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Igor has been one of my programmer heroes for many years now, and I'm glad to learn more about his background through this article. The reading's a bit tough, a
by EvanMiller 14y ago
Igor has been one of my programmer heroes for many years now, and I'm glad to learn more about his background through this article. The reading's a bit tough, as many verbs appear to be missing and a few Russian words remain untranslated. Some interesting takeaways:
* Igor wrote Nginx while working as a sysadmin for Rambler. Classic bottom-up innovation: he could see Apache's shortcomings in a very up-close and personal way. This also explains why Rambler does not hold the copyright on Nginx (see the end of the interview).
* He is quite modest when comparing Nginx to other web servers. This reflects well on his character, but perhaps has "slowed" the adoption of Nginx. It's clear from this article that Igor is an engineer, not a salesman. I find this to be refreshing in an era when many open-source projects seem to achieve adoption by being the loudest, rather than by being the best.
* Igor put off starting a company until there was just too much work for him to do alone. I liked this quote: "I rarely change my life direction: for example, [before] Rambler, I spent seven years working for a company, [and at] Rambler, I also worked for ten years. Change is hard for me. But, nevertheless, by the spring of this year, I did finally decide to found a company that would help the further development of the project."
* Despite having U.S. investors, Nginx's engineering team is based in Russia. One interpretation is that you don't need to be in the Valley to develop a first-rate product; you just need to be in the Valley when it's time to hustle it.
Anyway, an interesting read. Apparently this article is his first public interview. I know Igor doesn't like publicity, but it's inspiring to read his story.
- Radim 14y agoThe modesty is refreshing indeed. "I do not know how to lead people" "[Company] will remain small - to grow the company of several hundred people, we do not want." Compare that to the typical Silicon Valley swagger of all the productless please-sign-up-launching-soon startups; different mentality indeed. Good for business? Who knows... but I have to wonder what the reaction of the US investors to all this was :)
- maratd 14y ago> Despite having U.S. investors, Nginx's engineering team is based in Russia. Not only is it based in Russia, it is 100% Russian. If that doesn't scare the shit out of you, then I already know that you're not Russian =) > One interpretation is that you don't need to be in the Valley to develop a first-rate product I'll stick with Apache HTTPD and the Apache Foundation, despite its alleged shortcomings. The web server is front and center in pretty much every business. I'll pass on an outfit that sticks communist imagery into its logo.
- mitjak 14y agoDo you also avoid Chinese and German products for similar reasons? If so, are you a time traveller from 1952?
- sbochins 14y agoShouldn't we base technological choices on technology. Considering we're not living in the 1950's anymore I don't think the fear of "Russians" should play such a large role in web server choices.
- ComputerGuru 14y agoAgreed. Someone please explain this to Capitol Hill (re Huawei).
- rikthevik 14y agoNginx is open source and easily auditable. Huawei's products are not. Trust, but verify.
- BasDirks 14y agohow come you're not downvoted all the way to hell yet?
- ArbitraryLimits 14y agoKeep an eye on your precious bodily fluids. They're the first thing to go.
- nnq 14y ago...in what context would this make any sense?: "If that doesn't scare the shit out of you, then I already know that you're not Russian =)"
- xentronium 14y agoStrongly off-topic, but xenopatriotism is very widespread among Russians, especially emigrants. I wouldn't like for discussion to delve into that direction, but such opinion is often justified (obviously not now, though).