first conference of anti-virus researchers for the region. The latter helped to gain popularity for Lozinski and Kasperski antiviruses. Both were presenters at the conference along with Vesselin Bontchev (Burgaria). His later VB97 conference review became popular and is reproduced by multiple hacker and antivirus defence web sites.
From 1994 to 1996 he was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Pittsburg working of issues of anti-virus and UNIX security research.
He claims that he coined the term "Orthodox File Managers
File manager
A file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to work with file systems. The most common operations performed on files or groups of files are: create, open, edit, view, print, play, rename, move, copy, delete, search/find, and modify file attributes, properties...
" in 1996 in the first e-book devoted to the subject that systematized the field and tried to refine the common features of major implementation of this class of file managers such as FAR, Total Commander and Midnight Commander. It also defined the standard for OFM implementations that are periodically revised the by the author.
Since 1998 he became prominent, albeit controversial, critic of simplistic, quasireligious views on possibilities of open source and dangers of its commercialization. In 1999 he introduced highly controversial term "Vulgar Raymondism" and in 2005 coined the names of two philosophical schools to writing open source software: "Software Realism" and "Software idealism".
In 1999 he published two influential papers devoted to analyses and critique of Eric Raymond's views on the development of open source software " and
in which he argues against idealistic view on open source a panacea from all software ills. The first paper produced sharp response from Eric Raymond.
In 2000 he published a third paper in which he analyzed the essence of Stallman's software development model and provided a compehensive critique of GPL's foundations.
In 2005 he published the next of his series of papers devoted to the critical assessment of open source development in which he tried to analyze achievements and pitfalls of two similar operating system Linux and Solaris.
He is also the author of popular biography of Donald Knuth
External links
- Open Source Software Educational Society, Bezroukov's website