thoughts/src/about.htm

99 lines
4.1 KiB
HTML

<h1 id="about">About</h1>
<aside class="sm">
<img src="/images/me-libreplanet-2016.png"
alt="Photo of Mike Gerwitz holding a microphone in front of a blackboard"
title="Mike Gerwitz giving LibrePlanet 2016 Talk 'Restore Online Freedom!'"
class="inline-img avatar" />
<p>
GPG Fingerprint:
<tt>D6E9 B930 028A 6C38 F43B 2388 FEF6 3574 5E6F 6D05</tt>&nbsp;<!--
--><a href="https://emailselfdefense.fsf.org/">[?]</a>
</p>
</aside>
<article class="abstract" aria-labelledby="about">
<p>
I am a <a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/">free (as in
freedom) software</a> <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/on-hacking.html">hacker</a>
and user freedom activist with a focus on user privacy and security;
a professional software engineer;
and an <a href="https://www.gnu.org/contact/gnu-advisory">advisor to the GNU Project</a>.
</p>
<p>
I deal primarily with compiler construction and the creation of
domain-specific languages and abstractions to simplify the development
and improve the robustness of otherwise-complex systems.
I historically did a lot of web development,
and have been programming for over twenty
years.
Some of my personal interests include programming language
history and theory,
formal methods and proofs,
logic and type theory,
cryptography,
philosophy and ethics,
and writing.
I don't claim to be good at any of those things.
</p>
<p>
The focus of my research in recent years has been pursuant to addressing
problems of practical user freedom&mdash;to
make various aspects of freedom in computing accessible to more users
in concrete and tangible ways that are meaningful to them beyond
abstract principle and philosophy.
</p>
<p>
I am a <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/on-hacking.html">hacker</a>,
not a <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/on-hacking.html">cracker</a>&mdash;the
latter breaks the security of systems, while the former expresses playful
creativity in their work.
</p>
<p>
Outside of my field,
I enjoy time with my family&mdash;including my wife and three
sons&mdash;who
keep me very busy and help to keep me sane.
I also have a fascination with a wide range of sciences that I wish I had
the time to devote to researching.
</p>
<p>
Much of this site is devoted to my thoughts and ramblings on various
matters and so will contain material that is subject to strong bias;
you are encouraged to construct your own opinions.
Formal papers contain no such influence without rationale and references.
</p>
<p>
I may be contacted at mtg at gnu dot org.
I do not make use of &ldquo;social media&rdquo; websites,
though I may (or may not) respond to queries on websites that I am a
member of,
and I do host my <a href="https://pleroma.mikegerwitz.com/users/mikegerwitz">own Pleroma instance</a>,
which is compatible with Mastodon;
you can follow me on the fediverse via
<tt>mikegerwitz@pleroma.mikegerwitz.com</tt>.
</p>
<p>
(Note: This website itself is free/libre&mdash;the source code is
available via the commit hash links in the footer of various pages and
the content is licensed for free distribution and, in most cases,
modification.)
</p>
<p>
I changed GPG keys in October&nbsp;2016;
see my <a href="/about/key-transition.txt">key transition statement</a>,
signed with both my <a href="/about/key-transition.txt.new.asc">new</a>
and <a href="/about/key-transition.txt.old.asc">old</a> keys.
</p>
<p>
<a href="about/resume">View my résumé/CV.</a>
</p>
<p>
<span class="attribution"><a href="https://media.libreplanet.org/u/libreplanet/m/session-03-c-ms-png-libreplanet-2016-sessions-ec00/">LibrePlanet
2016 Photo</a> Copyright&nbsp;©&nbsp;2016 Kori&nbsp;Feener,
<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC&nbsp;BY&nbsp;4.0</a>;
used with permission.</span>
</p>
</article>