W.O.X. - WORLD OF XOOPS #17 (February 2009)

Where are you from, and where do you live now?

I live currently in Cincinnati, Ohio (USA), but I grew up in old good Europe (I lived in Poland, Austria, UK, Germany, and France).

How long have you been programming?

With breaks in between - for almost 15 years.

What is your expertise?

Mainly Delphi. It was also my first exposure to Open Source (before it was even called "Open Source" ). At that time we just wanted to develop a library of free Delphi components that everybody could use. I'm trying to get better in PHP.

What got you to XOOPS?

I was developing a Website for friends, and somebody from the Project JEDI designed a Website for Project JEDI using XOOPS. After overcoming some first "learning hurdles"  I really liked the system architecture, its modularity, and its community. I believed that XOOPS has so much potential! And yes, the website for my friends was designed using XOOPS

I was lurking here for several years, but end of 2007 I've decided to get more involved to help DJ (phppp) to get XOOPS back on track. I got a little bit experience with Open Source based on my work on Project JEDI, and was always very impressed with DJ and his work (a man of few words, but who delivers tons of great code), so I've decided to get my hands dirty

What do you like the most about XOOPS?

As I said, the system architecture, its modularity, and its community. It's a fantastic piece of software, as everybody can find a module for almost anything, and use XOOPS right away. I was also able to make here a lot of friends from around the world - it's the same what made me so involved in Project JEDI. The opportunity to work with so many different people from all over the world, from different time zones and with different languages - all with the same goal: to make XOOPS the best CSM program in the world- it's an awesome feeling!!! It makes world look so small! And the beauty is that we don't care from what political system are you coming, where you live, and what language you speak - the only desire is to make XOOPS better! 

In what area of XOOPS do you contribute and why?

I'm now maintaining mainly our XOOPS site http://www.xoops.org, and when time permits, trying to help with documentation and testing, as well as marketing and PR for XOOPS.

What you you major achievement in programming that you're most proud of?

Definitely the JEDI VCL - a library of free component for Delphi.  We had a great team of people, and we put together over 600 components into a one library, that is now used by many Delphi developers around the world. But I hope that in a year I'll say that it's XOOPS, once we take over the world as a best CMS

What are your hobbies, when you're not coding?

It used to be a lot of Taekwondo (I have a Black Belt and two US Taekwondo Championships in open sparring). Nowadays, it's a lot of Salsa dancing   Scuba diving and skiing are also on my list of favorite sport activities.

You favorite dish and drink?

I like Asian food (mostly Thai and Chinese), and to drink Lasse (Indian yogurt drink)

What about movies and music?

There are two movies I really like - "English Patient" by Anthony Minghella and "Red" by Krzysztof Kieslowski.

Reg. music, my taste changed over time. I've been through a Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Yes, and Pink Floyd phase, Jazz Fusion phase (with Chick Corea and Miles Davis), then through Soul and R&B phase, and now I am back to Jazz (incl. Smooth and Brazilian Jazz) - John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Stan Getz/Jobim, Sade, Diana Krall, Chris Botti, Anna Maria Jopek. And of course, a lot of Salsa music, my favorite dance music!

If you were given 30 seconds of free television air time, to be broadcast all throughout the earth, and could say anything you wanted, what would it be?

To take better care of our environment - because that's what our children/grandchildren will be living in, and if we really love them then we should feel responsible for what legacy we'll be leaving to them. Interestingly, the same logic applies here as in programming - cost of clean-up is much higher than cost of prevention.

If you could choose a place and time to live, what would it be and why?

Probably in the Renaissance Italy, because of the beauty of art, and logic of science, both merged into one cultural experience.

Who is the person that you would like to meet and why? 

I always wanted to meet President Clinton, who I consider one of the best US Presidents.  Few years ago I finally met him, and it was definitely something to remember.

This year USA elected President Obama who has a real chance to be even better one. I was also lucky to meet him last year, so for the time being, I am done