Randal L. Schwartz#Intel case
{{short description|American programmer and technology writer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2012}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Randal_Schwartz_headshot_by_Chris_Marquardt.png
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|11|22}}
| website = [http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/ www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/]
| occupation = Programmer, Author, Instructor
| name = Randal L. Schwartz
| nationality = American
| employer = Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc.
| known_for = Schwartzian transform
| other_names = merlyn (internet handle)
}}
Randal L. Schwartz (born November 22, 1961), also known as merlyn, is an American author, system administrator and programming consultant. He has written several books on the Perl programming language, and plays a promotional role within the Perl community. He was a co-host of FLOSS Weekly.
In 1995, while working as a consultant for Intel, he cracked a number of passwords on the company's systems. He was convicted of hacking, sentenced to five years probation, and fined. The conviction was expunged in 2007.
Career
Schwartz is the co-author of several widely used books about Perl, a programming language, and has written regular columns about Perl for several computer magazines, including UNIX Review, Web Techniques, and the Perl Journal. He popularized the Just another Perl hacker signature programs. He is a founding board member of the Perl Mongers, the worldwide Perl grassroots advocacy organization. He was a member of the Squeak Oversight Board,{{cite web|url=http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/6162 |title=Squeak Oversight Board Election 2011 |publisher=Wiki.squeak.org |date=April 10, 2011 |access-date=August 22, 2011}} which oversees the Squeak programming language.
He has owned and operated Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. since 1985. After joining as co-host of FLOSS Weekly, a free software/open source (FLOSS) themed podcast in 2007, he assumed the role of host in 2010 until May 2020. He has done voice work for StarShipSofa, a science-fiction podcast.
Schwartz's name is also associated with the Schwartzian transform, an algorithm to efficiently sort a list according to a computation, without repeating the computation many times for each element of the list. He also coined the name spaceship operator for use in his teaching, because it reminded him of the spaceship in an HP BASIC Star Trek game.{{cite web |url=https://groups.google.com/a/dartlang.org/d/msg/misc/WS5xftItpl4/jcIttrMq8agJ |title=Spaceship history (was Re: [dart-misc] DEP meeting notes)}}
Schwartz is a member of the F/OSS community, and has been named a "Perl Expert" and interviewed by numerous outlets{{Mdash}}to discuss his views on Perl, Ruby, Smalltalk and other topics{{Mdash}}including Dr. Dobb's,{{cite web|last=Riley |first=Mike |url=http://drdobbs.com/web-development/199902245 |title=Randal Schwartz on Perl 6 and Ruby | Dr Dobb's Journal |publisher=Drdobbs.com |date=June 7, 2007 |access-date=August 22, 2011}} Paul dot Com Security TV,{{cite web |url=http://blip.tv/pauldotcom/randal-schwartz-interview-5370623 |title=Randal Schwartz Interview | PaulDotCom Security Weekly TV on |publisher=Blip.tv |access-date=August 22, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107122956/http://blip.tv/pauldotcom/randal-schwartz-interview-5370623 |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |df=mdy-all }} The Command Line,{{cite web|url=http://thecommandline.net/2009/10/21/randal_schwartz/ |title=TCLP 2009-10-21 Interview: Randal Schwartz – The Command Line |publisher=Thecommandline.net |date=October 21, 2009 |access-date=August 22, 2011}} PerlCast,{{cite web|url=http://www.rblasch.org/perlcast/Perlcast_Interview_013_Schwartz.html |title=Perlcast Interview 13 – Interview with Randal Schwartz |publisher=Rblasch.org |access-date=August 22, 2011}} FLOSS Weekly,{{cite web |url=http://www.twit.tv/floss/randall_schwartz |title=The TWiT Netcast Network with Leo Laporte |publisher=Twit.tv |access-date=August 22, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20060718132722/http://www.twit.tv/floss/randall_schwartz |archive-date=July 18, 2006 |df=mdy-all }} ONLamp.com,{{cite web|url=http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/perl/news/perlint_0801.html |title=An Interview with Randal Schwartz and Tom Phoenix: Authors of "Learning Perl, 3rd Edition" – O'Reilly Media |publisher=Oreillynet.com |access-date=August 22, 2011}} and InfoQ.{{cite web|url=http://www.infoq.com/articles/smalltalk-comeback-schwartz |title=Ruby's Roots: Smalltalk Comeback and Randal Schwartz on Smalltalk |publisher=InfoQ |access-date=August 22, 2011}} Schwartz was also a speaker at the 2011 OSCON conference{{cite web |url=http://www.oscon.com/oscon2011/profile/4443 |title=Randal L. Schwartz: OSCON 2011 – O'Reilly Conferences, July 25 – 29, 2011, Portland, OR |publisher=Oscon.com |date=July 25, 2011 |access-date=August 22, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905152736/http://www.oscon.com/oscon2011/profile/4443 |archive-date=September 5, 2012 |df=mdy-all }} and a keynote speaker at the 2010 Texas LinuxFest conference.{{cite web|url=http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2010/04/texas-linux-fest-2010.html | title=Texas Linuxfest 2010 |date=April 12, 2010 |access-date=August 22, 2011}}
His various books have been met with positive reviews.{{cite journal
|issue= 8
|title=Book review: Randal Schwartz's Perls of Wisdom by Randal L Schwartz
|first=Martin |last=Brown
|date=November 3, 2005
|journal=Free Software Magazine
|url=http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/book_review_perls_of_wisdom
|title=Book review: Learning Perl by Randal L Schwartz, Tom Phoenix, and brian d foy
|url=http://fsmsh.com/1552
|first=Brian |last=Turner
|date=June 22, 2006
|publisher=Free Software Magazine
}}
= Intel case =
In July 1995, Schwartz was prosecuted in the case of State of Oregon vs. Randal Schwartz, which dealt with compromised computer security during his time as a system administrator for Intel. In the process of performing penetration testing, he cracked a number of passwords on Intel's systems.{{cite news
|title=Technology: On the net; An Intel computer security expert runs afoul of the law. So much for the 'hacker ethic'?
|last=Lewis |first=Peter H.
|date=November 27, 1995
|newspaper=New York Times
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/27/business/technology-net-intel-computer-security-expert-runs-afoul-law-so-much-for-hacker.html
}}Pacenka, Steve (April 15, 1996).[http://www.lightlink.com/spacenka/fors/police/report-lazenby.html "Report of Detective P. Lazenby"] (archive) {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817222612/http://www.lightlink.com/spacenka/fors/police/report-lazenby.html|date=17 August 2017}} ([http://www.lightlink.com/spacenka/fors/ Case main] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831123648/http://www.lightlink.com/spacenka/fors/|date=31 August 2018}}). Schwartz was originally convicted on three felony counts, with one reduced to a misdemeanor, but on February 1, 2007, his arrest and conviction records were sealed through an official expungement, and he is legally no longer a felon.{{cite news
|title=Intel 'hacker' clears his name: 12-year fight ends in victory for 'white hat' password cracker
|first=John |last=Leyden
|date=March 5, 2007
|newspaper=The Register
|location=UK
|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/05/intel_hacker_charges_quashed/
Bibliography
- Programming Perl, {{ISBN|0-937175-64-1}}; {{ISBN|1-56592-149-6}} (2ed)
- Learning Perl, {{ISBN|1-56592-042-2}}; {{ISBN|1-56592-284-0}} (2ed); {{ISBN|0-596-00132-0}} (3ed); {{ISBN|0-596-10105-8}} (4ed); {{ISBN|0-596-52010-7}} (5ed); {{ISBN|1-4493-0358-7}} (6ed){{cite book|url=http://oreilly.com/catalog/0636920018452 |title=Learning Perl, Sixth Edition – O'Reilly Media |publisher=Oreilly.com |date= June 23, 2011|access-date=August 22, 2011|isbn=9781449303587 }} (2011); {{ISBN|1-4919-5432-9}} (7ed){{cite web|url=http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920049517.do |title=Learning Perl, Seventh Edition - O'Reilly Media |publisher=Oreilly.com |access-date=October 27, 2016}} (2016)
- Intermediate Perl, {{ISBN|0-596-10206-2}} (2006); {{ISBN|1-4493-9309-8}} (2ed, 2012)
- Learning Perl on Win32 Systems, {{ISBN|1-56592-324-3}}
- Learning Perl Objects, References & Modules{{cite book|url=http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lrnperlorm/ |title=Learning Perl Objects, References, and Modules – O'Reilly Media |publisher=Oreilly.com |date=June 9, 2003 |access-date=August 22, 2011|isbn=9780596004781 }} (2003), {{ISBN|0-596-00478-8}}
- Effective Perl Programming, {{ISBN|0-201-41975-0}}
- Preface for Object Oriented Perl, {{ISBN|1-884777-79-1}}
- Collected columns in Randal Schwartz's Perls of Wisdom, {{ISBN|1-59059-323-5}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/}}
- [http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/catalog/view/au/335 Author] at O'Reilly Media
- [https://www.flickr.com/photos/randal-schwartz Randal Schwartz photographs] at Flickr
{{Perl}}
{{TWiT podcasts}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Randal L.}}
Category:American computer programmers
Category:American technology writers