Bruce Byfield is a writer who specializes in free and open source software. He has been a contributing editor at Linux.com, and his articles have appeared on the Datamation, LWN, Linux Developer Network, Linux Journal, Linux Pro Magazine, Open Source and Content, The New Stack, and Wazi sites. From 2009 to April 2017, he also wrote a weekly blog called “Off the Beat” about the free software community for the Linux Pro Magazine site. In addition to his online publications, he has published in such hard copy magazines as Drupal Watchdog, Linux Journal, Linux Pro Magazine, Maximum Linux, The New Internationalist, Raspberry Pi Geek, and Ubuntu User. While he long ago lost the exact count, he has sold over 1800 articles in his career.
Before becoming a journalist, Byfield was marketing and communications director at Progeny Linux Systems, and product manager at Stormix Technologies. His book Witches of the Mind is considered the definitive work on the American fantasist Fritz Leiber. He is also the writer of Designing with LibreOffice, a book due to be released in April 2016 under a Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike license.
Byfield lives in Burnaby, Canada. In addition to free and open source software, his interests include parrots, aerobic exercise, science fiction and fantasy, history, 19th Century novels,, listening to punk-folk music, and collecting Northwest Coast art. He is the co-founder along with his late wife Patricia Louise Williams of the Mature Student Award at the Freda Diesing School for Northwest Coast Art.
He is unrelated to the Byfield newspaper family in Alberta, a fact which probably delights them as much as it does him.
Hi Bruce,
Just wanted to tell that I really enjoy your blog. I’m a longtime lover of Linux, Unix, and anything open source. Nice to read a blog where the author is dedicated to the same.
Thanks!
Chad McCullough
Indianapolis, IN
I enjoy your blog.
Are a Byfield of the Calgary/Alberta Report which I was privileged to enjoy when I lived in Calgary a few decades ago?
Al Maloney
Hi, Al:
There’s probably a connection somewhere, given the rarity of the surname, but it’s not a direct one.
Hi Bruce,
Always nice to read a well-written blog. You and I share a common background–English majors who ended up in technology careers. I spent 20+ years in (mostly) corporate IT management, and I recently started a blog on wordpress (“For English Majors”), which is how I came across yours.
I agree with you: That any English major willing to roll up his or her sleeves and learn an industry, a technology, a new job can be successful. The catch is getting businesses to realize how much they need English majors in their midst.
Best wishes,
Susan de la Vergne
Hello Bruce,
In the last 2 months, I have read some of your articles re: a situation in Prince Rupert BC, I am a friend & business aquaintance of Master Carver & great person, Henry Green.
Henry passed this address onto me.
Certainly going to be some interesting movement in the 1st Nation World….Hereditary & Gov’t.
Just wanted to say, at this point, I am enjoying your mind.
I am Gitksan, born on the Gitanmaax Reserve, in 1962, this is Hazelton BC.
I have a decent mainstream Professional background in Business & Gov’t. (Northern Health, Public Health & SD #52)
Our Father, Fred Jackson was an amazing professional, Coast Guard Search & Rescue, as well he was Hereditary.
My older sister is a mainstream Lawyer, working for the Justice Dept, Van, her area of dicipline is corporate Tax, I am totally ignorant to her world.
We are all trying to assess our situation, as a culture & decide what needs to be done to help.
Thanks for allowing me to put a few words down.
Peter Jackson
Outreach Prince Rupert
250-624-1295
The photos of the Chinese garden above, was that taken at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden in Chinatown Vancouver BC?
Yes, that’s right.
Hi Bruce,
I run a Yahoo list dedicated to collectors of Wargamer’s Digest. I see you are the author of the article: “Battles for the Runestaff – Fantasy” from the May 1977 issue. (Let’s see – 32 years ago when you were 14; that makes you 56).
I like to track down the contributors and post their experiences with my group. If you would not mind sharing any of your experiences with McCoy or his staff and how you came to write your first article with them, I would appreciate it.
Thanks,
Bob
Seeking to read Wargamer’s Digest. Does that Yahoo group still exist? Their search function is broken or maybe it got lost when they created Neo. Can’t find digital copies anywhere.
Dear Mr. Byfield,
for our didactical events (for kids and school classes) we would like to use one of the images of your website, it’s a photography of a birch bark wigwam, here’s the link:
https://brucebyfield.wordpress.com/2009/07/31/the-first-nations-art-of-birch-bark-biting/
The use will be absolutely non-commercial. The lessons for kids and scholars are about the use of birch bark in history all over the world.
Kind regards,
Martin
Martin:
Thank you for asking permission first.
I have no objection to your use of the image, but you should contact Pat Bruderer at Half Moon Studios, who is the artist whose work is shown. You can reach her at:
http://www.halfmoonstudios.com/
HI Bruce,
I coordinate the SFU Philosophers’ Cafe program and was pleased to read your blog item about it. May I have permission to share this link on our Facebook page?
Hi there Bruce,
I WAS going to leave a Compliment back on the Datamation site regarding your comparison of Microsoft Word and Libre OpenOffice writer. Decided to look you up and here I am.
Now I think I’m going to have to hate you.
I lead an incredibly lazy life based on being up to the claim that I’m always “too busy” to take on any new projects.
It appears you are yet another polymath, and thus a destructive influence on my sense of complacent well-being.
I have started work on my opus majora (again!) recently and was feeling sorry for myself as it appears that I will really need to learn to drive Libre OpenOffice as well.
As a devoted user of Dragon Speech to Text software for many years, I was protected from the need to learn such things as OpenOffice because it only worked in Microsoft Word. Then a year or so ago, Dragon learned to write in OpenOffice.
Of course, I have procrastinated all this time because I have been very busy.
This is all your fault. Now I have no choice but to seriously learn to drive Libre OpenOffice and finally right that damn book. 🙂
Woops! I did mean “write” that book. 🙂 Dragon has a sick sense of humour.
Glad to have set a bad example. 🙂 I certainly try.
[…] Bruce Byfield, who has written extensively on all things free & open source, gives an overview of sexism in the FOSS community. As a subset of the broader development community, FOSS has a lot of great things going for it because of its transparency and emphasis on collaboration. Unfortunately it still shares many of the same problems when it comes to gender. Byfield takes an informative look at initiatives that are trying to fix the gender imbalance, like the Geek Feminism Wiki, Ada Initiative, and Ubuntu Code of Conduct. […]
[…] Bruce Byfield, who has written extensively on all things free open source, gives an overview of sexism in the FOSS community. As a subset of the broader development community, FOSS has a lot of great things going for it because of its transparency and emphasis on collaboration. Unfortunately it still shares many of the same problems when it comes to gender. Byfield takes an informative look at initiatives that are trying to fix the gender imbalance, like the Geek Feminism Wiki, Ada Initiative, and Ubuntu Code of Conduct. […]
Hi Bruce,
Thanks for writing about ‘not being a team player’. I’ve stupidly tried for many years to ‘fit in’ to the corporate or any regular work environment for that matter and have now learned to accept that I don’t play well in the sandbox and no amount of trying is going to help.
Patty
Hi Bruce, stumbled across your site tonight. Glad you like the Frontlet so much. As usual no mention of Norman’s carving partner of 24 years, me, who does the majority of the carving. This one included. Norman roughs out, and I take it from there. So you know , just before receiving a lifetime achievement award this November (listen to his speech), he had a major stroke. He had had three more since. Just a little frustrated by lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to the art. Talk to Raymond at Costal People Gallery, Gary at Spirit Wrestler, or Melanie at The Inuit. Sorry, scrolling through websites and picked you to vent to. Thanks for kind words about carving:). Feel free to contact me.
Lucinda
Hi, Lucinda:
My apologies! I am, of course, aware of works in the local galleries which are credit to both you and Norman, and had no intention of robbing you of the credit you deserve.
However, when I bought the frontlet from the Inuit Gallery, I was told that it was by Norman alone, and I simply passed the information along.
As soon as I finish this reply, I’m going to add your name to the blog. It’s the least I can do.
Bruce, So cool to stumble onto your blog about Northwest Coast art! My name is Christy and I work at Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau, AK. We have a really exciting showcase of masterpieces of Northwest Coast art coming up to raise funds for our cultural center, here in Juneau on February 1st. I’d love to send you an invitation and see if perhaps you’d be interested in supporting our cause to help get the word out? Do you have an email I could contact you at? Or you could email me at christina.eriksen@sealaska.com
More about the auction here: http://tinaa.bigcartel.com
Thanks Bruce!
Hi Bruce,
I stumbled on your “Nine Improvements That Are Overdue in LibreOffice Writer” on datamation from 2013 and would like your input for two proposals i’m suggesting to libreoffice. What is the best means to contact you?
Hi Bruce,
After reading you articles about Wacom tablets in Linux Magazine, I bought myself one and wrote an utility that enhances its functionality. Feel free to check out https://github.com/pzmarzly/x11-input-supercharger , I thanked you there.
That’s great! You know, sometimes, I wonder if anyone is reading, so it’s good to know that an article inspired something useful.
Hi, I have s Ron Telek transformation mask that I would like to sell. Can you give me any information to do that??
Thank you, Diana
Dear Bruce,
My name is Dennis Wise, and I’m an academic (U. of Arizona) doing some research on Paul Edwin Zimmer. Needless to say, I’ve come across your article on PEZ as well as your blog, and I was wondering if you could consent to me peppering you with a few questions about him. Zimmer has been one of my favorite writers ever since grade schools, and I’d be excited to put his name out there for the academic world. (Incidentally, I’ve already done on article on PEZ, published last year in Mythlore.) Anyway, any time you might grant me would be greatly appreciated it — just shoot me an e-mail (or respond here, I suppose!) at dwwise [at] email.arizona.edu.
Thanks much, and all the best,
Dennis