[Media] Online interview for OpenFest web site and press releases - DOMAS

[Goritza Belogusheva]

Thank you Domas!
See you in Sofia !

Best,
Goritza

Domas Mituzas написа:
> Goritza,
>
>> 1.Could you tell us some more about yourself and your personal
>> background and what you did before you joined MySQL AB and Wikipedia
>> project - where else did you work and what is your educational
>> background?
>
> I started my IT career by doing some trivial on-site email
> troubleshooting and drifted eventually into more complex projects,
> like first e-banking systems in country or building systems
> infrastructure for major ISP in Baltic states. Though at first I was
> mainly security-focused, eventually providing productivity for masses
> became the most challenging area of work.
>
>> 2.You have a personal blog. What make you to start it? Do you share
>> personal information there or just it's for you it's a good way to
>> communicate with people with same interests?
>
> Though my blog is not a personal diary, it contains some of
> impressions of the world as I see it. Of course, as I work now in open
> environments, I can disclose lots of technical problems I encounter.
>
>> 3.How have you become part of Wikipedia team?
>
> I started editing Wikipedia back in 2003, and as I had systems
> expertise I joined their IRC channel in 2004, then I stayed. Core
> developers back then were very welcoming and sharing their problems,
> and in first few hours we already did some constructive work.
>
>> 4.What was the most impressive thing for you in Wikipedia idea?
>
> I loved encyclopedias since childhood, was frequent visitor of then
> open Britannica on the web. The idea of such valuable information
> resource not only free to read, but also free to edit and participate
> in, was mind-boggling.
>
>> 5.How do you foresee the development of the movement?
>
> More usable, more useful, more reliable. Lots of people on the planet
> are still offline. We wish, that the first stop for them when they
> connect will be enjoying great encyclopedia in their language.
>
>> 6.Could you give us more details about the team work in Wikipedia?
>
> Technical team is really tiny - there're 7 of us doing the daily
> systems work. As our software, MediaWiki, is open-source, we have few
> more developers who contribute. We all started as volunteers, some are
> now employed by the Wikimedia Foundation. As we are all in different
> countries, the major way of communication is IRC - same way like three
> years ago. Decisions in such environment can be made quite easily - if
> at least two or three people agree on an idea, it is already sane
> enough to be worth implementing.
>
> Of course, people working on content have far more complex
> hierarchies, as there are thousands of volunteers writing and
> improving articles. We have multiple projects in different languages,
> so communication there can vary a lot, depending on culture.
>
>> 7.What is the most amazing or inspiring situation for  you about
>> Wikipedia?
>
> We got into top 10 websites in the world with shoestring budget and
> technology team that we are able to count on fingers. This shows how
> great idea can motivate to achieve more than anyone could imagine.
>
>> 8.Which are the most challenging aspects in the work for non-profit
>> organization as Wikipedia?
>
> We still rely on donations and avoid advertisements on our site. It
> makes fundraising more difficult, and we always have to prove, that
> every cent is spent in best possible ways. Our "share holders" are
> community, so instead of looking at profit we have to look how we
> follow goals established by community.
>
>> 9.What kind of MySQL is using for Wikipedia - the usual or special
>> made for the needs of the project?
>
> We use standard MySQL 4.0, though recently we started to include some
> patches released by Google.  As we run just single application on our
> data stores, we can employ most of scaling techniques - replication,
> partitioning, specialized databases, etc. We know how every query and
> operation performs, and with performance we have now, we are really
> happy.
>
>> 10.What is your opinion about competition between MySQL and
>> PostgresSQL? Do you think MySQL will keep strong market position?
>> Don't you think that MySQL is getting too commercial?
>
> MySQL is amazing place to work at - we do have a commitment to provide
> the world with great open-source database, and that creates uplifting
> atmosphere. Lately we're becoming far more open than ever - our
> internal project management system became public, developers are
> moving to public IRC channels, even experimental changes are visible
> on our mailing lists. MySQL is a commercial company, but a very open one.
>
> Both MySQL and PostgreSQL have their merits, but I believe that these
> projects cooperate far more than compete - proving that open-source
> databases are capable and efficient. I am very happy to see how
> break-through ideas can be realized using free components, and anyone
> who works to help that earns my respect.
>
>> 11.What are you going to talk about at OpenFest'07 in Sofia? What are
>> your expectations from the conference?
>
> I want to share the story of building Wikipedia technology - how ideas
> and enthusiasm can be used to create big things, how simple solutions
> can work, and how complex tasks can be delayed or forgotten.
>
> I hope that Wikipedia's story inspires people to work on various
> projects they've been hiding. And of course, I'd really like to meet
> local community and hear their stories.
>
> Best regards,
> Domas


-- 
Goritza Belogusheva
Marketing & sales

ABC Design & Communication
tel: (+359 2) 951 51 87
41 Nikola Slavkov str,
Sofia 1463

За едно кафе време все ще намерим :) - www.Kafene.bg