A passion for science and engineering brought Tom Hanrahan both to technology and to bird watching. In fact, his enthusiasm for open source might sound a lot like his love for birding. "I enjoy the science of classification, learning about the different species, their dependency on habitat, and how they are reflecting the changes of habitat that we may not see as human beings."

But that's where the similarities end. "Birding is very relaxing, calming. I probably wouldn't use those words about the computing industry." Unless he's talking about open source...

"The open source dev process is fascinating," says Hanrahan, who acts as a "bridge" between the Linux community and Windows engineers. He calls his team's interoperability work his biggest inspiration and "the single most important movement we're seeing in the industry now."

Hanrahan may work on the leading-edge world of Linux, but he got started writing programs on old-fashioned IBM punch cards. He'd write up his program, punch it out, turn it in, and then wait 24 hours to find out he'd punched one card wrong.

After stints at IBM, Oregon Software, Intel®, Sequent Computer Systems, and the Open Source Development Lab, Hanrahan now travels the world to hear what customers want next.

"We're looking at virtualization, system management, identity federation, all the key issues for the big data centers," says Hanrahan. The consistent message he's hearing from data centers is that they're heterogeneous: running Windows and Linux.

"The ability of disparate operating systems and environments to not just to coexist, but to work well together and be manageable together, is important because it gives customers a choice." That choice, he says, will help customers get more control over their business.

Get the tools that make these heroes successful. Order your own Hero Hack Pack.

Each Pack contains free evaluation editions of Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, and the essentials for getting started with open source. Plus, randomly hidden in the Packs are 10 vouchers for free passes to the Open Source Convention (OSCON) this summer.