Our show is all about heroes making great strides in technology. But in InfoSec, not every hero expects to ride off into the sunset. In our series finale, we tackle vulnerability scans, how sharing information can be a powerful tool against cyber crime, and why it’s more important than ever for cybersecurity to have more people, more eyes, and more voices, in the fight.Wietse Venema gives us the story of SATAN, and how it didn’t destroy the world as expected. Maitreyi Sistla tells us how representation helps coders build things that work for everyone. And Mary Chaney shines a light on how hiring for a new generation can prepare us for a bold and brighter future.If you want to read up on some of our research on the InfoSec community, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Follow along with the episode transcript.

Our show is all about heroes making great strides in technology. But in InfoSec, not every hero expects to ride off into the sunset. In our series finale, we tackle vulnerability scans, how sharing information can be a powerful tool against cyber crime, and why it’s more important than ever for cybersecurity to have more people, more eyes, and more voices, in the fight. Wietse Venema gives us the story of SATAN, and how it didn’t destroy the world as expected. Maitreyi Sistla tells us how representation helps coders build things that work for everyone. And Mary Chaney shines a light on how hiring for a new generation can prepare us for a bold and brighter future.If you want to read up on some of our research on the InfoSec community, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/all-together-now" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/all-together-now#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript</a>.

All Together Now

What began as a supposed accounting error landed Cliff Stoll in the midst of database intrusions, government organizations, and the beginnings of a newer threat—cyber-espionage. This led the eclectic astronomer-cum-systems administrator to create what we know today as intrusion detection. And it all began at a time when people didn’t understand the importance of cybersecurity. This is a story that many in the infosec community have already heard, but the lessons from Stoll’s journey are still relevant. Katie Hafner gives us the background on this unbelievable story. Richard Bejtlich outlines the “honey pot” that finally cracked open the international case. And Don Cavender discusses the impact of Stoll’s work, and how it has inspired generations of security professionals.If you want to read up on some of our research on ransomware, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Follow along with the episode transcript.

What began as a supposed accounting error landed Cliff Stoll in the midst of database intrusions, government organizations, and the beginnings of a newer threat—cyber-espionage. This led the eclectic astronomer-cum-systems administrator to create what we know today as intrusion detection. And it all began at a time when people didn’t understand the importance of cybersecurity. This is a story that many in the infosec community have already heard, but the lessons from Stoll’s journey are still relevant. Katie Hafner gives us the background on this unbelievable story. Richard Bejtlich outlines the “honey pot” that finally cracked open the international case. And Don Cavender discusses the impact of Stoll’s work, and how it has inspired generations of security professionals.If you want to read up on some of our research on ransomware, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/invisible-intruders" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/invisible-intruders#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript</a>.

Invisible Intruders

It’s a strange situation when someone can hold something hostage from halfway around the world. It’s tragic when your own pictures and files are remotely encrypted. But when it’s a hospital’s system? Ransomware becomes a problem about life or death. Eddy Willems recounts his involvement in defeating an early ransomware attack that targeted AIDS researchers. At the time, there was a way to discover the encryption key. But as Moti Yung warned, asymmetric encryption would change everything. In the years since, ransomware attacks have become much more popular—thanks in part to the rise of cryptocurrencies. While criminals think it’s an anonymous way to collect payment, Sheila Warren tells us that the opposite is actually true.If you want to read up on some of our research on ransomware, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Follow along with the episode transcript. 

It’s a strange situation when someone can hold something hostage from halfway around the world. It’s tragic when your own pictures and files are remotely encrypted. But when it’s a hospital’s system? Ransomware becomes a problem about life or death. Eddy Willems recounts his involvement in defeating an early ransomware attack that targeted AIDS researchers. At the time, there was a way to discover the encryption key. But as Moti Yung warned, asymmetric encryption would change everything. In the years since, ransomware attacks have become much more popular—thanks in part to the rise of cryptocurrencies. While criminals think it’s an anonymous way to collect payment, Sheila Warren tells us that the opposite is actually true.If you want to read up on some of our research on ransomware, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/ransomware" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/ransomware#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript</a>.

Ruthless Ransomers

All communication leaves the possibility for crossed wires. And as we become more connected, there’s a chance for those with ill intentions to steal our information and meddle in our daily lives—with devastating results. Smriti Bhatt breaks down the complexity behind machine-in-the-middle attacks. Johannes Ullrich tells us why we shouldn’t always trust that free WiFi. And the “father of SSL” Taher Elgamal notes that while cryptography can address the increasingly sophisticated nature of malware, there are no safe bets in security.If you want to read up on some of our research on machine in the middle attacks, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes.Follow along with the episode transcript.

All communication leaves the possibility for crossed wires. And as we become more connected, there’s a chance for those with ill intentions to steal our information and meddle in our daily lives—with devastating results.  Smriti Bhatt breaks down the complexity behind machine-in-the-middle attacks. Johannes Ullrich tells us why we shouldn’t always trust that free WiFi. And the “father of SSL” Taher Elgamal notes that while cryptography can address the increasingly sophisticated nature of malware, there are no safe bets in security. If you want to read up on some of our research on machine in the middle attacks, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/machine-in-the-middle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/machine-in-the-middle#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript</a>.

Menace in the Middle

Overwhelming numbers are scary—even in the best of circumstances. You can plan for them, build up your defenses, and do everything imaginable to prepare. But when that horde of zombies hits, their sheer numbers can still cause devastation. Botnets are digital zombie hordes. Jamie Tomasello recounts the scale of the Bredolab botnet—and the many malicious kinds of missions it carried out. Martijn Grooten explains how botnets work, and why they can be so difficult to permanently dismantle. And Darren Mott shares some of the successes the FBI had in rounding up some of the world’s most prolific bot herders.If you want to read up on some of our research on botnets, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Follow along with the episode transcript.

Overwhelming numbers are scary—even in the best of circumstances. You can plan for them, build up your defenses, and do everything imaginable to prepare. But when that horde of zombies hits, their sheer numbers can still cause devastation.  Botnets are digital zombie hordes. Jamie Tomasello recounts the scale of the Bredolab botnet—and the many malicious kinds of missions it carried out. Martijn Grooten explains how botnets work, and why they can be so difficult to permanently dismantle. And Darren Mott shares some of the successes the FBI had in rounding up some of the world’s most prolific bot herders.If you want to read up on some of our research on botnets, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/botnets" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/botnets#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript</a>.

Dawn of the Botnets

Logic bombs rarely have warning sounds. The victims mostly don’t know to expect one. And even when a logic bomb is discovered before it’s triggered, there isn’t always enough time to defuse it. But there are ways to stop them in time. Paul Ducklin recounts the race to defuse the CIH logic bomb—and the horrible realization of how widespread it was. Costin Raiu explains how logic bombs get planted, and all the different kinds of damage they can do. And Manuel Egele shares some strategies for detecting logic bombs before their conditions are met.If you want to read up on some of our research on logic bombs, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Follow along with the episode transcript. 

Logic bombs rarely have warning sounds. The victims mostly don’t know to expect one. And even when a logic bomb is discovered before it’s triggered, there isn’t always enough time to defuse it. But there are ways to stop them in time. Paul Ducklin recounts the race to defuse the CIH logic bomb—and the horrible realization of how widespread it was. Costin Raiu explains how logic bombs get planted, and all the different kinds of damage they can do. And Manuel Egele shares some strategies for detecting logic bombs before their conditions are met.If you want to read up on some of our research on logic bombs, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/logic-bombs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. Follow along with <a>the episode transcript</a>.

Lurking Logic Bombs

Sometimes a fun game, a friendly email, or an innocuous link can be the most convenient place for an enemy to hide. And its prey is none the wiser—until it strikes. The trojan horse uses many layers of deception to do damage. The ingenuity of these attacks keeps an alarming pace with the technology we use every day. But as long as we stick to trusted sites and sources, we can better the odds against those who use our trusting nature against us. Steve Weisman tells us about how trojans still keep security professionals on the defensive. Josephine Wolff details how these attacks have evolved, and keep evolving, to catch victims off guard. And Yanick Franantonio takes on the new frontier for trojan attacks. If you want to read up on some of our research on trojans, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes.Follow along with the episode transcript.   

Sometimes a fun game, a friendly email, or an innocuous link can be the most convenient place for an enemy to hide. And its prey is none the wiser—until it strikes. The trojan horse uses many layers of deception to do damage. The ingenuity of these attacks keeps an alarming pace with the technology we use every day. But as long as we stick to trusted sites and sources, we can better the odds against those who use our trusting nature against us.  Steve Weisman tells us about how trojans still keep security professionals on the defensive. Josephine Wolff details how these attacks have evolved, and keep evolving, to catch victims off guard. And Yanick Franantonio takes on the new frontier for trojan attacks. If you want to read up on some of our research on trojans, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/terrifying-trojans" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/terrifying-trojans#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript</a>.

Terrifying Trojans

Computer viruses and worms haunt the internet. They worm their way into a system, replicate, and spread again. It’s a simple process—with devastating consequences. But there’s a whole industry of people that rose up to fight back. Craig Schmugar recalls how he and his team responded to MyDoom, one of the fastest-spreading worms ever. Dr. Nur Zincir-Heywood reveals the inner workings of viruses and worms, and how they draw their names from the world of biology. And security expert Mikko Hypponen shares advice on avoiding malware. But he also warns that we’re in an arms race against malware developers.If you want to read up on some of our research on viruses and worms, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Follow along with the episode transcript.

Computer viruses and worms haunt the internet. They worm their way into a system, replicate, and spread again. It’s a simple process—with devastating consequences. But there’s a whole industry of people that rose up to fight back. Craig Schmugar recalls how he and his team responded to MyDoom, one of the fastest-spreading worms ever. Dr. Nur Zincir-Heywood reveals the inner workings of viruses and worms, and how they draw their names from the world of biology. And security expert Mikko Hypponen shares advice on avoiding malware. But he also warns that we’re in an arms race against malware developers.If you want to read up on some of our research on viruses and worms, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/relentless-replicators" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-9/relentless-replicators#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript</a>.

Relentless Replicants

Malware haunts us all. Viruses, worms, trojan horses, and the harm they do often corrupts the promise of the internet. But the world of computing continues to grow. Though it’s changed us forever, malware hasn’t stopped us from connecting. Season 9 of Command Line Heroes is the culmination of the show. We focus on security and the people who, every day, face the monsters of the digital world. They disinfect computers from viruses, defuse logic bombs, and dismantle botnets. But they can’t do it alone. It’ll take all of us working together to make the world a safer place.The first episode drops February 22, 2022. Subscribe today and sign up for the newsletter to get the latest updates. 

Malware haunts us all. Viruses, worms, trojan horses, and the harm they do often corrupts the promise of the internet. But the world of computing continues to grow. Though it’s changed us forever, malware hasn’t stopped us from connecting.  Season 9 of Command Line Heroes is the culmination of the show. We focus on security and the people who, every day, face the monsters of the digital world. They disinfect computers from viruses, defuse logic bombs, and dismantle botnets. But they can’t do it alone. It’ll take all of us working together to make the world a safer place. The first episode drops February 22, 2022. <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Subscribe</a> today and <a>sign up for the newsletter</a> to get the latest updates.

Command Line Heroes Season 9: The Horrors of Malware

Self-driving cars are seemingly just around the corner. These robots aren’t quite ready for the streets. For every hyped-up self-driving showcase, there’s a news story about its failure. But the good news is that we get closer every year. Alex Davies steers us through the history of autonomous vehicles. Alex Kendall maps the current self-driving landscape. And Jason Millar takes us under the hood of these robots’ computers to better understand how they make decisions.If you want to read up on some of our research on self-driving cars, you can check our all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Follow along with the episode transcript.

Self-driving cars are seemingly just around the corner. These robots aren’t quite ready for the streets. For every hyped-up self-driving showcase, there’s a news story about its failure. But the good news is that we get closer every year. Alex Davies steers us through the history of autonomous vehicles. Alex Kendall maps the current self-driving landscape. And Jason Millar takes us under the hood of these robots’ computers to better understand how they make decisions.If you want to read up on some of our research on self-driving cars, you can check our all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-8/robot-as-vehicle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-8/robot-as-vehicle#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript</a>.

Robot as Vehicle

Stories about the people transforming technology from the command line up.

Saron is the absolute best tech-podcaster out there!!!

One of my favorites

This is literally one of the best if not the best tech podcast out there! Love it!

Fantastic!

Command Line Heroes

Creating a machine that thinks may have seemed like science fiction in the 1950s. But John McCarthy decided to make it a reality. And he started with a language he called LISP. Colin Garvey describes how McCarthy created the first language for AI. Sam Williams covers how early interest in thinking machines spread from academia to the business world, and how—after certain projects didn’t deliver on their promises—a long AI winter eventually set in. Ulrich Drepper explains that the dreams of AI went beyond what the hardware could deliver at the time.But hardware gets more powerful each and every day. Chris Nicholson points out that today’s machines have enough processing power to handle the resource requirements of AI—so much so that we’re in the middle of a revolutionary resurgence in AI research and development. Finally, Rachel Thomas identifies the languages of AI beyond LISP—evidence of the different kinds of tasks AI is now being prepared to do.If you want to dive deeper into LISP and the origins of artificial intelligence, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. You’ll find extra content for every episode.Follow along with the episode transcript.

Creating a machine that thinks may have seemed like science fiction in the 1950s. But John McCarthy decided to make it a reality. And he started with a language he called LISP. <a href="https://twitter.com/colinkgarvey?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Colin Garvey</a> describes how McCarthy created the first language for AI. Sam Williams covers how early interest in thinking machines spread from academia to the business world, and how—after certain projects didn’t deliver on their promises—a long AI winter eventually set in. Ulrich Drepper explains that the dreams of AI went beyond what the hardware could deliver at the time.But hardware gets more powerful each and every day. <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisvnicholson?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chris Nicholson</a> points out that today’s machines have enough processing power to handle the resource requirements of AI—so much so that we’re in the middle of a revolutionary resurgence in AI research and development. Finally, <a href="https://twitter.com/math_rachel?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rachel Thomas</a> identifies the languages of AI beyond LISP—evidence of the different kinds of tasks AI is now being prepared to do.If you want to dive deeper into LISP and the origins of artificial intelligence, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. You’ll find extra content for every episode.Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-3/talking-to-machines#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript</a>.

Talking to Machines: LISP and the Origins of A.I.

Becoming a programmer used to require a Ph.D. and having access to some serious hardware. Then, in 1965, a couple of engineers had a radical idea: make it easier for people to get started. Beginner languages, like BASIC, burst the doors to coding wide open. Tom Cormen and Denise Dumas recall how BASIC changed everything. Avi Flombaum and Saron share tips on picking a first language in this new era of software development. And we hear from Femi Owolade-Coombes and Robyn Bergeron about how the next generation of coders are getting their start with video games. Beginner languages give everyone an opportunity to get their foot in the door. And that helps the industry as a whole. Check out redhat.com/commandlineheroes for more information on beginner languages. Find out more about why BASIC is a beloved first language and how the next generation will learn to code on Opensource.com.

Becoming a programmer used to require a Ph.D. and having access to some serious hardware. Then, in 1965, a couple of engineers had a radical idea: make it easier for people to get started. Beginner languages, like BASIC, burst the doors to coding wide open. <a href="https://twitter.com/thcormen" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tom Cormen</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/denise-dumas-591931/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Denise Dumas</a> recall how BASIC changed everything. <a href="https://twitter.com/aviflombaum" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Avi Flombaum</a> and Saron share tips on picking a first language in this new era of software development. And we hear from <a href="https://twitter.com/hackerfemo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Femi Owolade-Coombes</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/robynbergeron" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Robyn Bergeron</a> about how the next generation of coders are getting their start with video games. Beginner languages give everyone an opportunity to get their foot in the door. And that helps the industry as a whole. Check out <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a> for more information on beginner languages. Find out more about why BASIC is a beloved first language and how the next generation will learn to code on <a href="https://opensource.com/article/19/7/command-line-heroes-ruby-basic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Opensource.com</a>.

Learning the BASICs

Developer advocates play important roles in open source communities. We brought a few of them together to explain how and why they do what they do. Sandra Persing (Mozilla), Ricky Robinett (Twilio), and Robyn Bergeron (Red Hat) sit down with Saron to share what they’re working on, how they support their communities, and what they’re looking forward to in 2019. Meanwhile, Season 3 of Command Line Heroes is already in the works. You can be one of the first to learn about new episodes when they drop this spring. If you haven't already, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. It's one click, and it's 100% free. Season 1 and 2 are also available for your listening pleasure while you wait! Listen at redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes.

Developer advocates play important roles in open source communities. We brought a few of them together to explain how and why they do what they do. Sandra Persing (Mozilla), Ricky Robinett (Twilio), and Robyn Bergeron (Red Hat) sit down with Saron to share what they’re working on, how they support their communities, and what they’re looking forward to in 2019. Meanwhile, Season 3 of Command Line Heroes is already in the works. You can be one of the first to learn about new episodes when they drop this spring. If you haven't already, <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> wherever you get your podcasts. It's one click, and it's 100% free. Season 1 and 2 are also available for your listening pleasure while you wait! Listen at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes</a>.

Bonus: Developer Advocacy Roundtable

Failure is the heartbeat of discovery. We stumble a lot trying new things. The trick is to give up on failing fast. Instead, fail better. This episode looks at how tech embraces failure. Approaching failure with curiosity and openness is part of our process. Jennifer Petoff shares how Google has built a culture of learning and improvement from failure. With a shift in perspective, Jessica Rudder shows how embracing mistakes can lead to unexpected successes. And Jen Krieger explains how agile frameworks help us plan for failure. Failure doesn’t have to be the end. It can be a step to something greater. If you want to learn more about open source culture and how we can all change the culture around failing, check out some of the blog features waiting for you at redhat.com/commandlineheroes.

Failure is the heartbeat of discovery. We stumble a lot trying new things. The trick is to give up on failing fast. Instead, fail better. This episode looks at how tech embraces failure. Approaching failure with curiosity and openness is part of our process. <a href="https://twitter.com/jennski?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jennifer Petoff</a> shares how Google has built a culture of learning and improvement from failure. With a shift in perspective, <a href="https://twitter.com/JessRudder?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jessica Rudder</a> shows how embracing mistakes can lead to unexpected successes. And <a href="https://twitter.com/mrry550?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jen Krieger</a> explains how agile frameworks help us plan for failure. Failure doesn’t have to be the end. It can be a step to something greater. If you want to learn more about open source culture and how we can all change the culture around failing, check out some of the blog features waiting for you at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>.

Fail Better: Embracing Failure

Bad security and reliability practices can lead to outages that affect millions. It’s time for security to join the DevOps movement. And in a DevSecOps world, we can get creative about improving security. Discovering one vulnerability per month used to be the norm. Now, software development moves quickly thanks to agile processes and DevOps teams. Vincent Danen tells us how that’s led to a drastic increase in what’s considered a vulnerability. Jesse Robbins, the former master of disaster at Amazon, explains how companies prepare for catastrophic breakdowns and breaches. And Josh Bressers, head of product security at Elastic, looks to the future of security in tech. We can’t treat security teams like grumpy boogeymen. Hear how DevSecOps teams bring heroes together for better security. These changes mean different things for everyone involved, and we’d love to hear your take. Drop us a line at redhat.com/commandlineheroes, we're listening...

Bad security and reliability practices can lead to outages that affect millions. It’s time for security to join the DevOps movement. And in a DevSecOps world, we can get creative about improving security. Discovering one vulnerability per month used to be the norm. Now, software development moves quickly thanks to agile processes and DevOps teams. Vincent Danen tells us how that’s led to a drastic increase in what’s considered a vulnerability. Jesse Robbins, the former master of disaster at Amazon, explains how companies prepare for catastrophic breakdowns and breaches. And Josh Bressers, head of product security at Elastic, looks to the future of security in tech. We can’t treat security teams like grumpy boogeymen. Hear how DevSecOps teams bring heroes together for better security. These changes mean different things for everyone involved, and we’d love to hear your take. Drop us a line at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>, we're listening...

The One About DevSecOps: Evolving Security and Reliability

Languages used for IT infrastructure don’t have expiration dates. COBOL’s been around for 60 years—and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. We maintain billions of lines of classic code for mainframes. But we’re also building new infrastructures for the cloud in languages like Go. COBOL was a giant leap for computers to make industries more efficient. Chris Short describes how learning COBOL was seen as a safe long-term bet. Sixty years later, there are billions of lines of COBOL code that can’t easily be replaced—and few specialists who know the language. Ritika Trikha explains that something must change: Either more people must learn COBOL, or the industries that rely on it have to update their codebase. Both choices are difficult. But the future isn’t being written in COBOL. Today’s IT infrastructure is built in the cloud—and a lot of it is written in Go. Carmen Hernández Andoh shares how Go’s designers wanted a language more suited for the cloud. And Kelsey Hightower points out that languages are typically hyper-focused for one task. But they’re increasingly open and flexible. You can learn more about COBOL or Go, or any of the languages we’re covering this season, by heading over to redhat.com/CommandLineHeroes. We're passing along a correction that Carmen Hernández Andoh shared on Twitter: she misspoke about Rob Pike inventing ASCII. Bob Bremer is considered the main creator of ASCII. Follow along with the episode transcript

Languages used for IT infrastructure don’t have expiration dates. COBOL’s been around for 60 years—and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. We maintain billions of lines of classic code for mainframes. But we’re also building new infrastructures for the cloud in languages like Go. COBOL was a giant leap for computers to make industries more efficient. <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisshort?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chris Short</a> describes how learning COBOL was seen as a safe long-term bet. Sixty years later, there are billions of lines of COBOL code that can’t easily be replaced—and few specialists who know the language. <a href="https://twitter.com/RitikaTrikha?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ritika Trikha</a> explains that something must change: Either more people must learn COBOL, or the industries that rely on it have to update their codebase. Both choices are difficult. But the future isn’t being written in COBOL. Today’s IT infrastructure is built in the cloud—and a lot of it is written in Go. <a href="https://twitter.com/carmatrocity?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Carmen Hernández Andoh</a> shares how Go’s designers wanted a language more suited for the cloud. And <a href="https://twitter.com/kelseyhightower?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kelsey Hightower</a> points out that languages are typically hyper-focused for one task. But they’re increasingly open and flexible. You can learn more about COBOL or Go, or any of the languages we’re covering this season, by heading over to <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/CommandLineHeroes</a>. We're passing along a correction that Carmen Hernández Andoh shared on Twitter: she misspoke about Rob Pike inventing ASCII. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Bemer" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bob Bremer</a> is considered the main creator of ASCII. Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-3/the-infrastructure-effect#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript</a>

The Infrastructure Effect: COBOL and Go

A benevolent dictator for life steps down and changes the course of the Python language forever. Guido van Rossum’s “Transfer of Power” memo brings attention to the way programming languages evolve. In this episode, Emily Morehouse makes the connection between Python’s technical extensibility and its inclusive community. Michael Kennedy explains how Python is both easy to learn and powerful enough to build YouTube and Instagram. And Diane Mueller highlights how the Python community took the lead on so many inclusive practices that are spreading in tech—including the rise of community-led decision-making. Sometimes, a benevolent dictator can get a language started. But Python shows it’s communities that make languages thrive. Learn more about Python at redhat.com/commandlineheroes Also check out these Python podcasts that guest Michael Kennedy is part of — Talk Python to Me, and Python Bytes We hear from Guido van Rossum in this episode from a Computer History Museum interview.

A benevolent dictator for life steps down and changes the course of the Python language forever. Guido van Rossum’s “Transfer of Power” memo brings attention to the way programming languages evolve. In this episode, <a href="https://twitter.com/emilyemorehouse?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Emily Morehouse</a> makes the connection between Python’s technical extensibility and its inclusive community. <a href="https://twitter.com/mkennedy?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Michael Kennedy</a> explains how Python is both easy to learn and powerful enough to build YouTube and Instagram. And <a href="https://twitter.com/pythondj" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Diane Mueller</a> highlights how the Python community took the lead on so many inclusive practices that are spreading in tech—including the rise of community-led decision-making. Sometimes, a benevolent dictator can get a language started. But Python shows it’s communities that make languages thrive. Learn more about Python at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a> Also check out these Python podcasts that guest Michael Kennedy is part of — <a href="https://talkpython.fm/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Talk Python to Me</a>, and <a href="https://pythonbytes.fm/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Python Bytes</a> We hear from Guido van Rossum in this episode from a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzkdci2HDpU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Computer History Museum interview</a>.

Python’s Tale

The floppy disk was one of the greatest breakthroughs in computing. It helped spin up the software industry with a format that endured for decades. And in some cases, it’s conserved treasures once thought to be lost forever.  Before floppy disks came along, computing was weighed down by punch cards and magnetic tapes. Steven Vaughan-Nichols describes the magnitude of the changes brought by the floppy disk. Dave Bennet explains how the need for permanent storage, which was also easily mailable, led to the first 8-inch drives. George Sollman recalls how he was tasked with creating a smaller floppy, and what unexpected sources inspired the next design. And when Sollman showed it to the Homebrew Computer Club, a couple of this season’s usual suspects asked him to see more. And the rest is history.  Or is it? Matthew G. Kirschenbaum points out that floppy disks are still in use in some unexpected places. And Jason Scott and Tony Diaz tell us how they brought some source code from the sneakernet to the cloud. If you want to read up on some of our research on floppy disks, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. You’ll find extra content for every episode. Follow along with the episode transcript.

The floppy disk was one of the greatest breakthroughs in computing. It helped spin up the software industry with a format that endured for decades. And in some cases, it’s conserved treasures once thought to be lost forever.  Before floppy disks came along, computing was weighed down by punch cards and magnetic tapes. Steven Vaughan-Nichols describes the magnitude of the changes brought by the floppy disk. Dave Bennet explains how the need for permanent storage, which was also easily mailable, led to the first 8-inch drives. George Sollman recalls how he was tasked with creating a smaller floppy, and what unexpected sources inspired the next design. And when Sollman showed it to the Homebrew Computer Club, a couple of this season’s usual suspects asked him to see more. And the rest is history.  Or is it? Matthew G. Kirschenbaum points out that floppy disks are still in use in some unexpected places. And Jason Scott and Tony Diaz tell us how they brought some source code from the sneakernet to the cloud. If you want to read up on some of our research on floppy disks, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/commandlineheroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. You’ll find extra content for every episode. Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-4/floppies#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript.</a>

Floppies: The Disks that Changed the World

A mission to set the course of the world wide web in its early days. 10 days to get it done. The result? An indispensable language that changed everything. JavaScript was the underdog that won against all odds. Clive Thompson recounts the browser wars and how much the fallout influenced the future of the internet. Charles Severance explains how JavaScript went from a last-minute moonshot to the default web development language. Michael Clayton confesses he, like many others, underestimated JavaScript. And Klint Finley describes a gloomy internet without it. If you want to dive deeper into the story of JavaScript, head on over to redhat.com/commandlineheroes We first mentioned JavaScript's story in Episode 2 of Season 2—and made a slight correction to the story in this episode. To learn even more about those 10 days, check out the DevChat podcast interview with Brendan.

A mission to set the course of the world wide web in its early days. 10 days to get it done. The result? An indispensable language that changed everything. JavaScript was the underdog that won against all odds. <a href="https://twitter.com/pomeranian99" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Clive Thompson</a> recounts the browser wars and how much the fallout influenced the future of the internet. <a href="https://twitter.com/drchuck" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Charles Severance</a> explains how JavaScript went from a last-minute moonshot to the default web development language. <a href="https://twitter.com/mwcz" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Michael Clayton</a> confesses he, like many others, underestimated JavaScript. And <a href="https://twitter.com/klintron" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Klint Finley</a> describes a gloomy internet without it. If you want to dive deeper into the story of JavaScript, head on over to <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a> We first mentioned JavaScript's story in <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-2/hello-world" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 2 of Season 2</a>—and made a slight correction to the story in this episode. To learn even more about those 10 days, check out the <a href="https://devchat.tv/js-jabber/124-jsj-the-origin-of-javascript-with-brendan-eich/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DevChat podcast interview with Brendan</a>.

Creating JavaScript

The Altair 8800 is why we have computers in most homes today. It was initially designed for hobbyists. But a few visionaries saw massive potential in this strange little machine—and worked hard to make others see it too. What they created led to so much more than anyone could have ever imagined. Forrest Mims tells us how his co-founder, Ed Roberts, planned to save their struggling electronics company. His idea? A microcomputer made for hobbyists. That computer led to a fateful phone call from Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Dan Sokol and Lee Felsenstein recall the unveiling of the Altair 8800 at the Homebrew Computer Club, and how it sparked Steve Wozniak’s eureka moment for the Apple I. We then hear from John Markoff about an infamous software heist that set the stage for the debate about whether code should be proprietary. And finally, Limor Fried reflects on how this story continues to influence today’s open source hardware movement. If you want to read up on some of our research on personal computers, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. You’ll find extra content for every episode. Follow along with the episode transcript .

The Altair 8800 is why we have computers in most homes today. It was initially designed for hobbyists. But a few visionaries saw massive potential in this strange little machine—and worked hard to make others see it too. What they created led to so much more than anyone could have ever imagined. <a href="http://www.forrestmims.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Forrest Mims</a> tells us how his co-founder, Ed Roberts, planned to save their struggling electronics company. His idea? A microcomputer made for hobbyists. That computer led to a fateful phone call from Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Dan Sokol and <a href="http://www.leefelsenstein.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lee Felsenstein</a> recall the unveiling of the Altair 8800 at the Homebrew Computer Club, and how it sparked Steve Wozniak’s eureka moment for the Apple I. We then hear from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/john-markoff" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Markoff</a> about an infamous software heist that set the stage for the debate about whether code should be proprietary. And finally, <a href="https://www.adafruit.com/about" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Limor Fried </a>reflects on how this story continues to influence today’s open source hardware movement. If you want to read up on some of our research on personal computers, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/commandlineheroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. You’ll find extra content for every episode. Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-4/personal-computers#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript .</a>

Personal Computers: The Altair 8800 and the Dawn of a Revolution

Languages come and go. A few have the right stuff to rise to the top—and fewer stay there. Perl had a spectacular rise, a quiet slump, and has now found its place in the world of programming. Perl seemed destined to rule the web. Michael Stevenson and Mike Bursell describe how Perl’s design made it ideal for the early web. We hear from Conor Myhrvold about its motto: “There is more than one way to do it.” Elizabeth Mattijsen  shares how—despite Perl’s strength—a long development cycle slowed Perl’s growth. And although it’s not the top web language anymore, John Siracusa points out that Perl lives on as a niche tool. If you want to dive deeper into the story of Perl, head on over to redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Guest John Siracusa also co-hosts three podcasts. Check out Accidental Tech Podcast, Reconcilable Differences, and Robot or Not?

Languages come and go. A few have the right stuff to rise to the top—and fewer stay there. Perl had a spectacular rise, a quiet slump, and has now found its place in the world of programming. Perl seemed destined to rule the web. <a href="https://twitter.com/_mstevenson" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Michael Stevenson</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebursell/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mike Bursell</a> describe how Perl’s design made it ideal for the early web. We hear from <a href="https://twitter.com/conormyhrvold" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Conor Myhrvold</a> about its motto: “There is more than one way to do it.” <a href="https://liz.nl/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Elizabeth Mattijsen</a> shares how—despite Perl’s strength—a long development cycle slowed Perl’s growth. And although it’s not the top web language anymore, <a href="https://twitter.com/siracusa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Siracusa</a> points out that Perl lives on as a niche tool. If you want to dive deeper into the story of Perl, head on over to <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. Guest John Siracusa also co-hosts three podcasts. Check out <a href="https://atp.fm/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Accidental Tech Podcast</a>, <a href="https://www.relay.fm/rd" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Reconcilable Differences</a>, and <a href="https://www.theincomparable.com/robot/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Robot or Not?</a>

Diving for Perl

C and UNIX are at the root of modern computing. Many of the languages we’ve covered this season are related to or at least influenced by C. But C and UNIX only happened because a few developers at Bell Labs created both as a skunkworks project. Bell Labs was a mid-twentieth century center for innovation. Jon Gertner describes it as an “idea factory.” One of their biggest projects in the 1960s was helping build a time-sharing operating system called Multics. Dr. Joy Lisi Rankin explains the hype around time-sharing at the time—it was described as potentially making computing accessible as a public utility. Large teams devoted years of effort to build Multics—and it wasn’t what they had hoped for. Bell Labs officially moved away from time-sharing in 1969. But as Andrew Tanenbaum recounts, a small team of heroes pushed on anyways. C and UNIX were the result. Little did they know how much their work would shape the course of technology.That's all for Season 3. If you want to dive deeper into C and UNIX, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. You’ll find extra content for every episode. Follow along with the episode transcript. Subscribe to the newsletter for more stories and to be among the first to see announcements about the podcast. See you soon for Season 4.

C and UNIX are at the root of modern computing. Many of the languages we’ve covered this season are related to or at least influenced by C. But C and UNIX only happened because a few developers at Bell Labs created both as a skunkworks project. Bell Labs was a mid-twentieth century center for innovation. <a href="https://twitter.com/jongertner?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jon Gertner </a>describes it as an “idea factory.” One of their biggest projects in the 1960s was helping build a time-sharing operating system called Multics. <a href="https://twitter.com/joymlrankin?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Joy Lisi Rankin</a> explains the hype around time-sharing at the time—it was described as potentially making computing accessible as a public utility. Large teams devoted years of effort to build Multics—and it wasn’t what they had hoped for. Bell Labs officially moved away from time-sharing in 1969. But as Andrew Tanenbaum recounts, a small team of heroes pushed on anyways. C and UNIX were the result. Little did they know how much their work would shape the course of technology.That's all for Season 3. If you want to dive deeper into C and UNIX, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes. </a>You’ll find extra content for every episode. Follow along with the <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-3/the-c-change#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">episode transcript. </a>Subscribe to the <a href="https://www.redhat.com/forms/?config=19411" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">newsletter </a>for more stories and to be among the first to see announcements about the podcast. See you soon for Season 4.

The C Change

The computing industry started booming after World War II. General Electric’s CEO refused to enter that market. But a small team of rebel employees bent the rules to forge on in secret. They created the GE 225. It was a giant leap in engineering that pushed computing from a niche market to the mainstream—sowing the seeds for today’s tech industry. Before the creation of general-purpose mainframes, computers were often built to perform a single function. William Ocasio recalls how GE’s first specialized computers, the ERMA, helped banks process thousands of transactions per day. John Joseph recounts how a few key GE employees hoodwinked their CEO into creating a computing department. Tomas Kellner explains how their work resulted in a revolutionary machine—the GE 225. And Joy Lisi Rankin describes how engineers at Dartmouth College adapted the GE 225 for time-sharing and used it to create BASIC—major milestones in making computing more accessible. If you want to read up on some of our research on mainframes, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes . You’ll find extra content for every episode. Follow along with the episode transcript.

The computing industry started booming after World War II. General Electric’s CEO refused to enter that market. But a small team of rebel employees bent the rules to forge on in secret. They created the GE 225. It was a giant leap in engineering that pushed computing from a niche market to the mainstream—sowing the seeds for today’s tech industry. Before the creation of general-purpose mainframes, computers were often built to perform a single function. <a href="https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/directory/ocasio_william.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">William Ocasio</a> recalls how GE’s first specialized computers, the ERMA, helped banks process thousands of transactions per day. <a href="https://merage.uci.edu/research-faculty/faculty-directory/John-Joseph.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Joseph</a> recounts how a few key GE employees hoodwinked their CEO into creating a computing department. <a href="https://twitter.com/tomkellner?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tomas Kellner</a> explains how their work resulted in a revolutionary machine—the GE 225. And <a href="http://joyrankin.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Joy Lisi Rankin</a> describes how engineers at Dartmouth College adapted the GE 225 for time-sharing and used it to create BASIC—major milestones in making computing more accessible. If you want to read up on some of our research on mainframes, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes </a>. You’ll find extra content for every episode. Follow along with the <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-4/mainframes#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">episode transcript</a>.

Mainframes: The GE 225 and the Birth of BASIC

They don’t fit in your pocket. But in their day, minicomputers were an order of magnitude smaller than the room-sized mainframes that preceded them. And they paved the way for the personal computers that could fit in a bag and, eventually, the phones in your pocket.16-bit minicomputers changed the world of IT in the 1970s. They gave companies the opportunity for each engineer to have their own machines. But it wasn’t quite enough, not until the arrival of 32-bit versions.Carl Alsing and Jim Guyer recount their work at Data General to create a revolutionary new 32-bit machine. But their now legendary work was done in secret. Codenamed “Eagle,” their machine was designed to compete with one being built by another team in their own company. These engineers recall the corporate politics and intrigue required to keep the project going—and how they turned restrictions into advantages. Neal Firth discusses life on an exciting-but-demanding project. One where the heroes worked together because they wanted to, without expectations of awards or fame. And all three discuss how this story was immortalized in the non-fiction engineering classic, The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder. If you want to read up on some of our research on minicomputers, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. You’ll find extra content for every episode. Follow along with the episode transcript.

They don’t fit in your pocket. But in their day, minicomputers were an order of magnitude smaller than the room-sized mainframes that preceded them. And they paved the way for the personal computers that could fit in a bag and, eventually, the phones in your pocket.16-bit minicomputers changed the world of IT in the 1970s. They gave companies the opportunity for each engineer to have their own machines. But it wasn’t quite enough, not until the arrival of 32-bit versions.Carl Alsing and Jim Guyer recount their work at Data General to create a revolutionary new 32-bit machine. But their now legendary work was done in secret. Codenamed “Eagle,” their machine was designed to compete with one being built by another team in their own company. These engineers recall the corporate politics and intrigue required to keep the project going—and how they turned restrictions into advantages. Neal Firth discusses life on an exciting-but-demanding project. One where the heroes worked together because they wanted to, without expectations of awards or fame. And all three discuss how this story was immortalized in the non-fiction engineering classic, The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder. If you want to read up on some of our research on minicomputers, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/commandlineheroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. You’ll find extra content for every episode. Follow along with the <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-4/minicomputers#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">episode transcript</a>.

Minicomputers: The Soul of an Old Machine

What does serverless really mean? Of course there are still servers—the basics of the internet aren’t changing. But what can developers accomplish when someone else handles the servers? Serverless computing makes it easy for beginners to deploy applications and makes work more efficient for the pros. Andrea Passwater shares how convenient it can be to abstract away (or remove from view) the infrastructure components of development. But as with any convenience, going serverless has tradeoffs. Rodric Rabbah explains that going serverless can mean giving up control of your deployment and restricts your ability to respond to problems—which is why he helped create Apache OpenWhisk, an open source serverless environment framework. And Himanshu Pant considers when to use serverless services. Serverless computing should be about developer empowerment. But we have to stay curious about the big picture—even as we simplify our toolbox. If you want to dive deeper into the question of serverless development—or any of the subjects we’ve explored this season—check out the resources waiting for you at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. While you’re there, you can even contribute to our very own Command Line Heroes game.

What does serverless really mean? Of course there are still servers—the basics of the internet aren’t changing. But what can developers accomplish when someone else handles the servers? Serverless computing makes it easy for beginners to deploy applications and makes work more efficient for the pros. Andrea Passwater shares how convenient it can be to abstract away (or remove from view) the infrastructure components of development. But as with any convenience, going serverless has tradeoffs. Rodric Rabbah explains that going serverless can mean giving up control of your deployment and restricts your ability to respond to problems—which is why he helped create Apache OpenWhisk, an open source serverless environment framework. And Himanshu Pant considers when to use serverless services. Serverless computing should be about developer empowerment. But we have to stay curious about the big picture—even as we simplify our toolbox. If you want to dive deeper into the question of serverless development—or any of the subjects we’ve explored this season—check out the resources waiting for you at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. While you’re there, you can even contribute to our very own Command Line Heroes game.

At Your Serverless: Development Empowerment with Control

Shells make large-scale IT possible. They’re a necessary component to modern computing. But it might not have turned out that way without a lot of hard work from a developer at the Free Software Foundation named Brian Fox. Now, the Bash shell is shipped with almost every computer in the world. In the ‘70s, Bell Labs wanted to automate sequences of repetitive, complex commands. Chet Ramey describes how Bell developed several shells—but there could be only one officially supported shell for UNIX. Enter the Bourne shell. Though it was the best of that crop, the Bourne shell had its limits. And it was only available with a limited UNIX license. Brian J. Fox recounts his time at the Free Software Foundation where he needed to create a free—as in speech—version of the Bourne shell. It had to be compatible without using any elements of the original source code. That Bourne-Again Shell, aka Bash, is possibly the most widely used software in the planet. And Taz Brown describes how it’s one of the most important tools a developer can learn to use. You can dive deeper into the story of Bash, or any of the programming languages we cover this season, if you head over to the show’s site at redhat.com/commandlineheroes Follow along with the episode transcript.

Shells make large-scale IT possible. They’re a necessary component to modern computing. But it might not have turned out that way without a lot of hard work from a developer at the <a href="https://www.fsf.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Free Software Foundation</a> named Brian Fox. Now, the Bash shell is shipped with almost every computer in the world. In the ‘70s, Bell Labs wanted to automate sequences of repetitive, complex commands. <a href="https://tiswww.case.edu/php/chet/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chet Ramey</a> describes how Bell developed several shells—but there could be only one officially supported shell for UNIX. Enter the Bourne shell. Though it was the best of that crop, the Bourne shell had its limits. And it was only available with a limited UNIX license. Brian J. Fox recounts his time at the Free Software Foundation where he needed to create a free—as in speech—version of the Bourne shell. It had to be compatible without using any elements of the original source code. That Bourne-Again Shell, aka Bash, is possibly the most widely used software in the planet. And <a href="https://twitter.com/heronthecli" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Taz Brown</a> describes how it’s one of the most important tools a developer can learn to use. You can dive deeper into the story of Bash, or any of the programming languages we cover this season, if you head over to the show’s site at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a> Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-3/heroes-in-a-bash-shell#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript</a>.

Heroes in a Bash Shell

The best and brightest took us to the moon with the computing power of pocket calculators. Now they’re taking us farther—and they’re doing it with the tech we’ve been talking about all season. Open source is taking us to Mars. The Season 2 finale takes us to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Tom Soderstrom shares how much JPL has gained by embracing open source. Hila Lifshitz-Assaf explains that NASA is solving some of their greatest problems with open software and crowdsourcing. And Dan Wachspress describes how working with NASA means proprietary companies need to make some sacrifices—but they get to work on the most innovative projects in the world. The explorers of the final frontier are choosing to work in the open—and Mars is their destination. What’s next? And while this may mark the end of Season 2, it's not really goodbye because we still want to hear from you. Reach out to us at redhat.com/commandlineheroes—we'd love to hear what you thought of this season.

The best and brightest took us to the moon with the computing power of pocket calculators. Now they’re taking us farther—and they’re doing it with the tech we’ve been talking about all season. Open source is taking us to Mars. The Season 2 finale takes us to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Tom Soderstrom shares how much JPL has gained by embracing open source. Hila Lifshitz-Assaf explains that NASA is solving some of their greatest problems with open software and crowdsourcing. And Dan Wachspress describes how working with NASA means proprietary companies need to make some sacrifices—but they get to work on the most innovative projects in the world. The explorers of the final frontier are choosing to work in the open—and Mars is their destination. What’s next? And while this may mark the end of Season 2, it's not really goodbye because we still want to hear from you. Reach out to us at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>—we'd love to hear what you thought of this season.

Open Curiosity: NASA, Mars, and Beyond

Big data is going to help solve big problems: how we grow food; how we deliver supplies to those in need; how we cure disease. But first, we need to figure out how to handle it. Modern life is filled with connected gadgets. We now produce more data in a day than we did over thousands of years. Kenneth Cukier explains how data has changed, and how it’s beginning to change us. Dr. Ellen Grant tells us how Boston Children’s Hospital is using open source software to transform mountains of data into individualized treatments. And Sage Weil shares how Ceph’s scalable and resilient cloud storage helps us manage the data flood. Gathering information is key to understanding the world around us. Big data is helping us expand our never-ending mission of discovery. For more about the projects mentioned in this episode, like ChRIS, visit redhat.com/commandlineheroes.

Big data is going to help solve big problems: how we grow food; how we deliver supplies to those in need; how we cure disease. But first, we need to figure out how to handle it. Modern life is filled with connected gadgets. We now produce more data in a day than we did over thousands of years. Kenneth Cukier explains how data has changed, and how it’s beginning to change us. Dr. Ellen Grant tells us how Boston Children’s Hospital is using open source software to transform mountains of data into individualized treatments. And Sage Weil shares how Ceph’s scalable and resilient cloud storage helps us manage the data flood. Gathering information is key to understanding the world around us. Big data is helping us expand our never-ending mission of discovery. For more about the projects mentioned in this episode, like ChRIS, visit <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>.

The Data Explosion: Processing, Storage, and the Cloud

Looking to get into open source but not sure where to start? Are you a contributor trying to understand why only some pull requests get accepted? Or are you a maintainer who’s feeling overwhelmed? This episode looks at what it means to commit to an open source project. We follow our heroes as they progress through the roles of open source contributors: from finding projects and contributing to them, to building and maintaining thriving communities. Shannon Crabill shares how she got her start in open source at Hacktoberfest 2017, and Corinne Warnshuis describes how important it is to include people from all backgrounds to create good software. There are many ways to contribute to open source. Let’s walk through this together. For more about the characters, history, and stories of this episode, visit redhat.com/commandlineheroes. While there, check out how you can contribute to hero-engine and Command Line Heroes: The Game — all levels welcome.

Looking to get into open source but not sure where to start? Are you a contributor trying to understand why only some pull requests get accepted? Or are you a maintainer who’s feeling overwhelmed? This episode looks at what it means to commit to an open source project. We follow our heroes as they progress through the roles of open source contributors: from finding projects and contributing to them, to building and maintaining thriving communities. Shannon Crabill shares how she got her start in open source at Hacktoberfest 2017, and Corinne Warnshuis describes how important it is to include people from all backgrounds to create good software. There are many ways to contribute to open source. Let’s walk through this together. For more about the characters, history, and stories of this episode, visit <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. While there, check out how you can contribute to hero-engine and Command Line Heroes: The Game — all levels welcome.

Ready to Commit: Contributing to Open Source

Clarence Ellis

It’s not easy to learn how to use computers when you can’t actually touch them. But that’s how Dr. Clarence Ellis started his career of invention—which would ultimately lead to reimagining how we all worked with computers and each other.Martez Mott describes the “Mother of all Demos” that would inspire a generation of builders. Gary Nutt recounts working with Dr. Clarence Ellis at Xerox PARC, and the atmosphere at the coveted research lab. Chengzheng Sun and Paul Curzon explain how Operational Transformation—the project to which Dr. Ellis devoted so much time and effort—laid the foundation for the collaborative tools many of us use every day. And Delilah DeMers shares how humble her father was, and how he loved teaching people that technology can be a force for good.“Mother of All Demos” clip courtesy of SRI International. To learn more about Operational Transformation, you can check out this FAQ written by Chengzheng Sun. If you want to read up on some of our research on Dr. Clarence Ellis, you can check out all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Follow along with the episode transcript.

It’s not easy to learn how to use computers when you can’t actually touch them. But that’s how <a href="https://cs.illinois.edu/news/memory-clarence-skip-ellis-1943-2014" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Clarence Ellis</a> started his career of invention—which would ultimately lead to reimagining how we all worked with computers and each other.<a href="http://www.martezmott.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Martez Mott</a> describes the “Mother of all Demos” that would inspire a generation of builders. <a href="https://www.cs.colorado.edu/~nutt/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gary Nutt</a> recounts working with Dr. Clarence Ellis at Xerox PARC, and the atmosphere at the coveted research lab. <a href="https://dl.acm.org/profile/81409597515" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chengzheng Sun</a> and <a href="http://eecs.qmul.ac.uk/profiles/curzonpaul.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Curzon</a> explain how Operational Transformation—the project to which Dr. Ellis devoted so much time and effort—laid the foundation for the collaborative tools many of us use every day. And Delilah DeMers shares how humble her father was, and how he loved teaching people that technology can be a force for good.“Mother of All Demos” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VScVgXM7lQQ&amp;ab_channel=SRIInternational" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">clip</a> courtesy of SRI International. To learn more about Operational Transformation, you can check out <a href="https://www3.ntu.edu.sg/scse/staff/czsun/projects/otfaq/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this FAQ</a> written by Chengzheng Sun. If you want to read up on some of our research on Dr. Clarence Ellis, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-6/clarence-ellis" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. Follow along with <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-6/clarence-ellis#transcript-tray" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the episode transcript</a>.

Dr. Clarence Ellis: The Developer Who Helped Us Collaborate

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