Pieter Hintjens
Encyclopedia
Pieter Hintjens is a Belgian
software developer
, writer, and past president of the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure
(FFII), an association that fights against software patent
s. In 2007 he was nominated one of the "50 most influential people in IP" by Managing Intellectual Property magazine.
He is the CEO and chief software designer for iMatix, a firm that has produced many free software applications, such as the ØMQ
high performance message library, the OpenAMQ AMQP messaging service, Libero, GSL code generator, and the Xitami
web server.
He is active in open standards development, being the author of the original Advanced Message Queuing Protocol
(AMQP), a founder of the Digital Standards Organization, and the editor of the RestMS web messaging protocol. RestMS is developed using a peer-to-peer, share-alike, branch and merge model (COSS) developed by Hintjens and others for the Digital Standards Organization in 2008.
He was until February 2010 CEO of Wikidot
Inc., one of the fastest growing wikifarms.
In 2006 he started the CAPSoff campaign to reform the keyboard, starting with the removal of the Caps Lock key. He described this campaign as an example of an online campaign conducted entirely using free services like Wikidot
and Google groups. Some new keyboards are starting to drop the Caps Lock key. In September 2006 he launched the "Million Dollar Keyboard" competition for the best keyboard design to do away with the Caps Lock key. It was funded by donations from the campaign's supporters and eventually raised €194.91. The competition was won by Shai Coleman's "Colemak" keyboard layout.
He has also written that "a sustainable patent system is needed for cultural and scientific reasons, and on that basis, I'm going to propose five steps to get there. These steps are: to stop the polemics, to resolve conflicts of interest, to construct appropriate models, to return to basics, and to engage in constructive dialogue."
In October 2007 he warned that after mortgages and consumer debt, patents were a third bubble waiting to damage the global economy, writing: "House prices fall and bad debt shakes the financial markets across the US and Europe. Bankers look nervously at their portfolios of consumer debt and mortgages. But some analysts say that it's patents, not houses or loans, that will tip the global financial market into crisis."
He is the author of the Devil's Wiki, which defines patent as "A medieval economic tool by which politicians attempt to stimulate trade and wealth by banning innovation and competition in crucial areas of technology".
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
software developer
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
, writer, and past president of the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure
Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure
The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure or FFII is a non-profit organisation based in Munich, Germany, dedicated to establishing a free market in information technology, by the removal of barriers to competition...
(FFII), an association that fights against software patent
Software patent
Software patent does not have a universally accepted definition. One definition suggested by the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure is that a software patent is a "patent on any performance of a computer realised by means of a computer program".In 2005, the European Patent Office...
s. In 2007 he was nominated one of the "50 most influential people in IP" by Managing Intellectual Property magazine.
He is the CEO and chief software designer for iMatix, a firm that has produced many free software applications, such as the ØMQ
ØMQ
ØMQ is a high-performance asynchronous messaging library aimed at use in scalable distributed or concurrent applications. It provides a message queue, but unlike message-oriented middleware, a ØMQ system can run without a dedicated message broker...
high performance message library, the OpenAMQ AMQP messaging service, Libero, GSL code generator, and the Xitami
Xitami
Xitami is a Web and FTP server, originally developed by iMatix Corporation as a free, open-source product from 1996 to 2000. It ran as a single process with a small footprint. It was not as fast as the fastest servers but scaled well. It supported several web application protocols and was very...
web server.
He is active in open standards development, being the author of the original Advanced Message Queuing Protocol
Advanced Message Queuing Protocol
The Advanced Message Queuing Protocol is an open standard application layer protocol for message-oriented middleware. The defining features of AMQP are message orientation, queuing, routing , reliability and security.AMQP mandates the behaviour of the messaging provider and client to the extent...
(AMQP), a founder of the Digital Standards Organization, and the editor of the RestMS web messaging protocol. RestMS is developed using a peer-to-peer, share-alike, branch and merge model (COSS) developed by Hintjens and others for the Digital Standards Organization in 2008.
He was until February 2010 CEO of Wikidot
Wikidot
Wikidot.com is a social networking service and wiki hosting service , developed in Toruń, Poland. Wikidot Inc., which owns and operates Wikidot.com, is incorporated in Delaware, USA, Division of Corporations, file no. 4326793...
Inc., one of the fastest growing wikifarms.
In 2006 he started the CAPSoff campaign to reform the keyboard, starting with the removal of the Caps Lock key. He described this campaign as an example of an online campaign conducted entirely using free services like Wikidot
Wikidot
Wikidot.com is a social networking service and wiki hosting service , developed in Toruń, Poland. Wikidot Inc., which owns and operates Wikidot.com, is incorporated in Delaware, USA, Division of Corporations, file no. 4326793...
and Google groups. Some new keyboards are starting to drop the Caps Lock key. In September 2006 he launched the "Million Dollar Keyboard" competition for the best keyboard design to do away with the Caps Lock key. It was funded by donations from the campaign's supporters and eventually raised €194.91. The competition was won by Shai Coleman's "Colemak" keyboard layout.
Views
He is of the opinion that "public distrust will bring down the patent system in [his] lifetime.” According to him, the purpose of the patent system is not to make patent owners wealthy but to record innovations for future generations, the argument that the patent system makes economies work better is simplistic, that patents (especially ones related to software) are written purposely to be difficult to understand, and litigation is "an evil” as it destroys companies and wastes resources, and that mediation is better.He has also written that "a sustainable patent system is needed for cultural and scientific reasons, and on that basis, I'm going to propose five steps to get there. These steps are: to stop the polemics, to resolve conflicts of interest, to construct appropriate models, to return to basics, and to engage in constructive dialogue."
In October 2007 he warned that after mortgages and consumer debt, patents were a third bubble waiting to damage the global economy, writing: "House prices fall and bad debt shakes the financial markets across the US and Europe. Bankers look nervously at their portfolios of consumer debt and mortgages. But some analysts say that it's patents, not houses or loans, that will tip the global financial market into crisis."
He is the author of the Devil's Wiki, which defines patent as "A medieval economic tool by which politicians attempt to stimulate trade and wealth by banning innovation and competition in crucial areas of technology".
External links
- Wikitree of Hintjens
- http://gca.org/attend/2001_conferences/europe_2001/bios/3.htm
- http://heironymouscoward.blogspot.com/
- Free Software magazine Issue 12
- CapsOff Website
- OpenAMQ AMQP messaging system