Beginning Linux Programming

Neil Matthew has been interested in and has programmedcomputers since 1974. A mathematics graduate from the University ofNottingham, Neil is just plain keen on programming languages andlikes to explore new ways of solving computing problems. He'swritten systems to program in BCPL, FP (Functional Programming),Lisp, Prolog, and a structured BASIC. He even wrote a 6502microprocessor emulator to run BBC microcomputer programs on UNIXsystems. In terms of UNIX experience, Neil has used almost everyflavor since the late 1970s, including BSD UNIX, AT&T System V,Sun Solaris, IBM AIX, many others, and of course Linux. He canclaim to have been using Linux since August 1993 when he acquired afloppy disk distribution of Soft Landing (SLS) from Canada, withkernel version 0.99.11. He's used Linux-based computers forhacking C, C++, Icon, Prolog, Tcl, and Java at home and atwork. All of Neil's "home" projects are developed usingLinux. He says Linux is much easier because it supports quite a lotof features from other systems, so that both BSD- and SystemV-targeted programs will generally compile with little or nochange. Neil is currently working as an Enterprise Architect specializingin IT strategy at Celesio AG. He has a background in technicalconsultancy, software development techniques, and qualityassurance. Neil has also programmed in C and C++ for real-timeembedded systems. Rick Stones started programming at school (more years agothan he cares to remember) on a 6502-powered BBC micro, which, withthe help of a few spare parts, continued to function for the next15 years. He graduated from Nottingham University with a degree inElectronic Engineering, but decided software was more fun. Over the years he has worked for a variety of companies, from thevery small with just a dozen employees, to the very large,including the IT services giant EDS. Along the way he has worked ona range of projects, from real-time communications to accountingsystems, to very large help desk systems. He is currently workingas an IT architect, acting as a technical authority on variousmajor projects for a large pan-European company. A bit of a programming linguist, he has programmed in variousassemblers, a rather neat proprietary telecommunications languagecalled SL-1, some FORTRAN, Pascal, Perl, SQL, and smidgeons ofPython and C++, as well as C. (Under duress he even admits that hewas once reasonably proficient in Visual Basic, but tries not toadvertise this aberration.)