Harald Welte
Encyclopedia
Harald Welte is a programmer
resident in Berlin, Germany. Within the free software community
, Welte is well known as a hacker of the Linux kernel
and for his activities in enforcing the GNU General Public License
(GPL), the license that governs the use of much of free software
.
Welte is also involved in a number of free software
projects, such as Openmoko
, (a version of Linux
for completely open, low-cost, high-volume phones) and the netfilter/iptables
project (the core firewall mechanism in Linux-based firewall computers and routing devices). He is an active member of the Chaos Computer Club
.
project. He is also credited with writing the UUCP
over SSL how-to, and contributions to User-mode Linux
and international encryption kernel projects, among others.
- an organisation he set up in 2004 to track down and prosecute violators of the GPL, which had been untested in court until then.
, a project to create a smartphone
platform using free software. It uses the Linux kernel
, together with a graphical user environment built using X.Org Server
, and the Matchbox
window manager. The OpenEmbedded
build framework and ipkg
package management system are used to create and maintain software packages.
However in 2007, Welte announced his withdrawal from Openmoko, citing internal friction and demotivation. He continues to contribute as a volunteer to the project.
(FSF) announced that it had awarded the Award for the Advancement of Free Software for 2007 to Welte, stating that
"The awards committee honored both Welte's technical contributions to projects like the Linux kernel and the OpenMoko mobile platform project, and his community leadership in safeguarding the freedom of free software users by successfully enforcing the GNU General Public License in over one hundred cases since the gpl-violations.org project began in 2004."
On 2008-07-22, Welte received the Defender of Rights Open Source Award, presented to him by Chris DiBona
, who indicated the award was primarily for Welte's work on gpl-violations.org.
appointed Harald Welte as its open source liaison. According to VIA, in his role as open source liaison Welte will be responsible for helping refine VIA’s open source strategy and optimise its support for Linux.
Welte will also “assist VIA to develop drivers that are in line with the standards and best practices of Linux kernel development, enhance the quality and public availability of VIA documentation, and improve interaction with the open source development community”.
Programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
resident in Berlin, Germany. Within the free software community
Free software community
The free-software community is an informal term that refers to the users and developers of free software as well as supporters of the free-software movement. The movement is sometimes referred to as the open-source software community or a subset thereof...
, Welte is well known as a hacker of the Linux kernel
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
and for his activities in enforcing the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
(GPL), the license that governs the use of much of free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
.
Welte is also involved in a number of free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
projects, such as Openmoko
Openmoko
Openmoko is a project to create a family of open source mobile phones, including the hardware specification and the operating system. The project was sponsored by Openmoko Inc....
, (a version of Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
for completely open, low-cost, high-volume phones) and the netfilter/iptables
Netfilter/iptables
Netfilter is a framework that provides hook handling within the Linux kernel for intercepting and manipulating network packets. Put more concretely, Netfilter is invoked, for example, by the packet reception and send routines from/to network interfaces...
project (the core firewall mechanism in Linux-based firewall computers and routing devices). He is an active member of the Chaos Computer Club
Chaos Computer Club
The Chaos Computer Club is an organization of hackers. The CCC is based in Germany and other German-speaking countries.The CCC describes itself as "a galactic community of life forms, independent of age, sex, race or societal orientation, which strives across borders for freedom of...
.
Linux kernel development
Until 2007, Welte was the chairman of the core team responsible for the netfilter/iptablesNetfilter/iptables
Netfilter is a framework that provides hook handling within the Linux kernel for intercepting and manipulating network packets. Put more concretely, Netfilter is invoked, for example, by the packet reception and send routines from/to network interfaces...
project. He is also credited with writing the UUCP
UUCP
UUCP is an abbreviation for Unix-to-Unix Copy. The term generally refers to a suite of computer programs and protocols allowing remote execution of commands and transfer of files, email and netnews between computers. Specifically, a command named uucp is one of the programs in the suite; it...
over SSL how-to, and contributions to User-mode Linux
User-mode Linux
User-mode Linux enables multiple virtual Linux systems to run as an application within a normal Linux system...
and international encryption kernel projects, among others.
GPL enforcement
Welte has become prominent for his work with gpl-violations.orgGpl-violations.org
The gpl-violations.org is a not-for-profit project founded and led by Harald Welte in 2004. It works to make sure software licensed under the GNU General Public License is not used in ways prohibited by the license.-Goals:...
- an organisation he set up in 2004 to track down and prosecute violators of the GPL, which had been untested in court until then.
Openmoko
Welte was Lead System Architect for OpenmokoOpenmoko
Openmoko is a project to create a family of open source mobile phones, including the hardware specification and the operating system. The project was sponsored by Openmoko Inc....
, a project to create a smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
platform using free software. It uses the Linux kernel
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
, together with a graphical user environment built using X.Org Server
X.Org Server
X.Org Server refers to the X server release packages stewarded by the X.Org Foundation,which is hosted by freedesktop.org, and grants...
, and the Matchbox
Matchbox (window manager)
Matchbox is a free and open source window manager for the X Window System. It is mainly intended for embedded systems and differs from most other window managers in that it only shows one window at a time...
window manager. The OpenEmbedded
OpenEmbedded
OpenEmbedded is a software framework to create Linux distributions aimed for, but not restricted to, embedded devices. The build system is based on BitBake recipes, which behave similar to Gentoo's ebuilds....
build framework and ipkg
Ipkg
ipkg, or the Itsy Package Management System, is a lightweight package management system designed for embedded devices that resembled Debian's dpkg. It was used in the Unslung operating system for the Linksys NSLU2 , in OpenWrt, Openmoko, webOS, Gumstix, the iPAQ, QNAP NASes, Synology NASes and...
package management system are used to create and maintain software packages.
However in 2007, Welte announced his withdrawal from Openmoko, citing internal friction and demotivation. He continues to contribute as a volunteer to the project.
Awards in 2008
On 2008-03-19, the Free Software FoundationFree Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...
(FSF) announced that it had awarded the Award for the Advancement of Free Software for 2007 to Welte, stating that
"The awards committee honored both Welte's technical contributions to projects like the Linux kernel and the OpenMoko mobile platform project, and his community leadership in safeguarding the freedom of free software users by successfully enforcing the GNU General Public License in over one hundred cases since the gpl-violations.org project began in 2004."
On 2008-07-22, Welte received the Defender of Rights Open Source Award, presented to him by Chris DiBona
Chris DiBona
Chris DiBona is the open source and public sector engineering manager at Google. His team oversees license compliance and supports the open source developer community through programs such as the Google Summer of Code and through the release of open source software projects and patches on Google...
, who indicated the award was primarily for Welte's work on gpl-violations.org.
VIA
On 2008-07-25, VIA TechnologiesVIA Technologies
VIA Technologies is a Taiwanese manufacturer of integrated circuits, mainly motherboard chipsets, CPUs, and memory, and is part of the Formosa Plastics Group. It is the world's largest independent manufacturer of motherboard chipsets...
appointed Harald Welte as its open source liaison. According to VIA, in his role as open source liaison Welte will be responsible for helping refine VIA’s open source strategy and optimise its support for Linux.
Welte will also “assist VIA to develop drivers that are in line with the standards and best practices of Linux kernel development, enhance the quality and public availability of VIA documentation, and improve interaction with the open source development community”.
External links
- Harald Welte's blog
- Interview at the 3rd international GPLv3 conference, June 22, 2006
- Audio and video of a panel discussion including Welte, June 23, 2006
- Interview in LWN.net, June 12, 2006
- Interview at under-linux.org
- Personal interview with Harald Welte about Openmoko (German-speaking)
- Interview with Harald Welte about gpl-violations.org (German), June 22, 2004
- Podcast at CIO.com
- Audio podcast: Harald Welte on gpl-violations.org and GSM security