Chris DiBona is the Open Source Programs Manager for Google.
I've been a programmer since I was 12 years old, so I always knew I would get into computers, computer science, or information technology. I started using Linux when I was in college back in 1995. Then as my professional career developed I realized I really liked Linux and the ideas behind it, and I liked the ideals behind open source and free software. That lead me to where I am today. Right now I'm Google's open source program manager. What that means is that I monitor open source compliance for all the open source software that we use with the company. I also make sure that stuff that we release is under a proper open source license and, in the case of content, is under a proper Creative Commons license.
When you get involved with broad open-source movements-like Linux or Creative Commons-which are about sharing your work and expanding computer science for everybody, you actually get a lot from it individually. It's incredibly fulfilling in ways that just programming for a large company wouldn't be. Having the ability to go out there and be part of that means a lot to me. So at Google I get to help people release code and data using these licenses. I know I can look back on my time at Google (and previously at Linux) and say I didn't just make myself or my employer better; I made computer science better.
When we were working on the Android cell phone operating system, we didn't start from scratch; we started from Linux and open source libraries and then we built a ton of software around that. So now, for instance, if you were to build a new phone you might consider starting with Android rather than starting from Linux like we did, or from the bare metal skeleton the way that some manufactures will. So, when I look at computer science going forward I think to myself, Well wait a second, there's three and a half billion lines of open source software out there on the internet; think of how much functionality that is; think of how foolish you would have to be to rewrite things that you don't have to rewrite. I think that people want to concentrate on creating the new thing. But if you can start with this enormous base of functionality, why wouldn't you?
I wish I could tell you that I had some great understanding of why regular people out there are so eager to share the things that they do with the rest of the world. I think I do understand it from a code perspective, but when it comes to sharing music and the rest, I think people get out of it what you get out of sharing anything: You get to find other people who are interested in those same kinds of things. You can share a piece of music and then, through either the criticisms or the adulation you receive, you might become a better musician. You get to make that which you share better, and I think that's the coolest thing of all.
Interview as told to Eric Steuer. Click the play button below to listen to a full version of the interview.
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