Linux.com Article DB: Interview with Eric Allman, CTO of Sendmail Inc.

Linux.com: For those of us who live in the bay area, you've made what to me is an interesting decision and located Sendmail, Inc.'s office in Emeryville, a town in the east bay just opposite the city and at least a one hour drive to Silicon Valley. Why did you locate there?

Eric Allman: Maybe because I hate Silicon Valley? It feels like L.A. to me - not my favorite place. I live in Berkeley, and definitely wasn't willing to commute (tried that, never again), and moving from a place that I love to a place that I find tepid at best would have been painful. Greg Olson had already done the move to the valley, and was desperate to get back. Real estate was much cheaper, and programming talent (from places like UC Berkeley) was abundant. The people who have the hardest time of it are the management and marketing types, who mostly live where the money is - that is, the valley.

Linux.com: What do you do for fun?

Eric Allman: I like to eat good food. I cook and collect wine. I like going for long walks when I can - as I write this I'm in north Wales, where there are amazingly beautiful walks across rugged hills. I enjoy reading non-technical stuff - I recently finished re-reading Fellowship of the Ring, in hopeful preparation for the movie release in December. I listen to music (some modern, some classical) and go to Cal Performances (based at UC Berkeley) for dance concerts, recitals, modern opera (I love Philip Glass), and so forth.

And when I have time, I immerse myself into programming.

Linux.com: What do you like best about programming?

Eric Allman: That's like asking what you like best about sex. There are so many things and ranking them seems pointless.

I like solving puzzles. I like challenging myself. I like building real things that really work. I like being able to lose myself in the problem, work for hours without even noticing the passage of time. I like the "Aha!" moment when it all becomes obvious and you can berate yourself for not seeing it earlier. I like the especially clever solution, the really great hack, the beauty and efficiency of a problem well solved.

Linux.com: What operating system do you run?

Eric Allman: FreeBSD. Sorry, I'm not a Linux user, perhaps because of my Berkeley roots, perhaps just because I find BSD more familiar.

Unfortunately, I do need to have NT or Win2K available to exchange documents with non-Unix users. Office suites such as StarOffice are a step in the right direction, but they aren't all the way there yet. But I'm waiting with great expectations.

Of course, inside the company we have most major systems available for development and testing, and I'll use them when necessary.

Linux.com: What is your favorite pudding? I mean, if you could have any dessert you wanted, what would it be?

Eric Allman: I don't think I have "a favorite" - it depends on my mood. I tend not to go for big heavy things like chocolate torte cakes or tiramisu - I'll tend toward sorbets or something like that. Although 4th Street Grill, a long gone restaurant in Berkeley, used to have the most exquisite ice creme sundaes, and I have been known to consume a particularly good chocolate truffle.

Linux.com: Mr Allman, thank you so much with talking with us here at Linux.com.

Originally Published: Monday, 27 August 2001	Author: The Staff of Linux.com
Published to: develop_articles/Development Articles	Page: 4/4 - [Printable]
Interview with Eric Allman, CTO of Sendmail Inc. Today, the first day of Linux World, San Francisco, Sendmail Inc. one of the world's most successful open source companies and IBM (big blue) announced a joint partnership to deliver powerful software for mainframes on Linux at a scale the world has perhaps not seen before. This terrific validation of the open source development method is cause for celebration. Linux.com caught up with Eric Allman, CTO of Sendmail, Inc. (who wrote the original sendmail back in 1981, arguably the most important piece of network software ever written) to ask the guy some questions.

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Linux.com: For those of us who live in the bay area, you've made what to me is an interesting decision and located Sendmail, Inc.'s office in Emeryville, a town in the east bay just opposite the city and at least a one hour drive to Silicon Valley. Why did you locate there? Eric Allman: Maybe because I hate Silicon Valley? It feels like L.A. to me - not my favorite place. I live in Berkeley, and definitely wasn't willing to commute (tried that, never again), and moving from a place that I love to a place that I find tepid at best would have been painful. Greg Olson had already done the move to the valley, and was desperate to get back. Real estate was much cheaper, and programming talent (from places like UC Berkeley) was abundant. The people who have the hardest time of it are the management and marketing types, who mostly live where the money is - that is, the valley. Linux.com: What do you do for fun? Eric Allman: I like to eat good food. I cook and collect wine. I like going for long walks when I can - as I write this I'm in north Wales, where there are amazingly beautiful walks across rugged hills. I enjoy reading non-technical stuff - I recently finished re-reading Fellowship of the Ring, in hopeful preparation for the movie release in December. I listen to music (some modern, some classical) and go to Cal Performances (based at UC Berkeley) for dance concerts, recitals, modern opera (I love Philip Glass), and so forth. And when I have time, I immerse myself into programming. Linux.com: What do you like best about programming? Eric Allman: That's like asking what you like best about sex. There are so many things and ranking them seems pointless. I like solving puzzles. I like challenging myself. I like building real things that really work. I like being able to lose myself in the problem, work for hours without even noticing the passage of time. I like the "Aha!" moment when it all becomes obvious and you can berate yourself for not seeing it earlier. I like the especially clever solution, the really great hack, the beauty and efficiency of a problem well solved. Linux.com: What operating system do you run? Eric Allman: FreeBSD. Sorry, I'm not a Linux user, perhaps because of my Berkeley roots, perhaps just because I find BSD more familiar. Unfortunately, I do need to have NT or Win2K available to exchange documents with non-Unix users. Office suites such as StarOffice are a step in the right direction, but they aren't all the way there yet. But I'm waiting with great expectations. Of course, inside the company we have most major systems available for development and testing, and I'll use them when necessary. Linux.com: What is your favorite pudding? I mean, if you could have any dessert you wanted, what would it be? Eric Allman: I don't think I have "a favorite" - it depends on my mood. I tend not to go for big heavy things like chocolate torte cakes or tiramisu - I'll tend toward sorbets or something like that. Although 4th Street Grill, a long gone restaurant in Berkeley, used to have the most exquisite ice creme sundaes, and I have been known to consume a particularly good chocolate truffle. Linux.com: Mr Allman, thank you so much with talking with us here at Linux.com.
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