Self-Introduction: Logan Rathbone

[Logan Rathbone]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Logan A. Rathbone~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~Mississauga, Ontario, Canada~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~University student - 1st year of studies in Economics~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~University of Toronto~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~My goals in the Fedora Project:~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Historical Qualifications~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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(a)linux.net&gt;
     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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[Michel Alexandre Salim]

On Thu, 2003-10-30 at 12:27, Logan Rathbone wrote:
>  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Logan A. Rathbone~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>  ~~~~~~~~~~~~Mississauga, Ontario, Canada~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>  ~University student - 1st year of studies in Economics~
>  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~University of Toronto~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Welcome, Logan!

It should be really useful to have more non-CS contributors. I have been
looking at ArkLinux with interest myself, though admittedly the omission
of Gnome turns me away.

Could you tell us which packages you plan to contribute?

- Michel

PS everyone can contribute to Fedora Extra (http://fedora.us), you just
need to post a package request to bugzilla.fedora.us and get your
package past QA

[Warren Togami]

Michel Alexandre Salim wrote:
>  
>  PS everyone can contribute to Fedora Extra (http://fedora.us), you just
>  need to post a package request to bugzilla.fedora.us and get your
>  package past QA
>   
Oh, and that's simple. =)

Warren

[Michel Alexandre Salim]

On Thu, 2003-10-30 at 12:59, Warren Togami wrote:
>  Michel Alexandre Salim wrote:
>  > 
>  > PS everyone can contribute to Fedora Extra (http://fedora.us), you just
>  > need to post a package request to bugzilla.fedora.us and get your
>  > package past QA
>  > 
>  
>  Oh, and that's simple. =)
>   
Simpler than Debian's QA? :)

On a more serious note, helping to QA other packages help your packages
get QA'ed faster.

- Michel

[Stephan Windischmann]

On Thu, 2003-10-30 at 07:15, Michel Alexandre Salim wrote:
>  On Thu, 2003-10-30 at 12:59, Warren Togami wrote:
>  > Michel Alexandre Salim wrote:
>  > > 
>  > > PS everyone can contribute to Fedora Extra (http://fedora.us), you just
>  > > need to post a package request to bugzilla.fedora.us and get your
>  > > package past QA
>  > > 
>  > 
>  > Oh, and that's simple. =)
>  > 
>  Simpler than Debian's QA? :) 
Well, they don't expect you to meet up with
another Debian developer to
proof your identity, and there are no Fedora events where public keys
are read out loud (I would have loved to watch that). :)

-windi (who uses both Debian and Fedora)

[Elliot Lee]

On Wed, 29 Oct 2003, Logan Rathbone wrote:

>  I hope dearly that I will be permitted to contribute to this
> wonderful
>  project, 
Hello Logan,

It's good to read your introduction and know of your interest. I hope that
you're finding ways to contribute and getting a handle on the project.  
Please let me know if there are any questions I can answer or any way I
can help make contributing easier.

Cheers,
-- Elliot