• Open SourceSoftware: Code that grows on itself
• Writings: Feast for thought

Open Source Software

• Linux®, the kernel of the operating system that founded my interest in open source software. People perpetually ask me why I like Linux, and I used to fumble for a reply, usually looking for a reason that people would find universally attractive. Finally I boiled my Linux attraction down to one reason that people may or may not like, but that I certainly value: customizability. With Linux, it's easy for you or your neighborhood friend to peak and tweak at the core of the system. And the same goes for graphical tweaks as well as the low-level stuff, simply because of the philosophy of openness behind the entire movement. I particularly appreciate the GNU ("GNU's Not Unix," a recursive acronym) system, which has contributed countless free software and sensible standards to open source software.

  Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.

• Text Flex, the text-focused software firm with a particular aim to produce software accessible to all. By designing software that can rely on nothing more than text, we hope to open our open source software to those with physical disabilities, such as blindness. One central design goal is to keep graphics nonessential to our programs, but an added convenience to those who would like to utilize them. Text Flex software consists of:

  • Text Trix, a text tool chest
  • tXtFL, a text-based football simulator
  • Jar Ajar, a self-introducer and extractor of zip files, especially those of Java programs such as Text Trix

  Text Flex, Text Trix, tXtFL, and Jar Ajar are trademarks of Text Flex.

• Inkscape, and its parent project, Sodipodi, the SVG (Simple Vector Graphics) editors that have made my image editing so much less frustrating. Now increasing the curvature on a picture of a jar, for example, means just dragging one part of it instead of redrawing the whole thing.

• The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), a program that showing raster graphics are still more than useful. Started at UC Berkeley!

Writings

• Still under construction: A Diary of a Young Man, Christian writings by Arthur Young, my oldest brother. Coming soon!