Brian Behlendorf Quotes

Powerful Brian Behlendorf for Daily Growth

About Brian Behlendorf

Brian Behlendorf, a prominent figure in the field of technology and the digital world, was born on September 19, 1970, in Massachusetts, United States. He is best known for being one of the original developers of the Apache HTTP Server software, playing a significant role in the development of the World Wide Web as we know it today. Behlendorf's interest in technology was sparked during his time at Swarthmore College, where he studied computer science and philosophy. After college, he worked on the nascent web at CERN before joining the fledgling online community, "HotWired" (later Wired Digital), as a webmaster. In 1994, Behlendorf co-founded the CollabNet collaborative software development platform and later, in 1998, he established the nonprofit organization, the Internet Archive. The organization's mission is to provide universal access to all knowledge, offering a digital library of millions of free books, movies, music, websites, and more. Behlendorf's book, "Building Internet Businesses," published in 1999, served as a guide for entrepreneurs and businesses navigating the early days of the internet. His most recent work, "Trust: Privacy, Security, and Infrastructure in a Connected World" (2017), explores the importance of trust in our digital age and offers insights into how we can build a more secure and private online world. Throughout his career, Behlendorf has been a strong advocate for open-source software and the principles of transparency, collaboration, and community that underpin it. His work continues to influence the technological landscape, particularly in areas related to privacy, security, and the digital preservation of knowledge.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."

This quote emphasizes personal agency, implying that individuals have the power to shape their own futures by taking proactive actions and making deliberate choices. Instead of passively waiting for the future to unfold, we should actively participate in creating the circumstances and opportunities that will lead us to our desired outcomes. In essence, the quote encourages self-empowerment and proactivity as key strategies for shaping a fulfilling and successful future.

"Open source isn't a business model; it's a development model."

This quote by Brian Behlendorf emphasizes that open-source software is not solely about generating profits, but rather it's a methodology for collaborative software development. In an open-source environment, developers from around the world contribute code to a shared project, fostering collaboration and rapid innovation. The business models surrounding open source can vary - from freemium models where users pay for additional features or services, to consulting services that help businesses implement and customize open-source solutions. Ultimately, open source is about the process of collaborative development rather than a specific means of generating revenue.

"Collaboration is key to the open source ecosystem."

The quote emphasizes the significance of collaboration within the open-source ecosystem. Collaboration refers to the act of working jointly towards a common goal, sharing ideas, resources, and knowledge. In the context of open-source projects, collaboration is crucial as it encourages collective problem-solving, fosters innovation, and ensures the sustainability and continuous development of the software. This cooperative approach facilitates the creation of high-quality, community-driven solutions that can benefit a vast number of users worldwide.

"The internet we know today would not have been possible without open source software."

This quote underscores the critical role open-source software plays in the development and function of the modern internet. The internet, as we understand it today, is a vast network of interconnected websites, applications, and services that are largely built using software that's openly available for anyone to access, modify, and distribute. Open source software allows for collaboration, innovation, and rapid prototyping, empowering developers worldwide to contribute to the internet's growth and evolution. Without open-source software, the decentralized, dynamic nature of the internet might not have been achievable or would have taken much longer to materialize.

"Innovation doesn't just happen in a lab or a boardroom, it happens when people collaborate and share ideas freely."

The quote emphasizes that innovation is not confined to controlled environments like labs or boardrooms; rather, it thrives through collaboration and the open exchange of ideas among people. It suggests that fostering an atmosphere where individuals can cooperate and share their thoughts freely encourages creativity and progress. This perspective underscores the importance of diversity, inclusivity, and collaboration in driving innovation and solving complex problems.

I'm not of the opinion that all software will be open source software. There is certain software that fits a niche that is only useful to a particular company or person: for example, the software immediately behind a web site's user interface. But the vast majority of software is actually pretty generic.

- Brian Behlendorf

Software, Behind, Source, Interface

Engineers in the developed world should be arguing not for protectionism but for trade agreements that seek to establish rules that result in a real rise in living standards. This will ensure that outsourcing is a positive force in the developing nation's economy and not an exploitative one.

- Brian Behlendorf

Arguing, Exploitative, Establish

Software as an asset isn't stable over time; it needs to be maintained.

- Brian Behlendorf

Software, Over, Needs, Maintained

What's kept Java from being used as widely as possible is there hasn't been an Open Source implementation of it that's gotten really widespread use.

- Brian Behlendorf

Been, Use, Gotten, Widespread

Corporations have been killing the risk-taking and exploration that makes software great. They have tried to rip the soul out of development.

- Brian Behlendorf

Development, Been, Rip

Companies have been trying to figure out what it is that makes open source work.

- Brian Behlendorf

Been, Companies, Figure, Open Source

I won't sit here and say an Open Source project will do things faster than a closed source, but one of the reasons why is that it sits on a whole lot of things that came before it.

- Brian Behlendorf

Will, Here, Reasons, Open Source

In true open source development, there's lots of visibility all the way through the development process.

- Brian Behlendorf

Development, Through, Lots, Open Source

Success for open source is when the term 'open source' becomes a non-factor in the decision making process, when people hear about Linux and compare it to Windows NT, and they compare it on the feature set and don't have much of an excuse not to use it.

- Brian Behlendorf

Compare, Use, About, Open Source

So that's my main role right now and really the politics also includes going out and communicating to the world why Apache is a good thing, why companies should be involved in it, and why individuals should be involved in it too.

- Brian Behlendorf

Politics, Why, Role, Communicating

There is no better form of trade a developing nation can engage in than to sell services provided by an educated population.

- Brian Behlendorf

Educated, Trade, Better, Engage

Foreign trade is not a replacement for foreign aid, of course, but foreign aid to a country that doesn't also engage in significant amounts of foreign trade is more likely to end up in the pockets of dictators and cronies.

- Brian Behlendorf

Country, Foreign Aid, Likely, Engage

No one wants one language. There are applications when it's appropriate to write something in C rather than in Java. If you want to write something where performance is much more important than extensibility, then you might want to choose C rather than Java.

- Brian Behlendorf

Choose, Rather, Appropriate, Java

One of the biggest challenges facing the globe is the gap that exists in the wealth and standards of living enjoyed by the world's nations.

- Brian Behlendorf

Wealth, Challenges, Living, Exists

Certainly I get a lot personally out of it as well, there's the recognition and things like that but mostly I try to take that as an opportunity to explain why I hope we could see more projects like Apache out there and why it's a good thing for society.

- Brian Behlendorf

Explain, Projects, Mostly, Good Thing

And, I think that is actually appropriate because I'm really not the world's best programmer, I think it's a good thing that I'm not touching the code.

- Brian Behlendorf

Think, I Think, Appropriate, Good Thing

I think the most that I've learned has been, how do I put this? The innate goodness inside of all of us.

- Brian Behlendorf

Think, Been, I Think, Goodness

I knew nothing about sales, marketing or how to run a company. Nor did I have a desire to do any of those things.

- Brian Behlendorf

Desire, Nothing, Knew, Sales

If you're searching for quotes on a different topic, feel free to browse our Topics page or explore a diverse collection of quotes from various Authors to find inspiration.