Subject: [.plan] IOException-Interview
From: Boris Kraut <[email-masked]>
To: undisclosed-recipients: ;
Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:37:22 +0100

Vor nem guten halben Jahr, hab ich Michi auf der GPN12 zum ersten
Mal 'live' gesehen und nachdem wir nen bisserl geredet haben, hat
er mich gebeten, fuer seine Interview-Serie auf IOException.de [0]
ein paar Fragen zu beantworten. Ich habe zu gestimmt, es verplant,
dann doch gemacht (HEADSUP: auch mit Bild!), dann hat er es vor
sich hergeschoben, aber jetzt, jetzt ist es da. Entweder unter

  http://www.ioexception.de/2013/01/29/interview-krt/

oder direkt hier:

> I got to know Boris a while ago through a common friend. He
> regularly writes text, which are online accesible here.  He is
> quite active at the "Chaos macht Schule" program and I found him
> to be quite an interesting person, meaning that he deviates from
> the mindset and opinions of average people. After I talked to him
> at the GPN '12 I asked him if he would like to participate in
> this series and he agreed. So here you go!

> Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Boris 'krt' Kraut, but it could as well be anything else:
You don't choose your name, it is given to you by others. Even if you
pick your name by yourself, e.g. a nickname, you can't enforce its
usage. In fact, sometimes you have to earn your name. Imagine a world
where we all are numbers and you have to behave to earn the right to
have a name. Sounds fucked up? It sure is! But have a closer look at
reality: We just are labeled numbers, because what really matters is
your 'score'. Despite everything you have been told, nobody cares
about you, your strengths, your weaknesses, yourself anymore. It's all
about receiving scoring 'higher' on somewhat standardized tests to get
a 'better' chance to earn 'more' money to have 'more' free-time. This
makes me sad.

So, what do I do? I follow a philosophy to improve everywhere: If
there is a problem you can fix without negative consequences, it
doesn't matter if it's your job or not. Just fix it. Sure, you can't
fix everything -- either because you just are not able to or because
you have something better/more important to do. It's just that you can
improve so much with little to no costs. We shouldn't miss those
opportunities. In the past years I have been focusing on
'computer/media literacy', especially the educational system in a
digital millennium.

I study at the University of Education, Karlsruhe, and participate in
the 'Chaos macht Schule' movement. I like swimming and support the
local lifeguards (DLRG), but I resigned from active duty due to my
lack of time.

> Which software or programs do you use most frequently?

Tough questions. We are all using software all the day, we know what
our work setup is like, which programs we use on a daily base, but we
often miss the underlying complexity of the operating systems. Even if
we don't use our laptop or smartphone, we are using software, we are
depending on software each day: Taking the bus? Guess what, you are
using software. Doing the laundry? Software. Reading a book? Hell,
yeah, somewhere in the process of writing, printing, delivering and
reading it, there is likely software involved...

..but to answer your question in a more convenient way I'd pick
'openssh','dtach', 'vim', 'mutt' and 'firefox'.

> Why did you decide to use your particular operating system(s) of
> choice?
Postponing my answers for a while turns out to be right: I can proudly
say I am no longer with Ubuntu anymore. Don't get me wrong, it's not
that bad, it even might just be the OS which fits you, but the reason
I had to use it was a fracked up graphics card with a picky driver
(Intel GMA500, featuring the famous ImgTec PowerVR). Nowadays I use
Debian on my notebook, but it will most likely be replaced sometime
soon. I went with Debian for obvious reasons: I wanted to drop Ubuntu
but hadn't the time to evaluate what I really want. I really hope to
get in touch with BSDs again as I have been a long time FreeBSD user.

I really like fanless systems. I'm frequently checking out ARM based
computers, tablets and smartphones, and so I am using Android a lot. I
don't know if I like it or not, I will have a deeper look at it..
someday.

Oh, I do like TinyCoreLinux :)

> In what manner do you communicate online?
E-mail is the preferred way to communicate with me. In fact, I even
use it for news feeds, task management and my blogging system. I tried
a couple of MUAs, 'nmh', 'mmh' and 'mutt', just to name a few. Right
now, I am using 'mutt', but I am looking for an 'nmh'/'mmh' like
alternative that handles Maildirs and IMAP. I don't like programs that
take you hostage: Give me my shell back!

I also was very active on IRC, but I dumped it because it -- or at
least the channels I used to hang out on -- didn't had to offer
anything relevant for my life. I don't like the design of having
multiple not interconnected networks, but this feature might just save
us one day. Anyways, I reconsider going back to IRC from time to time.
My preferred client was 'irssi', but I really liked the way 'ii'
works.

At last, there's XMPP. I used it, I dropped it, I got back to it. I
don't like XML, I don't like the way how it handles some things, but
after all it's the open instant messaging standard, you better support
it. Currently, I prepare to drop text messaging (SMS) from my
"supported" contact options and replace it with XMPP. My long-term
target is to move voice calls as well to XMPP -- and later upgrade
them to possible video calls. On Android I use the 'beem' and 'yaxim'
clients, however I have yet to find one to support all feature from my
wishlist; Jingle Audio/Video support can be chippy, just like
persistent connections... On the shell, there's currently only one
choice: 'mcabber'. However, just like 'mutt' It captures your term.
There are at least two 'ii' inspired clients, one of them is 'jj' --
obviously. I even tried to write two XMPP clients on my own: One fed
the messages into my mail setup -- there are even two kinds of
messages types defined by XMPP, mail-like normal and chat -- and
another one to resemble the 'talk' messaging system with a 'jfinger'
to receive a users xCard. Speaking of xCards: I think letting each
user keep it's own contact information up-to-date is the sane way
doing it. Keeping files on persons is just not right, it's creepy and
reminds me of Germany's history. Besides, you never gonna keep the
information up-to-date on your own.

By the way, I don't do web-based communication, neither Twitter nor
Facebook. I think they are bloody awful and are doing harm to
humanity. They kill cute kitties and ponies, too. However, I try to
evaluate such services every now and then. Buddycloud looks
interesting...

> Which folders can be found in your home directory?
Having used the same home directory for ages, it has become cluttered
and now shows elements from different naming schemes. I really want to
clean it up, but I can't come up with a sane solution. I am currently
using some sort of task based naming, but maybe project based would be
better? I don't know.. Oh, and... XDG default names are awful. They
brake existing naming traditions. Their scheme is not bad, it's well
thought, but it doesn't feel right for me.

bin: user binaries and scripts
src: source code
man: manuals, rfcs, technical documents and tutorials
gfx: graphics.. haven't used it in ages...
mfx: chiptunes :)
mail: mail, tasks, contacts, blog, ...
ppt: presentations and talks I have given.. no I won't rename it to
     pres...
tmp: temporary files; can be purged after logoff
Desktop: nothing
Downloads: here be dragons... currently flooded with talks/recordings
     I want to watch..  misc: everything else; sorted

> Which paper or literature has had the most impact on you? 
I have yet to find the one true thing, the book or paper that catches
the essence of how and why. I have been influenced by a lot of papers
and persons.  I could name a few, but that would be unkind to all
those I would not include. I actually don't even care much for names
nor bibliographic links, I care for thoughts and ideas.

> What has had the greatest positive influence on your efficiency?
I am not efficient at all, but I try to follow inbox zero. I like KISS
stuff. I avoid complexity or at least try to brake it up to manageable
chunks. Humans and social interaction are a complexity nightmare. They
might be efficient for themselves, but me interacting with them or
vice verse slows things down. I don't understand them. That's where a
lot of my efficiency problems come from.

> How do you approach the development of a new project?
Tossing around ideas in my head. Scribbling them on a sheet of paper
or on a whiteboard. Sort them. Structure them. Look at what is already
there.  What's the goal. Talk with people. Listen to people...
actually I really don't know what to say.

> Which programming language do you like working with most?
I left the path of a "programmers" many years ago. I spend most of my
programming time writing glue code in plain sh. The last few projects
I worked on have been done in ruby, as will be my next/last project
for university. It wasn't my decision to use ruby, but it's an
interesting language. I kinda like it and it worked out okay most
times. Fair enough, but I don't know if I really stick with it.

> In your opinion, which piece of software should be rewritten from
> scratch?
Hardware sucks, software sucks, implementations are bad and most
standards are even worse. I complain a lot because something might not
fit my view/guidelines. But it doesn't matter. Don't fix software, fix
humanity. Seriously, why can't we all be a little nicer to others?

> What would your ideal setup look like?
Actually, I don't know. Small, no bloat, sane. I could write a lot
about CLI, X and what's wrong or right. But a more fundamental
question I still have to answer is whether I want a client/server
setup -- a dump client and a freedom box in every house, meshed
wireless networking, controlled by the people and not the government
or corporations.. -- or a complete road-warrior setup, where
everything is right on my notebook. Do I want a notebook at all? Or
could I use a smartphone/tablet/$futuredevice with an external
keyboard? I don't know..

[0]  http://www.ioexception.de/2013/01/29/interview-krt/
[1]  http://www.ph-karlsruhe.de/
[2]  http://dlrg.de/
[3]  http://ccc.de/schule
[4]  http://www.openssh.com/
[5]  http://dtach.sourceforge.net/
[6]  http://www.vim.org/
[7]  http://www.mutt.org/
[8]  http://www.mozilla.org/firefox/
[9]  http://www.ubuntu.com/
[10] http://www.debian.org/
[11] http://www.freebsd.org/
[12] http://source.android.com/
[13] http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/
[14] http://www.nongnu.org/nmh/
[15] http://marmaro.de/prog/mmh/
[16] http://www.irssi.org/
[17] http://tools.suckless.org/ii/
[18] http://beem-project.com/
[19] https://github.com/pfleidi/yaxim/wiki
[20] http://mcabber.com/
[21] http://23.fi/jj/
[22] http://buddycloud.com/