Self-Introduction: Logan Rathbone - devel - Fedora mailing-lists

29 Oct 2003


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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Logan A. Rathbone~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~Mississauga, Ontario, Canada~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~University student - 1st year of studies in Economics~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~University of Toronto~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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~~My goals in the Fedora Project:~~
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There have been many myths surrounding Linux on the desktop.  It is an extremely common perception of many people, namely those that have never parted from Microsoft's operating systems, that Linux is difficult to use.  While many Linux users try day after day to dispell many of these myths, 99% of PCs are still running Windows.  I believe that it is time for us to ask, "why?"  Many Linux users today, especially those who are very experienced with Linux and computing in general, feel that the opinions of these users do not count.  I believe that nothing could be farther from the truth.  These users need to be convinced that the time for them to change their operating system is NOW.
However, while Linux is an operating system that is so superior to Windows in so many ways, there are several issues that need to be ironed out.  In the case of what was previously Red Hat Linux and is now the Fedora Project, I believe that the issue is that of software installation.  Red Hat started to address this problem fairly recently with their up2date tool.  While the tool itself is wonderful, it is just a tool (as are yum, apt, etc. as well.)  I feel that what Fedora needs at this point (among other things, of course) is a strong package repository, like what users of Debian have already.  I actually switched from Red Hat to Debian because of that at one point.  However, I returned in the other direction as soon as I heard about the Red Hat-Fedora merger.  I am _not_ saying Fedora needs to become Debian.  Debian lacks the professionalism that has always been sought by Red Hat distributions of Linux.  In other words, I feel that Fedora users should have the best of bo!
th worlds -- a strong library (quality _and_ quantity) of software available, in the form of a yum repository (ie: rawhide) _and_ a professional, unique and sleek operating system that will make many home users of Windows take a run for their money.
I am a very recent adopter of Linux -- I started in June 2003, just a few short months ago.  I know what it's like to be a Windows user, and I know what kind of software home users want.  That is why I feel that it is my _duty_ to be a packager of supplementary software for the Fedora Project.  When Fedora users are browsing the internet or IRC and hear about a cool new software package XYZ, they should be able to type "yum install XYZ" and have that package on their machine, without so much as a fuss.  But of course, I and the other packagers would take legal issues into mind and only package software that complies with the legal entities of the Fedora Project.
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~Historical Qualifications~
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In truth, I have very few.  But, one must start somewhere.  I am quite heavily involved in certain aspects of the Ark Linux distribution (www.arklinux.org) and have done some minor package building (RPMs) as well as general community support.  I believe that my one true qualification is the fact that I am still, at heart, a home PC user.  I am not a power-user, I am not a programmer, and I am not by any means a developer.  I am simply your average-Joe home computer user that knows how to build RPM packages.  In the case of my role in this project, however, I feel that my lack of technical expertise can be seen as more of an asset and less a liability.  Most Windows users that convert to Linux don't know about the 2 main desktop environments.  They don't understand the concept of window managers, the kernel, bash and other shells, X, etc.  To them, Linux is Linux is Linux; they want to try it because they've heard about how it is a more stable, more secure, and generally a be!
tter computing environment than Windows.  I understand this mentality (I was there just last June, remember?)  and I will certainly take it into account when selecting and building packages.
You should trust me for one reason, and for one reason only -- for the past months, I have been utterly compelled and even obsessed with the Linux operating system, and I have placed my entire trust in Linux and the Linux community.  I have gone from distribution-to-distribution, each time more disappointed than the last.  However, I have finally seen light at the end of the tunnel.  That light is, of course, the Fedora Project.
I hope dearly that I will be permitted to contribute to this wonderful project,
Logan "Poprocks" Rathbone
[logan@localhost logan]$ gpg --fingerprint BF86D3F4
pub  1024D/BF86D3F4 2003-10-30 Logan Rathbone (Poprocks) poprocks@linux.net
     Key fingerprint = AA14 D6F3 0F7B 650B 5E7C  A588 33D8 77F7 BF86 D3F4
sub  2048g/296BEE8D 2003-10-30 [expires: 2008-10-28]
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