Theodore Ts'o
Encyclopedia
Theodore Y. "Ted" Ts'o is a software developer
mainly known for his contributions to the Linux kernel
, in particular his contributions to file system
s.
He graduated in 1990 from MIT
with a degree in computer science
. After graduation he worked in the Information Systems (IS) department at MIT until 1999, where among other things he was project leader of the Kerberos V5 team. After MIT IS he went to work for VA Linux Systems
for two years. Starting December 2001, he was employed by IBM
, working to improve the performance and scalability of the Linux kernel. In December 2007, he went to work for the Linux Foundation
.
Ts'o initially served as Chief Platform Strategist at the foundation. In December 2008, he was appointed to Chief Technology Officer of the organization. Ts'o replaced Markus Rex, who has returned to Novell
.
As of January 2010, Ts'o is employed by Google
. He stated "I’m going to be working on kernel, file system, and storage stuff."
He is the primary developer and maintainer of e2fsprogs
, the userspace utilities for the ext2
and ext3
filesystems, and is a maintainer for the ext4
file system.
Ts'o served as Treasurer for USENIX
until June 2008, and has chaired the annual Linux Kernel Developers Summit
.
Ts'o is a Debian
Developer, maintaining several packages, mostly filesystem-related ones, including e2fsprogs since March 2003.
He was a member of the Security Area Directorate for the Internet Engineering Task Force
, and was one of the chairs for the IPsec
working group
. He was one of the founding board members for the Free Standards Group
, and currently serves that organization as its Chairman.
In 1994, he created /dev/random
and the corresponding kernel driver, which was Linux's (and Unix
's) first kernel interface that provided high quality cryptographic random numbers to user programs. /dev/random works without access to a hardware random number generator
, allowing user programs to depend upon its existence. Separate daemon
s such as rngd take random numbers from such hardware and make them accessible via /dev/random. Since its creation, /dev/random and /dev/urandom have become standard interfaces on Unix, Linux, BSD
and Mac OS
systems. Many notable programs and facilities such as Pretty Good Privacy
, GNU Privacy Guard
, Globally unique identifier
s, IPsec
, and Filesystem-level encryption
depend on /dev/random.
Ts'o was awarded the Free Software Foundation
's 2006 Award for the Advancement of Free Software.
He is related to the famous general of the same surname
.
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...
mainly known for his contributions to 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....
, in particular his contributions to file system
File system
A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the...
s.
He graduated in 1990 from MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
with a degree in 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...
. After graduation he worked in the Information Systems (IS) department at MIT until 1999, where among other things he was project leader of the Kerberos V5 team. After MIT IS he went to work for VA Linux Systems
SourceForge, Inc.
Geeknet, Inc. is a Mountain View, California company that owns several computer tech-related websites and the online retailer ThinkGeek. Formerly known as VA Research, VA Linux Systems, VA Software, and SourceForge, Inc., it was founded in 1993.-VA Research:VA Research was founded in November...
for two years. Starting December 2001, he was employed by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, working to improve the performance and scalability of the Linux kernel. In December 2007, he went to work for the Linux Foundation
Linux Foundation
The Linux Foundation is a non-profit technology consortium chartered to foster the growth of Linux.Founded in 2007 by the merger of the Open Source Development Labs and the Free Standards Group , the Linux Foundation sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and is supported by leading...
.
Ts'o initially served as Chief Platform Strategist at the foundation. In December 2008, he was appointed to Chief Technology Officer of the organization. Ts'o replaced Markus Rex, who has returned to Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
.
As of January 2010, Ts'o is 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...
. He stated "I’m going to be working on kernel, file system, and storage stuff."
He is the primary developer and maintainer of e2fsprogs
E2fsprogs
e2fsprogs is a set of utilities for maintaining the ext2, ext3 and ext4 file systems. Since those file systems are often the default for Linux distributions, it is commonly considered to be essential software....
, the userspace utilities for the ext2
Ext2
The ext2 or second extended filesystem is a file system for the Linux kernel. It was initially designed by Rémy Card as a replacement for the extended file system ....
and 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...
filesystems, and is a maintainer for the ext4
Ext4
The ext4 or fourth extended filesystem is a journaling file system for Linux, developed as the successor to ext3.It was born as a series of backward compatible extensions to ext3, many of them originally developed by Cluster File Systems for the Lustre file system between 2003 and 2006, meant to...
file system.
Ts'o served as Treasurer for USENIX
USENIX
-External links:* *...
until June 2008, and has chaired the annual Linux Kernel Developers Summit
Linux Kernel Developers Summit
The Linux Kernel Developers Summit is an annual gathering of the top Linux kernel developers. Attendance at the summit is by invitation only, and the conference was first held in San Jose in March, 2001...
.
Ts'o is a Debian
Debian
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...
Developer, maintaining several packages, mostly filesystem-related ones, including e2fsprogs since March 2003.
He was a member of the Security Area Directorate for the Internet Engineering Task Force
Internet Engineering Task Force
The Internet Engineering Task Force develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite...
, and was one of the chairs for the IPsec
IPsec
Internet Protocol Security is a protocol suite for securing Internet Protocol communications by authenticating and encrypting each IP packet of a communication session...
working group
Working group
A working group is an interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers working on new research activities that would be difficult to develop under traditional funding mechanisms . The lifespan of the WG can last anywhere between a few months and several years...
. He was one of the founding board members for the Free Standards Group
Free Standards Group
The Free Standards Group was an industry non-profit consortium chartered to primarily specify and drive the adoption of open source standards.All standards developed by the Free Standards Group were released under open terms and test suites, sample implementations and other software were released...
, and currently serves that organization as its Chairman.
In 1994, he created /dev/random
/dev/random
In Unix-like operating systems, /dev/random is a special file that serves as a random number generator or as a pseudorandom number generator. It allows access to environmental noise collected from device drivers and other sources. Not all operating systems implement the same semantics for /dev/random...
and the corresponding kernel driver, which was Linux's (and 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...
's) first kernel interface that provided high quality cryptographic random numbers to user programs. /dev/random works without access to a hardware random number generator
Hardware random number generator
In computing, a hardware random number generator is an apparatus that generates random numbers from a physical process. Such devices are often based on microscopic phenomena that generate a low-level, statistically random "noise" signal, such as thermal noise or the photoelectric effect or other...
, allowing user programs to depend upon its existence. Separate daemon
Daemon (computing)
In Unix and other multitasking computer operating systems, a daemon is a computer program that runs as a background process, rather than being under the direct control of an interactive user...
s such as rngd take random numbers from such hardware and make them accessible via /dev/random. Since its creation, /dev/random and /dev/urandom have become standard interfaces on Unix, Linux, BSD
Berkeley Software Distribution
Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995...
and Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
systems. Many notable programs and facilities such as Pretty Good Privacy
Pretty Good Privacy
Pretty Good Privacy is a data encryption and decryption computer program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is often used for signing, encrypting and decrypting texts, E-mails, files, directories and whole disk partitions to increase the security...
, GNU Privacy Guard
GNU Privacy Guard
GNU Privacy Guard is a GPL Licensed alternative to the PGP suite of cryptographic software. GnuPG is compliant with RFC 4880, which is the current IETF standards track specification of OpenPGP...
, Globally unique identifier
Globally Unique Identifier
A globally unique identifier is a unique reference number used as an identifier in computer software. The term GUID also is used for Microsoft's implementation of the Universally unique identifier standard....
s, IPsec
IPsec
Internet Protocol Security is a protocol suite for securing Internet Protocol communications by authenticating and encrypting each IP packet of a communication session...
, and Filesystem-level encryption
Filesystem-level encryption
Filesystem-level encryption, often called file or folder encryption, is a form of disk encryption where individual files or directories are encrypted by the file system itself...
depend on /dev/random.
Ts'o was awarded 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...
's 2006 Award for the Advancement of Free Software.
He is related to the famous general of the same surname
Zuo Zongtang
Zuo Zongtang , spelled Tso Tsung-t'ang in Wade-Giles and known simply as General Tso in the West, was a Chinese statesman and military leader in the late Qing Dynasty....
.
External links
- Homepage
- LiveJournal
- Design and Implementation of the Second Extended Filesystem - written by Rémy CardRémy CardRémy Card is a French software developer who is noted for his contributions to the Linux kernel.He is credited as one of the primary developers of the Extended file system and Second Extended file system for Linux.- Bibliography :...
, Theodore Ts'o and Stephen TweedieStephen TweedieDr. Stephen C. Tweedie is a software developer who is known for his work on the Linux kernel, in particular his work on filesystems.After becoming involved with the development of the ext2 filesystem working on performance issues, he led the development of the ext3 filesystem which involved adding...
, published at the First Dutch International Symposium on Linux (December, 1994) - Planned Extensions to the Linux Ext2/Ext3 Filesystem - written by Theodore Ts'o and Stephen Tweedie, USENIX 2002 Annual Technical Conference (June, 2002)