Ondrej Surý, the man who saved the internet: ‘You have to want to do something for others’
The Czech engineer rushed to distribute fixes after critical flaws were uncovered in PHP. As AI speeds up the hunt for security weaknesses, volunteers like him are increasingly stretched thin
Ondrej Surý, a Czech engineer and volunteer who maintains the PHP packages used by millions of servers worldwide, in a photo he provided.
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The unassuming Czech engineer Ondrej Surý, 49, has 273 followers on the social network Mastodon. He also has a Patreon page where 490 people contribute €1,539 ($1,724) a month. There he describes himself in these rather technical terms: “I am the main Debian packager for PHP and other packages under DEB.SURY.ORG name.” Behind those obscure software concepts lies volunteer work that recently helped save millions of websites….
Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
