Sam Hocevar
Encyclopedia
Samuel “Sam” Hocevar is a French
computer scientist
, programmer
, image processing
expert and reverse engineer. Hocevar was the Debian Project Leader from 17 April 2007 to 16 April 2008.
in Metz
, Moselle
, France. He graduated in 2002 from École Centrale Paris
, after receiving the "Award of Information Technology and Communication" from the SNCF
as the most promising student in his class. He specialized in electromechanical systems and applied mechatronics, and project management.
From 2005 to 2006 he was a Wikimedia France board member.
Hocevar was elected Debian Project Leader on 17 April 2007. Hocevar's Debian leadership platform stated a preference for finishing larger numbers of small projects in succession, echoing Japanese management philosophy Kaizen
's idea that constant, incremental improvements to a project would generate more gains per unit of time than large single leaps of performance.
and VideoLAN
projects. He has made large contributions to almost all software of the VideoLAN project, especially to VLC media player
and libdvdcss
, since 1998 and he is the author of various software programs, such as zzuf, a data fuzzer, and libcaca, a color ASCII art
renderer. He is also the current maintainer of the Extension Language Kit
Scheme interpreter, which has found use in many multimedia applications including audio processing.
Besides this, he is known for his extensive work in reverse engineering
and image processing
. He reverse engineered DVD subtitles in 2000 and in 2005 it was found that the DRM software which triggered the Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal had unlawfully pirated open source code from the VideoLAN project which Sam Hocevar was involved in authoring.
Sam Hocevar's experience in image processing includes authoring a Captcha
decoding framework called PWNtcha. PWNtcha was the first captcha decoder framework to defeat multiple captchas and was referred to as the "most famous" captcha breaker by a 2009 Stanford University publication.
He authored WTFPL
version 2, an extremely liberal, permissive free software license that is recognized by the Free Software Foundation
. Hocevar has also been cited for his "whimsical" copyleft
activism. Hocevar is also part of Goatse Security
, an information security
working group most known for revealing security flaws in the Apple iPad.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
computer scientist
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
, programmer
Programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
, image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...
expert and reverse engineer. Hocevar was the Debian Project Leader from 17 April 2007 to 16 April 2008.
Biography
From 1995 to 1997 Hocevar took preparatory classes at the Lycée FabertLycée Fabert
Lycée Fabert is a senior high school in Metz, Moselle, Lorraine, France. The school, in the city centre, was the first lycée in Metz.-Facility:The high school consists of several buildings. They include:* The old lycée - It is the former convent abbey of St...
in Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
, Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, France. He graduated in 2002 from École Centrale Paris
École Centrale Paris
École Centrale Paris is a French university-level institution in the field of engineering. It is also known by its original name École centrale des arts et manufactures, or ECP. Founded in 1829, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious engineering schools in France and has the special status...
, after receiving the "Award of Information Technology and Communication" from the SNCF
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
as the most promising student in his class. He specialized in electromechanical systems and applied mechatronics, and project management.
From 2005 to 2006 he was a Wikimedia France board member.
Hocevar was elected Debian Project Leader on 17 April 2007. Hocevar's Debian leadership platform stated a preference for finishing larger numbers of small projects in succession, echoing Japanese management philosophy Kaizen
Kaizen
, Japanese for "improvement", or "change for the better" refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, game development, and business management. It has been applied in healthcare, psychotherapy, life-coaching, government,...
's idea that constant, incremental improvements to a project would generate more gains per unit of time than large single leaps of performance.
Achievements
Hocevar is best known for his contributions to the DebianDebian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
and VideoLAN
VideoLAN
VideoLAN is a project that develops software for playing video and other media formats across a local area network . It originally developed two programs for media streaming, VideoLAN Client and VideoLAN Server , but most of the features of VLS have been incorporated into VLC, with the result...
projects. He has made large contributions to almost all software of the VideoLAN project, especially to VLC media player
VLC media player
VLC media player is a free and open source media player and multimedia framework written by the VideoLAN project.VLC is a portable multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It is able to...
and libdvdcss
Libdvdcss
libdvdcss is a free software library for accessing and unscrambling DVDs encrypted with the Content Scramble System...
, since 1998 and he is the author of various software programs, such as zzuf, a data fuzzer, and libcaca, a color ASCII art
ASCII art
ASCII art is a graphic design technique that uses computers for presentation and consists of pictures pieced together from the 95 printable characters defined by the ASCII Standard from 1963 and ASCII compliant character sets with proprietary extended characters...
renderer. He is also the current maintainer of the Extension Language Kit
Extension Language Kit
Extension Language Kit is a free Scheme implementation which is embeddable in C and C++ programs, but can also be used as a stand-alone Scheme interpreter....
Scheme interpreter, which has found use in many multimedia applications including audio processing.
Besides this, he is known for his extensive work in reverse engineering
Reverse engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
and image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...
. He reverse engineered DVD subtitles in 2000 and in 2005 it was found that the DRM software which triggered the Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal had unlawfully pirated open source code from the VideoLAN project which Sam Hocevar was involved in authoring.
Sam Hocevar's experience in image processing includes authoring a Captcha
CAPTCHA
A CAPTCHA is a type of challenge-response test used in computing as an attempt to ensure that the response is generated by a person. The process usually involves one computer asking a user to complete a simple test which the computer is able to generate and grade...
decoding framework called PWNtcha. PWNtcha was the first captcha decoder framework to defeat multiple captchas and was referred to as the "most famous" captcha breaker by a 2009 Stanford University publication.
He authored WTFPL
WTFPL
The WTFPL is an infrequently used, extremely permissive free software license. The original Version 1.0 license, released March 2000, was written by Banlu Kemiyatorn who used it for Window Maker artwork. Samuel “Sam” Hocevar, a French programmer who was the Debian project leader from 17 April...
version 2, an extremely liberal, permissive free software license that is recognized by the Free Software Foundation
Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...
. Hocevar has also been cited for his "whimsical" copyleft
Copyleft
Copyleft is a play on the word copyright to describe the practice of using copyright law to offer the right to distribute copies and modified versions of a work and requiring that the same rights be preserved in modified versions of the work...
activism. Hocevar is also part of Goatse Security
Goatse Security
Goatse Security is a loose-knit, nine-person grey hat hacker group that specializes in uncovering security flaws. It is a division of the anti-blogging Internet trolling organization known as the Gay Nigger Association of America . The group derives its name from the Goatse.cx shock site, and it...
, an information security
Information security
Information security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction....
working group most known for revealing security flaws in the Apple iPad.
See also
- Goatse SecurityGoatse SecurityGoatse Security is a loose-knit, nine-person grey hat hacker group that specializes in uncovering security flaws. It is a division of the anti-blogging Internet trolling organization known as the Gay Nigger Association of America . The group derives its name from the Goatse.cx shock site, and it...
- DebianDebianDebian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
- VideoLANVideoLANVideoLAN is a project that develops software for playing video and other media formats across a local area network . It originally developed two programs for media streaming, VideoLAN Client and VideoLAN Server , but most of the features of VLS have been incorporated into VLC, with the result...
- École Centrale ParisÉcole Centrale ParisÉcole Centrale Paris is a French university-level institution in the field of engineering. It is also known by its original name École centrale des arts et manufactures, or ECP. Founded in 1829, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious engineering schools in France and has the special status...