|
Barry Warsaw Named Second Annual Winner of $10,000 Pizzigati Prize |
|
Page 1 of 5  Open Source Activist Winner of Nation’s
Top Award for Public Interest Computing
San Francisco, January 30, 2008— Tides Foundation announces the winner of the second annual $10,000 Pizzigati Prize. Barry Warsaw, a software developer dedicated to identifying and solving the technological problems that confront social change movements, has won the Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest.
Barry Warsaw is being recognized for his work as the lead developer of GNU Mailman, the open source application that hundreds of nonprofits around the world are now using to manage electronic mail discussions and e-newsletter lists.
The Pizzigati Prize — an award program launched two years ago by Tides Foundation’s Florence and Frances Family Fund — aims to honor individuals who, in the spirit of open source computing, fashion outstanding applications that help nonprofits become more effective in their ongoing social change efforts.
“Barry Warsaw has displayed, over the years, a powerful personal commitment to the ideals behind the Pizzigati Prize,” notes Jason Sanders, Tides Philanthropic Advisor who coordinates the prize competition. “His work has demonstrated vision and inspired innovation in public interest computing.”
Warsaw’s free Mailman application, the judges for this year’s Pizzigati Prize observed, has built up a large, experienced base of users who have been more than willing to help new users make the best possible use of the software. And Mailman’s design and development team actively listens to — and interacts with — everyday users.
These interactions reflect Warsaw’s core software development values. A software engineer for over 25 years, Warsaw emphasizes the importance of healthy communities in software development.
“I hope that the Mailman project has served as a good model for open source software development,” he notes. “More than that, I hope that the community of Mailman users reflects my deeply held ideals of how we start by treating each other with empathy, kindness, and respect, and how we create positive social change by sharing those lessons with the wider world around us.”
|
