[11][12] Perens operates two companies: Algoram is a start-up which is creating a web-based control system for radio transmitters and other devices.
Legal Engineering is a legal-technical consultancy which specializes in resolving copyright infringement in relation to open source software.
[13] Perens founded No-Code International in 1998 with the goal of ending the Morse Code test then required for an amateur radio license.
[14] Perens lobbied intensively on the Internet, at amateur radio events in the United States, and during visits to other nations.
[citation needed] In 1997,[16] Perens was carbon-copied on an email conversation between Donnie Barnes of Red Hat and Ean Schuessler, who was then working on Debian.
In February 1999 in an email to the Debian developers mailing list he explained his decision and stated that, though "most hackers know that Free Software and Open Source are just two words for the same thing", the success of "open source" as a marketing term had "de-emphasized the importance of the freedoms involved in Free Software"; he added, "It's time for us to fix that."
He was fired as a result of his anti-Microsoft statements, which especially became an issue after HP acquired Compaq, a major manufacturer of Microsoft Windows-based PCs, in 2002.
[1] In 2003 Perens created UserLinux, a Debian-based distribution whose stated goal was, "Provide businesses with freely available, high quality Linux operating systems accompanied by certifications, service, and support options designed to encourage productivity and security while reducing overall costs."
Between 1981 and 1986, Perens was on the staff of the New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab as a Unix kernel programmer.
In 2002, Perens was a remote Senior Scientist for Open Source with the Cyber Security Policy Laboratory of George Washington University under the direction of Tony Stanco.
Between 2006 and 2007, Perens was a visiting lecturer and researcher for the University of Agder under a three-year grant from the Competence Fund of Southern Norway.
In 2007, some of Perens's government advisory roles included a meeting with the President of the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of parliament) in Italy and testimony to the Culture Committee of the Chamber of Deputies;[24] a keynote speech at the foundation of Norway's Open Source Center, following Norway's Minister of Governmental Reform (Perens is on the advisory board of the center);[25] he provided input on the revision of the European Interoperability Framework;[26] and he was keynote speaker at a European Commission conference on Digital Business Ecosystems at the Centre Borschette, Brussels, on November 7.
His report, which was made publicly available by Jacobsen, presented the culture and impact of open-source software development to the federal courts.
Perens web site presently advertises his availability to keynote conferences as long as travel and lodging expenses are compensated.
[19] Around the same time the ezine RegDeveloper published an interview with Perens where he spoke of the successes of open source, but also warned of dangers, including a proliferation of OSI-approved licenses which had not undergone legal scrutiny.
[34] Bruce Perens supported Bernie Sanders for President[35] and he claims that his experience with the open source movement influenced that decision.
In January 2013, Perens advocated for abolishment of the Second Amendment to the U.S. constitution, stating that he does "not believe in private ownership of firearms" and that he would "take away guns currently held by individuals, without compensation for their value.
[39] Perens is an avid amateur radio enthusiast (call sign K6BP[40]) and maintained technocrat.net, which he closed in late 2008, because its revenues did not cover its costs.