Brian Fox (programmer)
{{short description|American computer programmer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Brian Jhan Fox
| image = BrianJFox.png
| caption = Fox in 2008
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|12|11}}
| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
| occupation = {{hlist|Computer programmer|technologist|author}}
| employer = Opus Logica, Inc.
| known_for = GNU Bash
| relatives = Donal Fox (brother)
}}
Brian Jhan Fox (born 1959) is an American computer programmer and free software advocate. He is the original author of the GNU Bash shell, which he announced as a beta in June 1989.
{{Cite newsgroup
| title = Bash is in beta release!
| author = Brian Fox (forwarded by Leonard H. Tower Jr.)
| date = June 7, 1989
| newsgroup = gnu.announce
|message-id= 8906080235.AA01983@wheat-chex.ai.mit.edu
| url = https://groups.google.com/group/gnu.announce/msg/a509f48ffb298c35?hl=en
| accessdate = October 28, 2010
}}
He continued as the primary maintainer of Bash until at least early 1993.
{{Cite newsgroup
| title = January 1993 GNU's Bulletin
| author =
| date = April 20, 1993
| newsgroup = gnu.announce
|message-id= gnusenet930421bulletin@prep.ai.mit.edu
| url = https://groups.google.com/group/gnu.misc.discuss/msg/4f42c739cd7e8bd8
| accessdate = October 28, 2010
}}
{{Citation
| title = Dates in your Computerworld interview
| author = Chet Ramey
| date = October 31, 2010
| url = https://www.scribd.com/doc/40556434/2010-10-31-Chet-Ramey-Early-Bash-Dates
| accessdate = October 31, 2010
}}
Fox also built the first interactive online banking software in the U.S. for Wells Fargo in 1995,{{Cite web |url=https://engineering.ucsb.edu/events/681 |title=A Bash with Brian Fox: GNU Software and Entrepreneurship |website=engineering.UCSB.edu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119010346/https://engineering.ucsb.edu/events/681 |archive-date=2011-11-19}} and he created an open source election system in 2008.
Free Software Foundation
In 1985, Fox worked with Richard Stallman at Stallman's newly created Free Software Foundation (FSF).{{cite web |url=http://www.plaxo.com/directory/profile/64426373020/9da0f414/Brian/Fox |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724141318/http://www.plaxo.com/directory/profile/64426373020/9da0f414/Brian/Fox |archivedate=2011-07-24 |title=Brian Fox }} At the FSF, Fox authored GNU Bash,[http://www.network-theory.co.uk/bash/manual/ The GNU Bash Reference Manual] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716233833/http://www.network-theory.co.uk/bash/manual/ |date=July 16, 2006 }}, ([http://www.network-theory.co.uk/docs/bashref/ HTML version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060202192358/http://www.network-theory.co.uk/docs/bashref/ |date=February 2, 2006 }}) by Chet Ramey and Brian Fox, {{ISBN|0-9541617-7-7}} GNU Makeinfo, GNU Info, GNU Finger, GNU Echo{{cite web|title= echo.c |url=http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/tree/src/echo.c}} and the readline{{cite web|url=http://docs.freebsd.org/info/readline/readline.pdf|format=PDF|title=The GNU Readline Page|author=Chet Ramey and Brian Fox|publisher=Docs.freebsd.org|accessdate=2015-05-04|archive-date=July 31, 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030731200027/http://docs.freebsd.org/info/readline/readline.pdf|url-status=dead}} and history libraries.
He was also the maintainer of GNU Emacs for a time, making many contributions to the software which was created and maintained for the GNU Project between 1986 and 1994.
Open source election systems
In 2008, Fox collaborated with Alan Dechert and Brent Turner to create a completely open source election system. The system was coded together with Parker Abercrombie, and demonstrated at the LinuxWorld conference in Moscone Center in San Francisco, August 5–7, 2008.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8CSKdMTARY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/q8CSKdMTARY |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|title=OVC at LinuxWorld 2008|last=|first=|date=August 23, 2008|website=YouTube|publisher=Alan Dechert|access-date=November 27, 2016}}{{cbignore}}
Fox also is a founding member of both the California Association of Voting Officials (CAVO){{cite web|url=http://cavo-us.org/staff.html|title=Board Members|last=|first=|date=|website=California Association of Voting Officials|publisher=|access-date=November 27, 2016}} and the National Association of Voting Officials (NAVO).{{cite web|url=http://navo-us.org/board|title=Board Members|last=|first=|date=|website=National Association of Voting Officials|publisher=|access-date=November 27, 2016}} These not-for-profit organizations promote open source voting systems for use in public elections. Fox co-wrote a New York Times piece in 2015 with former CIA head R. James Woolsey advocating open source election systems as a means of securing US elections against interference from foreign actors.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/opinion/open-source-software-hacker-voting.html|title=To Protect Voting, Use Open-Source Software|last=Woolsey|first=R. James|date=2017-08-03|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-08-03|last2=Fox|first2=Brian J.|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
Other software
Fox also wrote AMACS, a cut-down implementation of Emacs for the Apple II.{{cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.sys.apple2/EoBBIJ7NjLc|title=AppleIIc emacs}}
Relatives
He is the fourth born in a family of six siblings: composer and musician Donal Fox, Thaddeus Fox, sister Ena Fox, Daniel Fox and sister Sara Fox-Ray.
He is the son of physicist and educator Herbert Fox{{cite web |url=http://www.uml.edu/Sciences/physics/Adjunct/Fox-Herbert.aspx |title=Herbert Fox |publisher=Uml.edu |date=2013-11-25 |accessdate=2015-05-04 |archive-date=February 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223025435/http://www.uml.edu/Sciences/physics/Adjunct/Fox-Herbert.aspx |url-status=dead }} and grandson of artist Daniel Fox, creator of the Monopoly Man.Assoc. of Game and Puzzle Collectors Quarterly www.AGPC.ORG summer 2013 Vol.15 No. 2. Page 18. Meet Dan Fox-- The Artist Who Created "Mr. Monopoly" by Philip E.Orbanes
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://opuslogica.com/ Opus Logica, Inc.]
- {{Wikibooks-inline|Bourne Shell Scripting}}
- [http://www.jet.net/buddycast/ The BuddyCast Protocol], by Mel Beckman, Denison Bollay, and Brian Fox
- [https://twitter.com/brianjfox @BrianJFox] on Twitter
- {{cite video|title=Brian Fox — GNU Software & Entrepreneurship|url=https://vimeo.com/38660245|via=Vimeo}}
{{GNU}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Brian}}
Category:Free software programmers
Category:20th-century African-American writers