Bdale Garbee, KB0G

By day, I serve as HP Open Source & Linux Chief Technologist. I help to ensure that Linux works well on HP computer systems, and contribute to other Open Source projects HP is involved in.

On nights and weekends, I hack under the name Garbee and Garbee.

Many of my "spare nanoseconds" are consumed either playing with rockets, or working on the Debian project, which I have been a contributor to since 1995, including serving as Project Leader in the past. In addition to working on Debian directly, I also serve as President of Software in the Public Interest, which is a non-profit umbrella organization providing services to Debian and other projects.

I think the web is way too picture-oriented these days, but if you're really curious, there are some pictures of me on my bio page. If you're a close friend or family member, email me for credentials to enter the gallery.

I'm most comfortable when there are lots of electrons flowing nearby, mostly in high-end computer equipment. There are only a few carbohydrates I've met in my life that I didn't like, I have very eclectic tastes in music, enjoy old movies, and I have this "German metal habit"... Porsche flavored. My current such toy is a 1987 Porsche 944S, black with beige interior...

Someday, I'd really like to own a Porsche 904. Yeah, I know, "dream on".

Over the years, I've spent a lot of my "spare time" on various facets of Amateur Radio. KB0G is my current callsign, previously I was N3EUA and before that I was KA3ORU. I'm a life member of AMSAT, President of CODE, a former Vice-President of TAPR, a past Chairman and member of the Technical Committee of the Pikes Peak FM Association, and a member of the ARRL. Perhaps my best-known contribution to the hobby is the silly little mail program I wrote for KA9Q's NOS networking software, called BM, though I suppose I'm more proud of my role as integrator and documentation author for the package prior to April 1989. I helped instigate N6GN's work on 10Ghz packet links, and continue to have a strong interest in data transmission over RF links. I was the project leader for the GPS receiver experiment on the AMSAT Phase-3D satellite, which launched in November 2000, after which it was known as AO-40. I am also one of the developers of the RUDAK digital communications processor. My primary focus on the RUDAK team is communication with the other experiment modules that RUDAK talks to over the CAN bus... SCOPE, MONITOR, CEDEX, and the thermistor SmartNode boards.

If you want to find me "on the air" for a QSO, about the only chance right now is to catch us roving in a VHF/Microwave contest...

While I was "born and raised" in the era of 4.1BSD, shared a Vax 11/750 with Eric Crane at CMU, and have run some flavor of BSD on at least one machine ever since (the Symmetric S/375, a uVax2, BSD/OS, and NetBSD on a pc532), I have become a strong supporter of Linux, particularly the Debian GNU/Linux distribution, because of the emphasis on perpetual free availability of all of the source code to the system. I've contributed a few packages to the Debian effort, and now maintain a signficant number, including some that are essential packages in the base distribution, and some that are "big hairy monsters". At least it keeps me off the streets at night...

Not sure how to pronounce "Linux"? Why not let Linus himself tell you ...

In recent years, my son and I have become very active building and flying small and large model rockets. I now hold a "Level 3 certification", and am a federally-licensed user of low explosives, which means I'm authorized to buy, store, and fly the largest motors currently available in the rocket hobby. My personal confirmed flight altitude record is 14,141 feet above ground, my highest recorded acceleration is 52.8 g, and I've flown several rockets to beyond Mach 1.3. My current focus combines rocketry with my electronics background and strong interest in radio, see the Altus Metrum community web site for more details...

Gallery
Quotations
Talks I've Given

Cool Stuff on the Web

Cabell Garbee , Bdale's brother, restores neat old vehicles as a hobby.
Allen B. Loyd , one of Bdale's first cousins, has a site documenting his theatrical set designs, paintings, and other fun stuff.
Space Machine & Engineering Corp, operated by another of Bdale's first cousins. It's kind of cool having a waveguide company in the family!
Graves Mountain Lodge , owned and operated by "my extended family" in Virginia. We used to visit often... and still get back once in a while!
Visit the Radio Farm... a most unusual place!
Colorado Satellite Services Jim and I worked closely together on AO-40 RUDAK, and he's definitely "one of the good guys". The EyasSAT educational satellite system linked to from his page is neat stuff.

I was named for my maternal grandfather, who was a prominent individual in his time. While my father is the serious genealogist in our family, every once in a while I go do a web search on various family names. These are some references to Grandaddy that I have found:

He now has a Wikipedia page!
A photo of him from 1919, in uniform.
He was a Judge of the United States Court
Many of his papers were gifted to the University of Virginia Library
There are scholarships in his name at VMI and Hollins

I've been asked from time to time if I'm any relation to the Barksdale for whom Barksdale Air Force Base was named. My parents tell me they believe Eugene Hoy Barksdale was my third cousin twice removed.

Encrypting email is good. My currently preferred public key is

pub   4096R/C095D941 2009-07-26
      Key fingerprint = 8470 F20B 0625 9218 7CBA  7BB3 3A93 6196 C095 D941
uid                  Bdale Garbee 
uid                  Bdale Garbee 
uid                  Bdale Garbee 
sub   4096R/166755FB 2009-07-26

You should be able to fetch that key from any of the major keyservers.

Bdale Garbee, $Id: index.html,v 1.13 2003/10/20 23:44:26 bdale Exp $