Why do I do it?

I started because I couldn't find anything similar available for FTP (this was in the days before even Gopher, let alone WWW) and because I wanted to play with net software. I carry on because I enjoy providing a service that's used by thousands of people around the world. It's great to get all the positive feedback and help from the net and to find out what the hot topics in the world of computing are.

I've learned a hell of a lot about computing, comms, maths and other interesting subjects, thanks to many excellent contributions from the knowledgeable and kind people on the net. I consider all my contributors, mirror maintainers, and guest editors as friends.

It's been amazing watching the access statistics growing as more and more people get on the Internet. One major headache for new Internet users must be all the terminology, buzzwords, and acronyms you run up against; the dictionary is the place on the net to go with those questions like "What does RTFM stand for?", "Is IBM on the Web?", "What the hell's a URL?", "Where can I find out about ISDN?", and so on.

Apart from all those important reasons, it looks good on my CV.

Why don't you try to make money from it?

When people hear how popular FOLDOC is, they often say "Why don't you charge for it?" or, more recently, "Why don't you sell advertising space?" Firstly, that's not what I'm interested in. I already have a full-time job and if I charged for FOLDOC then I'd have to guarantee some level of service whereas at the moment I do as much or as little as I want.

Secondly, it's not mine to sell. It belongs to the net - to all the good folk who've helped make it what it is. I do claim copyright on it, but mostly to prevent anyone else trying to do so and to ensure that it remains free.

Lastly, it's against college rules. Imperial College Department of Computing has been very understanding and supportive, though the dictionary has never been an official project and has never had any direct funding of any sort.

What qualifies you as an expert on computing?

I'm more of a jack-of-all-trades than an expert. I'm 39 years old and have worked on or studied every nearly aspect of computing, including quantum mechanics, VLSI design, electronics, logic design, processor architecture, parallel processing, assembly language, BASIC, C, Lisp, Prolog, functional programming languages, natural language processing, AI, Visual Basic, Java, Perl, networking, Unix kernel hacking, Windows registry hacking, COBOL, VMS, umpteen Unixes, RISC OS, NEXTSTEP, George 9, DOS, Windows 95, Windows NT. I've worked in industrial research and development, academic research, and the IT department of a law firm. Having said that, I rely on help from contributors and users for the vast majority of the knowledge contained in FOLDOC.

Last modified: Wed Mar 5 00:39:31 GMT 2003

Denis Howe