Peter Mattis
{{short description|American computer programmer, entrepreneur}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}}
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| name = Peter Mattis
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| image = File:Peter Mattis.png
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| caption = Mattis in 2015
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| education = BS, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}
| alma_mater = University of California, Berkeley
| occupation = Chief Technical Officer
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| employer = Cockroach Labs
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| known_for = Computer Programming
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| website = [https://www.linkedin.com/pub/peter-mattis/44/491/465 Peter Mattis on LinkedIn]
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Peter Mattis is an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, and business executive. He is the CTO and co-founder for Cockroach Labs, a company he co-founded in 2014.{{cite news|last1=Finley|first1=Klint|title=Ex-Googlers Get Millions To Help You Build The Next Google|url=https://www.wired.com/2015/06/cockroach-labs/|accessdate=July 25, 2015|publisher=Wired|date=June 4, 2015}} His work as a programmer includes launching GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) while still in college,{{cite book|last1=Deek|first1=Fadi P.|last2=McHugh|first2=James A. M.|title=Open Source: Technology and Policy|date=2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139468732|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PA-Rhb_QSAwC&q=%22Spencer+Kimball%22+%2B+%22Berkeley%22&pg=PA114|accessdate=July 25, 2015}} and assisting the source code development of CockroachDB, the namesake software of Cockroach Labs.
Early life and education
Mattis attended the University of California at Berkeley. While still a student in 1995, he developed the first version of GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), along with his roommate Spencer Kimball.{{cite book|last1=Wallace|first1=Shawn|title=Perl Graphics Programming: Creating SVG, SWF (flash), JPEG and PNG files with Perl|date=2002|publisher=O'Reily Media Inc.|isbn=9781449358310|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NV_4AAAAQBAJ&q=%22Spencer+Kimball%22+%2B+%22Berkeley%22&pg=PA145|accessdate=July 25, 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Beane|first1=Zachary|title=Spencer Kimball & Peter Mattis|url=http://www.xach.com/gg/1997/1/profile/1/|website=GIMP Gazette|accessdate=July 25, 2015}} Mattis was also a member of a student club at Berkeley called the eXperimental Computing Facility (XCF).{{cite web|url=http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2000/12/04/xcf/index.html |title=Free Photoshop for the people |accessdate=August 28, 2006 |last=Frauenheim |first=Ed |date=December 4, 2000 |work=Salon.com}} Mattis graduated from Berkeley in 1997 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.{{cite web|title=U.C. Berkeley Alumni Spain|url=https://berkeleyalumnimadrid.wordpress.com/notable-alumni/|website=Berkeley Alumni Madrid|date=January 30, 2009 |accessdate=July 28, 2015}}
According to Mattis in 1999: {{cquote|Spencer did much more work on the GIMP proper while I did much more on GTK. This provided a fairly clean break that allowed us to work in parallel fairly easily. I probably wrote 95 percent of the original GTK code. The only widgets I didn't write were the file-selection widget, the text widget, and the rulers.}}
On free software and the motivations to write it and what makes good and enduring free software:{{cite web|url=http://www.linuxworld.com/linuxworld/lw-1999-01/lw-01-gimp.html |title=Where did Spencer Kimball and Peter Mattis go?|accessdate=November 17, 2007|publisher=LinuxWorld |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/19990417052141/http://www.linuxworld.com/linuxworld/lw-1999-01/lw-01-gimp.html |archivedate = April 17, 1999}} {{cquote|You should understand that the GIMP and GTK weren't written to fill holes in the software available under the GPL (GNU General Public License) and LGPL (GNU Lesser General Public License). The GIMP was started because I wanted to make a Web page. GTK was started because I was dissatisfied with Motif and wanted to see what it took to write a UI toolkit. These are purely selfish reasons. That is probably why the projects progressed so far and eventually succeeded. I find it much more difficult to work on something for extended periods of time for selfless reasons. }}
Career
Mattis was previously employed as an engineer for Google, and is credited for his work Google Servlet Engine{{cite web|url=http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2009/01/opengse-released.html|title=OpenGSE Released|accessdate=January 27, 2009}} as well as helping spearhead Colossus, a new version of the Google File System.{{cite news|last1=Babcock|first1=Charles|title=CockroachDB: Ultimate In Database Survival|url=http://www.informationweek.com/big-data/software-platforms/cockroachdb-ultimate-in-database-survival/d/d-id/1320700|accessdate=July 25, 2015|publisher=Information Week|date=June 4, 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Perez|first1=Sarah|title=Square Acquires Ex-Googler Team Behind Viewfinder to Help Grow Its NYC Presence|url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/12/03/square-acquires-ex-googler-team-behind-viewfinder-to-help-grow-its-nyc-presence/|accessdate=July 25, 2015|publisher=TechCrunch|date=December 3, 2013}}
In 2013, Mattis launched the company Viewfinder along with Kimball and Brian McGinnis, formerly of Lehman Brothers.{{cite news|last1=Mlot|first1=Stephanie|title=Square Buys Photo-Sharing App Viewfinder|url=https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2427911,00.asp|accessdate=July 25, 2015|publisher=PC Mag|date=December 3, 2013}} The company developed an app that allowed social media users to share photos, chat privately, and search photo history without leaving the app.{{cite news|last1=Schmidt|first1=Will|title=Viewfinder Launches Today, Boasts Strong Communications, Privacy, and Personality|url=http://tech.co/viewfinder-launches-today-boasts-strong-communications-privacy-and-personality-2013-07|accessdate=July 25, 2015|publisher=Tech Cocktail|date=July 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509132630/http://tech.co/viewfinder-launches-today-boasts-strong-communications-privacy-and-personality-2013-07|archive-date=May 9, 2016|url-status=dead}} The company was acquired by Square, Inc. in December 2013.{{cite news|last1=Novellino|first1=Teresa|title=Square doubles down on engineers with Viewfinder|url=http://upstart.bizjournals.com/money/loot/2013/12/04/square-acquires-viewfinder-and-tech-duo.html?page=all|accessdate=July 25, 2015|publisher=Upstart Business Journals|date=December 4, 2013}} Mattis moved to Square's New York City office where he became a senior member of the company's East Coast team.
While at Google, Mattis used a database known as Bigtable, and followed the development of its next generation, known as Spanner. The database organizes data between thousands of servers to allow Google applications to stay online, even if an entire data center were to go offline. Mattis wanted to use this software but found there was nothing available outside of Google as either closed or open source that was similar.
He launched CockroachDB as an open source project on GitHub with Kimball, along with ex-Google Reader team member Ben Darnell.{{cite news|last1=Ewbank|first1=Kay|title=CockroachDB Released|url=http://www.i-programmer.info/news/84-database/8672-cockroachdb-released.html|accessdate=July 25, 2015|publisher=I Programmer|date=June 9, 2015}} They later formed the company Cockroach Labs in order to accelerate development of the CockroachDB software. Mattis serves as the company's chief technical officer and also contributes to the source code development of CockroachDB.{{cite web|title=Tech Executive Spencer Kimball|url=http://www.venturedeal.com/Executives/Spencer-Kimball-CockroachDB-Chief%20Executive%20Officer-Profile|website=Venture Deal|accessdate=July 25, 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Ovide|first1=Shira|title=CockroachDB Scampers Off with $6.3 Million to Tackle Database Shortcomings|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/06/04/cockroachdb-scampers-off-with-6-3-million-to-tackle-database-shortcomings/|accessdate=July 25, 2015|publisher=The Wall Street Journal|date=June 4, 2015}}
Personal life
Mattis is active in CrossFit and was named CrossFit South Brooklyn's athlete of the month in January 2014.{{cite web|title=January Athlete of the Month: Peter Mattis|url=http://www.crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com/workout-of-the-day/2014/1/7/rest-day.html|website=CrossFit South Brooklyn|accessdate=July 28, 2015}}
References
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External links
- [http://www.cockroachlabs.com/ Cockroach Labs official website]
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Category:American computer programmers