Episode: 579
Title: HPR0579: Interview with Jeff and Loafy, two SELF volunteers
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr0579/hpr0579.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-07 23:27:09

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Hacker Public Radio!
Hi everyone, this is Clat 2. I'm at a South East Linux best 2010 second annual.
And I'm sitting in a room with Jeff and he was a volunteer here at South today as far as I know.
Is that what you are?
Yeah, it's originally a sponsor, but they asked me if I wanted to volunteer and I said yes.
You're a sponsor?
Indeed.
Philly and you volunteered as well?
Absolutely.
Cool, alright, that's great.
So what do you do at IRL?
What do I do at IRL?
I go to school and I study electrical engineering.
Okay, so if you do electrical engineering, are you on Cat-a-lot?
No, that's much as I'd like to be.
Oh, okay.
And how long have you been studying this?
About a year and a half.
Okay, so you're, is that like pretty early?
So you're still not getting into like the designs as much yet?
Oh, I'm graduating next year.
I'm almost done.
Oh, okay.
So why did you say you weren't in Cat as much as you would like to?
Because I took portfolio credit so I skipped a lot of classes that would basically make up the core of engineering.
So what are you designing?
Are we talking about chips or something or motherboards or what is electrical engineering?
Oh, for me, I'm a technologist.
I'm more of an applied engineer.
I do a lot of microcontroller design and circuit design.
And, you know, fun stuff like that.
I have no idea what any of that means.
Okay, cool.
So how did you find Linux?
How did I find Linux?
Gosh, I mean, I've been, boy, I probably found Linux back in the late 90s when I had a 2400 modem.
Probably maybe it's early 90s.
See, it's probably about 14.
So probably about 95.
And I started dialing up to BBSs.
So my first exposure was to AT&T Unix, actually.
Wow.
Yeah.
And I mean, but literally, okay.
So if you're on BBSs, if you're reading or listening about or I mean learning about Unix and Linux,
when did you like really start, like when did you install it and like what did you start with?
It was in the Navy.
I started with Stellaris and Hpux and some various flavors of Linux.
So you're kind of, I mean, you're actually kind of a Unix guy?
Yes, I am, but that's off the record.
Okay.
I don't know if you saw my shirt earlier.
It was a Tidewater Unix users group.
Wow.
And it's specifically that because the Tidewater area is a lot of military.
Okay.
And a lot of military use a lot of Stellaris and Hpux.
And even not so much anymore, but AT&T Unix.
That's, I mean, that's like from way back when, but still we have systems that are, you know,
10, 15, 20 years old that still use ancient hardware and software.
Okay.
Well, not.
It's really, really cool.
So shifting topic a little bit.
What do you think of the festival?
And is this your first year here at Telfer?
Is this your second year at the Second Self?
This is my first self.
Okay.
I'm originally from Minnesota, so I'm just in Hampton Roads for the Navy.
I've been to a lot of land parties growing up, but never been to a Linux festival.
It's my first.
Oh, cool.
Okay.
So yeah, what do you think?
I love it.
Man, it's great.
A lot of good talks.
I wish I could have gone to more, you know, maybe clone myself a couple of times.
Yeah.
So I'm looking forward to the online content as well and forums or just discussion about it.
This is really, really exciting.
You know, get pumped up and jazzed and meet other people that are just crazy about, you know, Linux and open source.
Yeah.
The open community is really what this is all about.
Okay.
Well, actually that was my next question.
So I guess you kind of just answered it.
But how I was going to say also the other question is how important do you think free software is in general in the world?
I think focusing on free software would be the, for me it would be the wrong thing to look at.
For me, it's the open community.
It's the open communication.
It's not hiding stuff from everybody else.
It's just being open and honest and saying, hey, I've developed this.
What do you guys think?
What do other people in the world think?
Because that's a lot of this.
I mean, that's a lot what I do in the Navy.
I developed systems and I developed software to, you know, interconnect everything basically.
And the only way I can progress is by talking to engineers, talking to end users, talking to, you know, developers.
And pretty much everybody that has anything to do with the software and hardware that I'm touching.
And that's the only way that we can really succeed.
Because anybody that hoards or tries to, you know, privatize or make something, you know, highly proprietary really is going to fail in today's modern world.
Cool. Interesting.
That's an interesting.
Yours has kind of been a new perspective for me.
I've never met someone who does exactly what you do.
So that's really cool.
You don't know what I do.
Well, you said you made other computers talk to each other.
A lot of what I've done in the Navy is linking systems together.
Okay.
Having them communicate, I've worked a lot of non-existent systems that pass tactical information.
And, you know, they're not all the same flavors.
And, you know, I've used a lot of, like, SAMBA and even wine to communicate in cross-platforms.
So I think we're heading there because more and more businesses and people are realizing that, you know, we're in a networked world.
Everything's connected and we need to be able to share information.
And the only way we can do that is if we have, you know, standards that everyone can, or most people can agree on.
Right.
Well, cool. Thanks for, thanks for talking to me, Jeff.
Rock on, dude.
You might as well go.
Do you have more tickets?
There would be more.
Do you still have more tickets?
I do have more tickets.
Other sponsors.
You know, less sponsors, you've got to stick together.
I would have given you mine, but I think you just weren't around whenever I was, like, losing them.
So.
Hi, everyone. This is Kwatu.
I'm at Southeast Linux Fest 2010, sitting in a room, chilling with Lofi, who I actually know from IRC.
So how are you doing, Lofi?
I'm doing okay. How about yourself, Kwatu?
I'm doing really well. Thanks.
So, is this your first self?
This is my first self.
What do you think of it?
Love the community.
And you're volunteering this year, right?
Yeah.
All right. I didn't originally sign up the volunteer.
Just, I walked in.
Hey, you need help.
Look how I take care of it.
That's cool.
Okay. So, um, all right.
So, first of all, how did you, um, how did you find Linux and how long have you been using it?
Wow. What year is this?
2010.
2006.
Oh, okay.
Coming out in the military.
I took a redhead class, but I ended up leaving school for one reason or another.
Okay.
And I worked as a maintenance man.
They came upon a couple of old computers.
I remember Linux, so, huh?
So, I went to go back and do the research.
And I started off with a bunch of, and then rolled myself back out to Debian.
Nice. Is that what you're running now?
Just Debian here.
Yeah. You're unstable or sted?
Ah, stable.
Ah, so you're one of the stable people, you know?
Walking the walls out just yet.
And me and you there.
I mean, I know, um, Dave Yates, it's running, Sid and everything, but I literally did try it.
And I guess I must have done it wrong because it blew up.
It's just something about AppGit.
I rather do that then.
Yeah.
You don't have anything.
No, you know, young is not so bad.
Really, I assure you.
Yeah, I use synth also at work, so.
Yeah. Um, so, well, actually, that is leading into my next question, thanks.
Um, so what do you do in real life?
Real life, I'm a private contractor for a small IT company.
Nice, okay.
Which entails, like, what, going out on-site to, like, fix networks or something?
It involves everything from going in as far as antivirus to send up a phone system
to hosting a couple of thermal servers.
Cool. Okay.
And so, primarily, you're, you're doing synthos on that stuff?
Astrid.
Okay.
And for the most part, synthos plays a lot in today.
Okay.
Astrid and Tricksbox.
Oh, you used Tricksbox.
Is that still being, like, is that currently developed?
Well, diversity has.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Okay.
So, as it stands now, half is Tricksbox.
Half is Astrid's now.
Okay.
I'm working on point everything to Astrid's now, even though I had that.
So, are you pretty good on the whole, like, what is it, PBX stuff?
I'm getting there.
It's one of those things I didn't learn in school.
I had to go RTFM in for lack of a better term.
Wow.
So, how did you get into that line of work?
And, you know, I mean, like, how did you?
Because it doesn't sound like you had a whole lot of super formal training and computing.
But you work in the computer industry now.
I've always been a hardware monkey.
I started off fixing VCRs and televisions.
Oh, okay.
So, I just moved up from there.
And due to fact, I, for some reason, I love the fact that I can, one computer could talk to somebody way over here.
Yep.
That's why I got involved in networking.
That's why I'm working on now.
Do you have any of the certificates?
I mean, I know you said you started to take the Red Act class, but like, the other certifications that some people are talking about sometimes.
Do you have any of those?
I'm actually working towards my Linux Plus.
Okay.
I'm going to have my school that trying to push me.
Won't you go to Cisco route?
No.
I don't.
Okay.
I don't want to be just specialized in hardware.
Okay.
If I can do something that can run on any piece of hardware, it's a lot better.
Yeah.
What's your coolest, I'm going to call it a hardware hack.
But you can interpret that as you, as you will.
But like, what's the coolest thing you've, you've done hardware in Linux-wise?
Hardware in Linux-wise?
Yeah.
Just going to network all the work with, there's not even Linux is Unix.
Oh.
With my free NAS server.
Okay.
Now, shall we run Windows, Linux, and Unix?
Wow.
Why?
Oh, because those are the platforms that they have to support?
He runs a, he does host Windows terminal server.
Uh-huh.
And he has a couple of clients.
That's all they want is Windows.
Right.
Well, of course the phone system.
Right.
That's Tricks Plus Live Street.
Okay.
Units Plus comes in with free NAS.
Right.
And I'm trying to, I'm not, I haven't got a smooth wall to where I want it yet.
Yeah.
I'm working, that's my next project, working on a firewall.
I know that some people literally will take like a, you know, a computer and, and like, have it as they, that is the firewall.
That's, you know, like, a whole computer dedicated to being basically a firewall, right?
Whereas other people, it's enough to have it, like, I guess, embedded on their router or whatever.
Why would you need a whole computer to be a firewall?
It depends on how much you really want to have to do with it.
Okay.
Like a lot of days, yeah, everything is a plastic, a plastic deck.
Yeah.
So, you know, well, who would go back doing anything by hand?
For some smaller company and some people, they just want to manage better to have hands on.
They just find the old box and do it themselves.
I mean, what else you're going to do with the box?
You don't want to throw away.
Still good, still works.
Put the work.
Why aren't you recycling hardware?
Yeah, exactly.
So how many, how many computers do you have in your, in your home?
Well, currently, three laptops, one old Dell server, three P3s, one P2s, and one P4.
My Dell.
That's it?
That's just computers now.
Yeah.
There's also phones.
I said VCR.
Right.
What about a lot of my hardware at the flea market?
Do you?
Give it away.
Well, at least they're giving it away, and they're not just like throwing it out.
Because there, there, I was, one of my old jobs.
Someone came in and was like, hey, I need to recycle.
They said, I think they said recycle a computer.
And I said, okay, that sounds cool.
Just bring it in.
And you know what I was going to do with it, right?
I mean, I was going to recycle it right into my apartment.
So he brings it in.
And he brings it in like a brown paper bag.
And I was like, that's kind of weird, you know?
And he, it's a laptop.
And he, he puts a lot, brown paper bag down.
And I was just like, why did he bring it in brown paper bag?
So he, he leaves.
And he says, you know, thanks a lot, man, bye.
And so I, I opened the thing.
And it's like this, his computer.
And he smashed it.
That I hammered.
Like to bits.
Poked holes through the screen.
Smashed the keyboard.
Totally ruined it.
You know, ironically, because you know why I was doing it.
I'm sure he was going to try to, you know, how they tell you, like, you know,
just throw your hard drive or the identity.
It's, we'll get you.
I'm sure he did it for that reason.
Yeah, but you still look at the hard drive.
His hard drive was still good.
The round.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The keys for the left.
It was insane.
It can be parted in.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Totally.
So yeah, that's, it's really annoying when people do stuff like that.
But they do.
A little mass trust.
A little mass trust.
Exactly.
All right, cool.
Well, thanks for talking to me, Lofi.
I'm sure I'll see you in IRC at some point.
Yeah.
Cool.
I think so.
Thank you for listening to Half the Public Radio.
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Yeah.
Yeah.