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User:Kgbarrett

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Keith Barrett User Page

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Welcome to my user page

Keith Barrett

By career I am a software engineer, project manager and Open Source advocate. I was a developer at Digital Equipment in the 1980s, became a Linux user/developer since it's first release on USENET by Linus Torvalds, and was eventually employed as a High Availability Linux developer at Red Hat (for further information see http://KeithBarrett.com ). For the past few years I've been working for The Walt Disney Company, where I've had the privilege of meeting many interesting people. Being part of all these companies while computer history was being made means that I actually lived first hand what some people debate over in articles, so these are informational areas I will try to help keep accurate and provide citations.

Outside of work I grew up on 60s and 70s television, was the original author of "The Prisoner" TV show USENET FAQ and major contributor to the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" FAQ. I also owned two Caterham Seven automobiles (partically because of my fandom for "the Prisoner") and helped create the USA owners forum for that vehicle. These are all areas I have an unhealthy wealth of knowledge about and will help wiki. I was also a regular visitor to Walt Disney World's Adventurers Club and will be helping support that article.

I've been a minor contributor to Wikipedia since 2006.

Article Contributions

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The following is a list of articles I watch/contribute to and my justification for any imformative position I may have. In no particular order:

  • Linux - I've been a Linux user and contributor since its 0.99pl4 release on USENET.
  • Red Hat, Red Hat Linux, Linux-HA - I worked for Red Hat as a Linux developer of High Availability technology, and with people like Bob Young, Erik Troan, Havoc Pennington, Christopher Blizzard, Alan Robertson, and too many other fine people to list.
  • Celebration, Florida - I've been a resident there and participated in the community.
  • Walt Disney World - I've worked for this company and a fan and frequent visitor of the parks.
  • Adventurers Club - I have been a patron there for almost 20 years, including its final operational days, and am very familiar with the history and operations of this attraction. I've also met and discussed the club with its designer, Joe Rohde. I contributed a lot of content to this page.
  • Digital Equipment Corporation, RSTS/E, VAX/VMS - I was a Software Developer and Support specialist for Digital Equipment in RSTS/E and VAX/VMS products.
  • Message queuing - I co-authored "DECmessageQ", computings first multi-platform message queuing service (precedes IBM MQ), later purchased by BEA Systems, so I participated in the actual history of this technology.
  • AltaVista - While working for Digital Equipment, I was a heavy user of this technology before it was made available to the public.
  • Amiga Computer - I was a big fan and user of this home computer system.
  • Greeting Cards - My wife is well-known greeting card artist and I've had a lot of exposure to this business and history.
  • Caterham Seven Car - I owned two; the first when it was quite a challenge in the USA to obtain one. I also created the first USA owner's forum for the car and help arrange a major gathering of owners.
  • Roland Bainton (author) - He was my Grandfather-in-law.
  • The Prisoner - I've been a fan since it first showed in the USA. I was the original author of the USENET FAQ, and the only American to visit "The Village" during an early 1980s convention.
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000 - I was a fan since its first season, a major contributor to the USENET FAQ, and have visited the set and met the cast.
Articles I'd like see written
  • My grandfather was the founder of Barrett Chemical, a company with a lot of historical contributions like adding Niacin to bread. Barrett Chemicals was later purchased by Allied Chemical and Dye Company
  • James Christian - A singer/song-writer, currently with House of Lords (band) that had a historic career, especially in CT. His wife, Robin Beck, can already be found on wikipedia.


Licensing

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Licensing rights granted to Wikimedia Foundation
I grant non-exclusive permission for the Wikimedia Foundation Inc. to relicense my text contributions under any copyleft license that it chooses, provided it maintains the free and open spirit of the GFDL. This permission acknowledges that future licensing needs of the Wikimedia projects may need adapting in unforeseen fashions to facilitate other uses, formats, and locations. It is given for as long as this banner remains.