Editing Paul Davis (programmer) (section)

{{BLP sources|date=July 2011}}
'''Paul Davis''' (formerly known as Paul Barton-Davis<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://equalarea.com/paul/name.html|title = Paul Davis (Was Paul Barton-Davis)}}</ref>) is a British-American<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.admiralbumblebee.com/music/2018/02/20/Interview-with-Paul-Davis-of-Ardour-about-Ardour-6-and-more.html|title = Interview with Paul Davis of Ardour about Ardour 6 and more}}</ref> software developer best known for his work on audio software ([[JACK Audio Connection Kit|JACK]]) for the [[Linux]] operating system, and for his role as one of the first two programmers at [[Amazon.com]].<ref name=wired>[https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.03/bezos_pr.html "The Inner Bezos"], Chip Bayers, Wired 7.02</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.zdnetasia.com/what-if-the-alphabet-was-patented-39224138.htm|title=What if the alphabet was patented?|last=Yu|first=Eileen|date=April 1, 2005|work=ZDNet|access-date=31 July 2011}}</ref>

Davis grew up in the [[English Midlands]] and in [[London]]. After studying [[molecular biology]] and [[biophysics]], he did post-graduate studies in [[computational biology]] at the [[Weizmann Institute of Science]] in [[Rehovot]] and [[European Molecular Biology Laboratory|EMBL]] in [[Heidelberg]].<ref>[http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/10295 "Paul Davis: an Ardour for the Challenge"], Jun 01, 2009, Dave Phillips, Linux Journal</ref>

He immigrated to the [[United States|U.S.]] in 1989. He lived in [[Seattle]] for seven years, where he worked for the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the [[University of Washington]],<ref>[http://www.ak.tu-berlin.de/menue/edgard-varese-gastprofessur/paul_davis "Paul Davis"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922061158/http://www.ak.tu-berlin.de/menue/edgard-varese-gastprofessur/paul_davis/ |date=2014-09-22 }}, Institut für Sprache und Kommunikation, Fachgebiet Audiokommunikation</ref> and several smaller software companies in Seattle. While in Seattle, he helped to get Amazon.com off the ground during the period 1994–1996, making critical contributions to Amazon's backend systems alongside [[Shel Kaphan]],<ref>{{cite web 
  |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/where-early-amazon-employees-are-now-2017-4 
  |title=Here's where Amazon's first 21 employees are now
  |last=Hartmans
  |first=Avery
  |date=16 March 2020 
  |website=www.businessinsider.com
  |publisher=[[Business Insider]]
  |access-date=14 May 2020
}}</ref><ref name=wired /> before subsequently moving to [[Philadelphia]] in 1996. In 2019 he moved with his wife to Galisteo, NM<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://librearts.org/2020/06/podcast-episode-002-paul-davis-part-1|title = Paul Davis on the deep rewrite of Ardour}}</ref>

He went on to fund the development of various audio software for [[Linux]], including [[Ardour (audio processor)|Ardour]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ardour.org/credits.html | title=Ardour credits page}}</ref> and the [[JACK Audio Connection Kit]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.techrepublic.com/article/open-source-awards-2004-paul-davis-for-jack/ |title=Open Source Awards 2004: Paul Davis for JACK |publisher=techrepublic.com.com}}</ref> He works full-time on [[free software]].

He is also an [[ultra-marathon]] runner and touring cyclist.