Geert
Glider bv was founded by Geert Uytterhoeven, to build upon the (embedded) Linux (Kernel) expertise he gained while pursuing his passion for Linux, computers, and programming.
Previously he worked as a Software Engineer/Architect at Sony (1999–2013), and as a Researcher at K.U.Leuven, where he obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science (1994–1999).
Linux
The choice of a GNU generation
Geert became involved with Linux more than 25 years ago, when he started hacking the Linux kernel to make it work better on his Amiga. This paved the way for a long string of contributions to Linux.
- Maintainer of the port of Linux/m68k to the Amiga platform (1996–present),
- Initiator and maintainer of the port of Linux/PPC to the CHRP LongTrail platform (1997–2004),
- Port of Linux/MIPS to the NEC DDB Vrc-5074 evaluation board (2000),
- Maintainer of the Linux kernel frame buffer device subsystem (1997–2004),
- Member of the XFree86 development team (1996–2001).
- Maintainer of the Linux kernel on the m68k (with MMU) architecture (2004–present),
- PS3 and Linux on Cell (storage, graphics, …, 2006–2009),
- Renesas ARM-based SoCs (2013–present),
- Maintainer of Renesas clock and pin control drivers (2016–present),
- Linux Long-Term Support Initiative (LTSI) submaintainer (2018),
- Maintainer of Renesas ARM SoC platforms (2019–present),
- Author or maintainer of various kernel drivers (Ethernet, graphics, IDE, audio, SCSI, RTC, …),
- m68k, PowerPC, MIPS, ARM, SuperH, RISC-V, …
- Invitee of the Linux Kernel Developers Summit (2002–2004),
- Member of the program committee of the Embedded and Mobile devroom at FOSDEM (2004–present),
Computers, Programming, and Embedded
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Geert became fascinated by computers when he found out about their existence. His fascination can be attributed to two factors:
- If you can program the computer correctly, you can make it do whatever you want, and repeat this ad infinitum,
- Once the program has been completed, you can duplicate it at (almost) no cost, unlike tangible objects,
Programming embedded devices is a logical continuation from the first factor: it's about making the thing (appliance, service, …) do what you want, without the user thinking much about it.
Hacker Ethic
Hackers like to hack. They enjoy tinkering with computers, learning how things work, and finding clever solutions to complicated problems.
In personal conversations with technical people, I call myself a hacker.
But when I'm talking to journalists I just say programmer or something like that.
— Linus Torvalds