Russ Nelson
Encyclopedia
Russell "Russ" Nelson is an American computer programmer. He was a founding board member of the Open Source Initiative
and briefly served as its president in 2005.
clone, Painter's Apprentice with Patrick Naughton
. Nelson was the original developer of Freemacs
(a variant of Emacs
used by FreeDOS
). While attending university, Nelson began developing the collection of drivers
later commercially released as the "Crynwr Collection". In 1991, he founded Crynwr Software, a company dedicated to creating bulk e-mail software
, located in Potsdam
, New York
.
In 1998, Nelson became one of the first group to serve on the Board of Directors
of the Open Source Initiative, joining Brian Behlendorf
, Ian Murdock
and Chip Salzenberg
. In February 2005, he became the President of the Open Source Initiative, but resigned a few days later, on February 23, 2005, because a posting on his personal blog
was deemed to be racist. Nelson apologized to those who perceived the post, which he withdrew because it "was not well written", as racist, and indicated that he did not believe himself to be politically savvy enough for the role of president. Six years later, in March 2011, he departed the Board due to term limits on the position.
In July 2010, Nelson was engaged in making monitors
to measure water quality
.
and veteran of World War II
, and Gladys Jacobsen Nelson. He has one sister. He attended Baldwin Senior High School from 1972 to 1975 before entering college at Clarkson University
. He is a Quaker, a pacifist, and a member of the Libertarian Party
of the United States.
Open Source Initiative
The Open Source Initiative is an organization dedicated to promoting open source software.The organization was founded in February 1998, by Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond, prompted by Netscape Communications Corporation publishing the source code for its flagship Netscape Communicator product...
and briefly served as its president in 2005.
Career
In 1983, Nelson co-wrote a MacPaintMacPaint
MacPaint was a bitmap-based graphics painting software program developed by Apple Computer and released with the original Macintosh personal computer on January 22, 1984. It was sold separately for US$195 with its word processor counterpart, MacWrite. MacPaint was notable because it could generate...
clone, Painter's Apprentice with Patrick Naughton
Patrick Naughton
Patrick Naughton is an American software developer, best known as being one of the original creators of the Java programming language.-Working for Sun:...
. Nelson was the original developer of Freemacs
Freemacs
Freemacs is a small, programmable computer text editor for MS-DOS with some degree of compatibility with GNU Emacs. Written by Russ Nelson and later maintained by Jim Hall, Freemacs is currently distributed under the GPL in the FreeDOS project....
(a variant of Emacs
Emacs
Emacs is a class of text editors, usually characterized by their extensibility. GNU Emacs has over 1,000 commands. It also allows the user to combine these commands into macros to automate work.Development began in the mid-1970s and continues actively...
used by FreeDOS
FreeDOS
FreeDOS is an operating system for IBM PC compatible computers. FreeDOS is made up of many different, separate programs that act as "packages" to the overall FreeDOS Project...
). While attending university, Nelson began developing the collection of drivers
Device driver
In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
later commercially released as the "Crynwr Collection". In 1991, he founded Crynwr Software, a company dedicated to creating bulk e-mail software
Bulk e-mail software
Bulk email software is software that is used to send email in large quantities.It might be used for legitimate mailings – for email list subscribers...
, located in Potsdam
Potsdam (town), New York
Potsdam is a town located in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 15,957 at the 2000 census. The ZIP code is 13676. The town is named after the city of Potsdam in Germany...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
In 1998, Nelson became one of the first group to serve on the Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of the Open Source Initiative, joining Brian Behlendorf
Brian Behlendorf
Brian Behlendorf is a technologist, computer programmer, and an important figure in the open-source software movement. He was a primary developer of the Apache Web server, the most popular web server software on the Internet, and a founding member of the Apache Group, which later became the Apache...
, Ian Murdock
Ian Murdock
Ian Murdock is the founder of the Debian distribution and Progeny Linux Systems, a commercial Linux company.- Life and career :Murdock was born in Konstanz, Germany....
and Chip Salzenberg
Chip Salzenberg
Chip Salzenberg is an American programmer mostly noted for his involvement in the Perl and Free Software communities. Salzenberg has been involved with Perl development for over 15 years, and with Free Software for more than 20 years....
. In February 2005, he became the President of the Open Source Initiative, but resigned a few days later, on February 23, 2005, because a posting on his personal blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
was deemed to be racist. Nelson apologized to those who perceived the post, which he withdrew because it "was not well written", as racist, and indicated that he did not believe himself to be politically savvy enough for the role of president. Six years later, in March 2011, he departed the Board due to term limits on the position.
In July 2010, Nelson was engaged in making monitors
Environmental monitoring
Environmental monitoring describes the processes and activities that need to take place to characterise and monitor the quality of the environment...
to measure water quality
Water quality
Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which...
.
Personal
Nelson is the son of Russell Edward Nelson, a traffic engineer for New York TelephoneNew York Telephone
The New York Telephone Company was organized in 1896, taking over the New York City operations of the American Bell Telephone Company.-Predecessor companies:...
and veteran of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and Gladys Jacobsen Nelson. He has one sister. He attended Baldwin Senior High School from 1972 to 1975 before entering college at Clarkson University
Clarkson University
-The Clarkson School:The Clarkson School, a special division of Clarkson University, was founded in 1978 as a unique educational opportunity. The School offers students an early entrance opportunity into college, replacing the typical senior year of high school with a year of college...
. He is a Quaker, a pacifist, and a member of the Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
of the United States.