Bram Cohen
![Bram Cohen](/assets/img/authors/bram-cohen.jpg)
Bram Cohen
Bram Cohen is an American computer programmer, best known as the author of the peer-to-peerBitTorrent protocol, as well as the first file sharing program to use the protocol, also known as BitTorrent. He is also the co-founder of CodeCon and organizer of the San Francisco Bay Area P2P-hackers meeting, and was the co-author of Codeville...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
CountryUnited States of America
people want way
The next release of mainline is going to have a lot of the advanced features people want, by the way.
want problem tricks
The trick is to fix the problem you have, rather than the problem you want.
cat bags
With BitTorrent, the cat's out of the bag.
simple python support
My favorite language for maintainability is Python. It has simple, clean syntax, object encapsulation, good library support, and optional named parameters.
giving
Give and ye shall receive.
father school class
My father taught me Basic and rudimentary C, I learned everything else on my own, including studying computational complexity on my own. That's more a function of my age than anything else though - back when I was in school there were hardly any programming classes.
attitude thinking dresses
In terms of work I've always had a Bad Attitude in that I won't work anywhere which requires me to work strict hours or follow a dress code. I don't know if that's an Asperger's thing or not, I think it's just being reasonable.
arrogant i-can knows
I can come off as pretty arrogant, but it's because I know I'm right.
team accomplished my-own
I've accomplished more working on my own than I ever did as part of a team.
ideas way programming
A good way to have good ideas is by being unoriginal.
technology rights political
I am a technological activist. I have a political agenda. I am in favor of basic human rights: to free speech, to use any information and technology, to purchase and use recreational drugs, to enjoy and purchase so-called 'vices', to be free of intruders, and to privacy.
games sound computer
Arimaa's a better game than I thought. It follows a fairly sound approach to making the game difficult for computers.
technology views law
Despite my emphasis on technology, I do not view laws as inherently evil. My goals are political ones, even if my techniques are not. The only way to fundamentally succeed is by changing existing laws. If I rejected all help from the political arena I would inevitably fail.
song mean people
The content people have no clue. I mean, no clue. The cost of bandwidth is going down to nothing. And the size of hard drives is getting so big, and they're so cheap, that pretty soon you'll have every song you own on one hard drive. The content distribution industry is going to evaporate.