Wikipedia

Brian Fox (programmer)

Brian Jhan Fox(born 1959) is an Americancomputer programmerandfree softwareadvocate. He is the original author of theGNUBashshell,which he announced as a beta in June 1989.[1]He continued as the primary maintainer of bash until at least early 1993.[2][3]Fox also built the first interactiveonline bankingsoftware in the U.S. forWells Fargoin 1995,[4]and he created anopen sourceelection system in 2008.

Brian Jhan Fox
Fox in 2008
Born(1959-12-11)December 11, 1959(age 64)
Boston,Massachusetts,U.S.
Occupations
Employer(s)Opus Logica, Inc.
Known forGNU Bash
RelativesDonal Fox(brother)

Free Software Foundation

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In 1985, Fox worked withRichard Stallmanat Stallman's newly createdFree Software Foundation.[5]At the FSF, Fox authoredGNU Bash,[6]GNU Makeinfo,GNU Info,GNU Finger,GNU Echo[7]and thereadline[8]and history libraries.

He was also the maintainer ofGNU Emacsfor a time, making many contributions to the software which was created and maintained for the GNU Project between 1986 and 1994.[4]

Open source election systems

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In 2008, Fox collaborated with Alan Dechert and Brent Turner to create a completely open source election system. The system was coded together with Parker Abercrombie, and demonstrated at the LinuxWorld conference in Moscone Center in San Francisco, August 5–7, 2008.[9]

Fox also is a founding member of both theCalifornia Association of Voting Officials(CAVO)[10]and the National Association of Voting Officials (NAVO).[11]These not-for-profit organizations promote open source voting systems for use in public elections. Fox co-wrote aNew York Timespiece in 2015 with formerCIAheadR. James Woolseyadvocating open source election systems as a means of securing US elections against interference from foreign actors.[12]

Other software

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Fox also wrote AMACS, a cut-down implementation ofEmacsfor theApple II.[13]

Relatives

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He is the fourth born in a family of six siblings: composer and musicianDonal Fox,Thaddeus Fox, sister Ena Fox, Daniel Fox and sister Sara Fox-Ray. He is the son of physicist and educator Herbert Fox[14]and grandson of artist Daniel Fox, creator of theMonopoly Man.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Brian Fox (forwarded by Leonard H. Tower Jr.) (June 7, 1989)."Bash is in beta release!".Newsgroup:gnu.announce.Usenet:[email protected].RetrievedOctober 28,2010.
  2. ^ "January 1993 GNU's Bulletin".Newsgroup:gnu.announce.April 20, 1993.Usenet:[email protected].RetrievedOctober 28,2010.
  3. ^ Chet Ramey (October 31, 2010),Dates in your Computerworld interview,retrievedOctober 31,2010
  4. ^ab"A Bash with Brian Fox: GNU Software and Entrepreneurship".engineering.UCSB.edu.Archived fromthe originalon November 19, 2011.
  5. ^"Brian Fox".Archived fromthe originalon July 24, 2011.
  6. ^The GNU Bash Reference ManualArchivedJuly 16, 2006, at theWayback Machine,(HTML versionArchivedFebruary 2, 2006, at theWayback Machine) by Chet Ramey and Brian Fox,ISBN0-9541617-7-7
  7. ^"echo.c".
  8. ^Chet Ramey and Brian Fox."The GNU Readline Page"(PDF).Docs.freebsd.org. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on July 31, 2003.RetrievedMay 4,2015.
  9. ^"OVC at LinuxWorld 2008".YouTube.Alan Dechert. August 23, 2008.Archivedfrom the original on December 13, 2021.RetrievedNovember 27,2016.
  10. ^"Board Members".California Association of Voting Officials.RetrievedNovember 27,2016.
  11. ^"Board Members".National Association of Voting Officials.RetrievedNovember 27,2016.
  12. ^Woolsey, R. James; Fox, Brian J. (August 3, 2017)."To Protect Voting, Use Open-Source Software".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedAugust 3,2017.
  13. ^"AppleIIc emacs".
  14. ^"Herbert Fox".Uml.edu. November 25, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon February 23, 2015.RetrievedMay 4,2015.
  15. ^Assoc. of Game and Puzzle Collectors Quarterly www.AGPC.ORG summer 2013 Vol.15 No. 2. Page 18.Meet Dan Fox-- The Artist Who Created "Mr. Monopoly"by Philip E.Orbanes
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