Editing Jamie Zawinski

{{Short description|American programmer}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Jamie Zawinski
| image       =
| caption     =
| birthname   = James Werner Zawinski
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1968|11|3}}
| birth_place = [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| website     = {{URL|https://www.jwz.org}}
}}

'''Jamie Werner Zawinski''' (born November 3, 1968), commonly known as '''jwz''', is an American [[computer programmer]], [[blog]]ger, and [[impresario]]. He is best known for his role in the creation of [[Netscape Navigator]], [[Netscape Mail & Newsgroups|Netscape Mail]], [[XEmacs|Lucid Emacs]], [[Mozilla Foundation|Mozilla.org]], and [[XScreenSaver]]. He is also the [[ownership#In person|proprietor]] of [[DNA Lounge]], a [[nightclub]] and [[Music venue|live music venue]] in [[San Francisco]].

==Biography==
Zawinski's programming career began at age 16 with [[Scott Fahlman]]'s [[Spice Lisp]] project at [[Carnegie Mellon University]]. He then worked at AI startup Expert Technologies, Inc. followed by [[Robert Wilensky]] and [[Peter Norvig]]'s AI research group at [[University of California, Berkeley|UC Berkeley]], working on [[natural language processing]].

In 1990 he began working at [[Lucid Inc.]], first working on [[Lucid Common Lisp]], and then on Lucid's Energize [[C++]] [[Integrated development environment|IDE]]. Lucid decided to use [[GNU Emacs]] as the text editor for their IDE due to its free license, popularity, and extensibility, and Zawinski led that project. As Zawinski and the other programmers made fundamental changes to GNU Emacs to add new functionality, tensions over how to merge these patches into the main tree eventually led to the [[Fork (software development)|fork]] of the project into GNU Emacs and Lucid Emacs (now [[XEmacs]]).<ref>
{{cite web
 |url = https://www.jwz.org/doc/lemacs.html
 |title = The Lemacs/FSFmacs Schism.
 |last = Zawinski
 |first = Jamie
 |date = 2000-02-11
 |access-date = 2023-05-01
}}
</ref>

In 1992 he released the first version of [[XScreenSaver]], a [[free and open-source]] collection now containing more than 240<ref>
{{cite web
 | website = XScreenSaver
 | title = List of screen savers included in the collection
 | date = 2020-12-08
 | url = https://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/screenshots/
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
}}
</ref>
[[screensaver]]s. Initially released for [[Unix-like|Unix]], it now supports [[macOS]], [[iOS]], and [[Android (operating system)|Android]] as well. On Unix systems, it also provides the framework for blanking and locking the screen. He still maintains it, with new releases coming out several times a year.<ref>
{{cite web
 | website = XScreenSaver
 | title = Release history
 | date = 2020-12-08
 | url = https://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/changelog.html
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
}}
</ref>

===Netscape and Mozilla===
Following Lucid's [[bankrupt]]cy in 1994, Zawinski was one of the initial employees of [[Mosaic Communications]], later known as [[Netscape]]. At Netscape, he developed the [[Unix]] release of [[Netscape Navigator]] 1.0,<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = https://www.jwz.org/doc/about-authors.html
 | title = Netscape Navigator's "about:authors" page
 | date = 1994-12-15
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
 }}
</ref><ref>
{{cite news
 | url = https://www.fastcompany.com/26443/can-you-work-netscape-time
 | title = Can You Work in Netscape Time?
 | first = Tom
 | last = Steinert-Threlkeld
 | date = 1995-10-31
 | work = [[Fast Company]] magazine
}}
</ref>
and later, [[Netscape Mail & Newsgroups|Netscape Mail]], the first mail reader (or [[Usenet]] reader) to natively support [[HTML]].<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = https://www.jwz.org/blog/2017/09/html-email-was-that-your-fault/
 | website = jwz.org blog
 | title = HTML email, was that your fault?
 | last = Zawinski
 | first = Jamie
 | date = 2017-11-20
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
 }}
</ref>

Zawinski came up with the name "[[Mozilla]]" (originally the internal code-name of the web browser) during a staff meeting, as a reference to [[Godzilla]] and a [[portmanteau]] of "[[Mosaic (web browser)|Mosaic]] killer".<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = https://www.jwz.org/gruntle/nscpdorm.html
 | website = jwz.org
 | title = The Netscape Dorm
 | last = Zawinski
 | first = Jamie
 | year = 1996
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web
 | url = https://davetitus.com/mozilla/
 | title = How was Mozilla born: The story of the first mascot on the Internet
 | author = Dave Titus with assistance from Andrew Wong
 | date = 2002-12-01
 | access-date = 2023-05-01
}}
</ref>

An [[easter egg (virtual)|easter egg]] he coded in the Netscape browser became quite well known during the early days of the [[World Wide Web]]: typing "about:jwz" into the address box would take the user to his home page, and would change the browser's logo animation to a fire-breathing dragon.<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = https://www.jwz.org/doc/about-jwz.html
 | website = jwz.org
 | title = The secret history of the about:jwz URL
 | last = Zawinski
 | first = Jamie
 | date = 2011-12-03
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
}}
</ref>

Through his long-time support and advocacy for [[free software]] both inside and outside the company, Zawinski is credited with having been the inspiration for Netscape's decision to [[open-source software|open-source]] the [[source code]] of the browser in 1998.<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = https://www.openoffice.org/editorial/ec1May.html
 | website = OpenOffice
 | title = Interview: Frank Hecker
 | last = Suárez-Potts
 | first = Louis
 | date = 2001-05-01
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010807131147/http://www.openoffice.org/editorial/ec1May.html
 | archive-date = 2001-08-07
 | url-status = live
}}
</ref><ref name="rebelcode">
{{cite book
 | last = Moody
 | first = Glyn
 | title = Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kIU1scm4w6QC
 | date = 2001-02-18
 | publisher = Basic Books
 | isbn = 978-0-7867-4520-3
}}
</ref>
He was a founder of [[Mozilla Foundation|Mozilla.org]], personally registering its domain name on the day of Netscape's open source announcement and helping design and run the organization through its first year.<ref>
{{cite book
 | title = Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution
 | chapter = Freeing the Source: The Story of Mozilla
 | author = Jim Hamerly and Tom Paquin with Susan Walton
 | url = https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/opensources/book/netrev.html
 | date= 1999-01-03
 | publisher = O'Reilly Media, Inc.
 | isbn = 978-0-596-55390-6
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite magazine
 | url = https://www.wired.com/1998/07/mozilla-organizer/
 | magazine = Wired
 | issue = 7
 | title = Electric Word: Mozilla.organizer
 | first = Paul
 | last = Boutin
 | date = July 1998
| volume = 6
 }}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web
 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/dom/980323/notebook.techwatch.netsc32.html
 | title = Netscape's Hail Mary
 | last = Quittner
 | first = Josh
 | date = 1998-03-23
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020223060137/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/dom/980323/notebook.techwatch.netsc32.html
 | archive-date = 2002-02-23
 }}
</ref>

When Netscape was acquired by [[AOL]] in 1999, he wrote a bulletin explaining that Mozilla's work would continue with or without Netscape.<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = https://www-archive.mozilla.org/fear.html
 | title = Fear and loathing on the merger trail
 | last = Zawinski
 | first = Jamie
 | date = 1998-11-23
 | publisher = [[Mozilla]]
 | access-date=2013-04-29
}}
</ref> And a year after the initial source code release, he resigned from Netscape and Mozilla, citing his disappointment that others involved in the project had decided to rewrite the code instead of incrementally improving it.<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = https://www.jwz.org/gruntle/nomo.html
 | title = Resignation and postmortem.
 | last = Zawinski
 | first = Jamie
 | date = 1999-03-31
 | access-date = 2013-03-29
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040807025430/https://www.jwz.org/gruntle/nomo.html
 | archive-date = 2004-08-07
 | url-status = live
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite news
 | url = https://www.cnet.com/news/aol-mozilla-lose-key-evangelist-1/
 | website = CNET
 | title = AOL, Mozilla lose key evangelist
 | last = Festa
 | first = Paul
 | date = 1999-04-01
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
}}
</ref>

===DNA Lounge===
Shortly after leaving Mozilla, he announced his purchase of [[DNA Lounge]], a [[nightclub]] in [[San Francisco]].<ref>{{cite web
 | url = http://www.theobvious.com/archive/2000/11/07.html
 | website = Stating the Obvious
 | title = Hacking the City
 | first = Greg
 | last = Knauss
 | date = 2000-11-07
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
 | archive-date = 2021-05-14
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210514045557/http://www.theobvious.com/archive/2000/11/07.html
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref><ref>
{{cite news
 | url = https://www.salon.com/2000/02/10/zawinski/
 | title = Free the night life!
 | last = Leonard
 | first = Andrew
 | date = 2000-02-10
 | work = [[Salon (website)|Salon]]
 | access-date = 2013-04-29
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite magazine
 | url = https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2001/07/45264
 | magazine = Wired
 | title = From Netscape to Nightclub
 | first = Evany
 | last = Thomas
 | date = 2001-07-16
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080409003240/https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2001/07/45264
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
| archive-date = 2008-04-09
 }}
</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | title = Revenge is Sweet
 | work = SF Weekly
 | first = Dan
 | last = Strachota
 | date = 2001-07-18
 | url = https://archives.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/pop-philosophy/Content?oid=2142467
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
 | archive-date = 2021-09-23
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210923120826/https://archives.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/pop-philosophy/Content?oid=2142467
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref> Zawinski purchased the nightclub in 1999 for approximately 5 million dollars and it was re-opened in July 2001, a process which he documented extensively in a blog named "DNA Sequencing".<ref name="openideas">{{cite web|title=Owner of DNA Lounge, on verge of closing club, calls for 'ideas' to keep it open|work=SF Gate|first = Alyssa|last=Pereira|date=2016-12-19|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/DNA-Lounge-on-verge-of-closure-calls-for-10806736.php}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=From Netscape to Nightclub|first=Evany|last=Thomas|magazine=Wired|date=2001-07-16|url=https://www.wired.com/2001/07/from-netscape-to-nightclub/}}</ref>

In 2016, he explored alternative funding ideas to keep the venue afloat during a downturn in attendance.<ref name="openideas" />

==Interviews and appearances==
In 2000, Zawinski starred in the 60-minute-long PBS documentary ''[[Code Rush]]'', which chronicles the creation of Mozilla.org and the release of the browser source code over the course of 1998.

Zawinski features extensively in [[Josh Quittner]]'s 1998 book ''Speeding the Net: The Inside Story of Netscape and How It Challenged Microsoft'',<ref>
{{cite book
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Cb2tQgAACAAJ
 | title = Speeding the Net: The Inside Story of Netscape and How It Challenged Microsoft
 | author1 = Joshua Quittner
 | author2 = Michelle Slatalla
 | date = 1998
 | publisher = Atlantic Monthly Press
 | isbn = 978-0-87113-709-8
}}
</ref>
and in [[Glyn Moody]]'s 2001 book, ''[[Rebel Code|Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution]]''.<ref name="rebelcode" />
There is a chapter on Zawinski in Peter Seibel's 2009 book, ''[[Coders at Work|Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming]]''.<ref name="coders1">
{{cite book
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2kMIqdfyT8kC
 | title = Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming
 | first = Peter
 | last = Seibel
 | date = 2009-09-16
 | publisher = Apress
 | isbn = 978-1-4302-1948-4
}}
</ref><ref name="coders2">
{{cite web
 |last=Seibel
 |first=Peter
 |title=Coders at Work
 |url=https://codersatwork.com/jamie-zawinski.html
 |publisher=Apress
 |access-date=1 May 2023
}}
</ref>
And in 2001, he was featured in ''California Dreamin': The Gold Rush'', a documentary for German public television.<ref>
{{cite web
 |url = http://colourfield.de/en/films/california-dreamin2/
 |website = ColourFIELD
 |title = California Dreamin': The Gold Rush
 |date = 2001
 |access-date = 2023-05-01}}
</ref>
<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = https://archive.org/details/2001-california-dreamin-dvd
 | website = Colorfield
 | title = California Dreamin': The Gold Rush (video)
 | date = 2001
 | access-date = 2023-05-01}}
</ref>

Zawinski appears in several [[Video installation|video installations]] at the [[Computer History Museum]]'s exhibit, ''Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing''.<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/
 | website = Computer History Museum
 | title = Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing
 | date = 2011
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
}}
</ref>

He was also featured in ''Sleep Mode: The Art of the Screensaver'',<ref>
{{cite web
 | website = Sleep Mode: The Art of the Screensaver
 | title = Jamie Zawinski Interview
 | date = 2017-01-27
 | url = https://sleepmode.hetnieuweinstituut.nl/en/jamie-zawinski
 | access-date = 2020-12-24
}}
</ref> a gallery exhibition curated by [[Rafaël Rozendaal]] at Rotterdam's [[Het Nieuwe Instituut]] in 2017.

==Zawinski's Law==
{{Anchor|Zawinski's Law}}
''Zawinski's Law of Software Envelopment'', also known as ''Zawinski's Law'', states:
{{blockquote | Every program attempts to expand until it can read [[E-mail|mail]]. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can.}}
Some have interpreted this as commenting on the phenomenon of [[software bloat]]ing with popular features.<ref name="aoup">
Eric S. Raymond ''The Art of UNIX Programming'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=H4q1t-jAcBIC&pg=PA313 p.313]
</ref><ref name="Jargon File">
{{Cite web
 | url = https://jargon-file.org/archive/jargon-4.4.7.dos.txt
 | title = The Jargon File
 | last = Raymond
 | first = Eric S.
 | date = 2003-12-29
 | website = Jargon File Text Archive
 | access-date = 2023-05-01
}}
</ref>
Zawinski stated, in 2020:<ref>
{{cite tweet
 | first = Jamie
 | last = Zawinski
 | user = jwz
 | date = 2020-11-24
 | title = My point was not about copycats, it was about platformization.
 | number = 1331287160738070528
 | access-date = 2021-02-13
}}
</ref> {{blockquote | My point was not about copycats, it was about platformization. Apps that you "live in" all day have pressure to become everything and do everything. An app for editing text becomes an IDE, then an OS. An app for displaying hypertext documents becomes a mail reader, then an OS.}}

==Principles==
Zawinski first attained prominence as a [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]] programmer, but most of his larger projects are written in [[C (programming language)|C]]. Despite that, he has long been critical of languages lacking [[memory safety]] and [[Garbage collection (computer science)|automatic memory management]]. He has particularly proselytized [[Criticism of C++|against C++]]. In Peter Seibel's book ''Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming'', Zawinski calls C++ an "abomination... the PDP-11 assembler that thinks it's an object system".<ref name="coders2" /><ref>
{{cite web
 | website = Gigamonkeys
 | url = https://gigamonkeys.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/coders-c-plus-plus/
 | title = C++ in Coders at Work
 | last= Seibel
 | first = Peter
 | date = 2009-10-16
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100922231315/https://gigamonkeys.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/coders-c-plus-plus/
 | access-date = 2013-04-29
| archive-date = 2010-09-22
 }}
</ref>

Though he has written and published many utilities in [[Perl]],<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = https://www.jwz.org/hacks/
 | title = jwzhacks
 | last = Zawinski
 | first = Jamie
 | year = 2013
 | access-date = 2013-04-29
}}
</ref> he is not without his criticisms, characterizing Perl as "combining all the worst aspects of C and Lisp: a billion different sublanguages in one monolithic executable. It combines the power of C with the readability of [[PostScript]]."<ref name="regex">
{{cite web
 | url = http://regex.info/blog/2006-09-15/247
 | website = regex.info
 | title = Source of the famous "Now you have two problems" quote
 | last = Friedl
 | first = Jeffrey
 | date = 2006-09-15
 | access-date = 2023-05-01
}}
</ref>

He has [[Criticism of Java|criticized]] several language and library deficiencies he encountered while programming in [[Java (programming language)|Java]], specifically the overhead of certain fundamental classes but especially the marketing and politics behind it that led [[Sun Microsystems|Sun]] to conflate the language, the class library, the [[Java virtual machine|virtual machine]], and the security model all under the same name, "Java" &ndash; to, he says, the detriment of them all. Despite the positive aspects, ultimately Zawinski returned to programming in C "since it's still the only way to ship portable programs".<ref>
{{cite web
|url=https://www.jwz.org/doc/java.html
|title=Java sucks
|last=Zawinski
|first=Jamie
|website=jwz.org
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000616110211/https://www.jwz.org/doc/java.html
|archive-date=2000-06-16
|url-status=live
|access-date=2013-04-29
}}
</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline|Jamie Zawinski}}

{{Netscape}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zawinski, Jamie}}
[[Category:1968 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male bloggers]]
[[Category:American bloggers]]
[[Category:Emacs]]
[[Category:Free software programmers]]
[[Category:American Internet celebrities]]
[[Category:Mozilla developers]]
[[Category:Mozilla people]]
[[Category:Open source people]]
[[Category:Netscape people]]
[[Category:People from Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:Nightclub owners]]
[[Category:Netscape]]