Re: GNOME Infrastructure Apprentice Program

[Michael Hill <mdhillca gmail com>]

I too would like to join the apprentice program. 

I've been using Linux since 1996 beginning with Debian. I was involved with the SGI Linux port doing installation and testing when I heard about GNOME in 1998[1]. Within a year or two I started building and testing Evolution[2] (and Gnome-apt[3]!) on Debian unstable/experimental. At the end of 2004 I started running Ubuntu.

By day I do software support for a multinational engineering company, specifically for CAD and engineering analysis software. I started as a drafter/designer (also in 1996) when it was a small local company, which was then acquired in 2006. In 1998 I became the network administrator, and by 2004 I had replaced the NetWare file server and Exchange email server with SLES and Open-Xchange. With the acquisition my Linux career was put on hold: I took MCSE training and became the office IT manager where I built up a staff of five. I switched to the design systems department in 2008 and the local IT department began to be outsourced; a single technician now remains in the office.

In 2011 I joined the GNOME Docs team for the release of 3.0. I have a couple of oldish ThinkPads that run openSUSE Factory and Fedora Rawhide (with other distros in Boxes) and a 2005 G41 that runs Ubuntu GNOME (3.10 I think) but overheats. I do testing using Boxes and Continuous. Sometimes I use jhbuild, particularly for building Boxes.

I'd like to be a Sysadmin representative on the Docs team, and be available in an emergency.

I have no knowledge of Puppet other than what I've read on the website.

I had brief, passing experience installing Red Hat 5.1 (the first SGI installer) and 6 (on x86), but not RHEL. Aside from Fedora, my only connection to Red Hat is that I follow the Canadian football team owned by the founder.[4]

I am eager to learn new things and provide feedback.

[1] http://www.linux-mips.org/archives/linux-mips/1998-02/msg00060.html

[2] https://mail.gnome.org/archives/evolution-list/2002-February/msg00312.html

[3] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/1999/01/msg02402.html

[4] http://www.ticats.ca/page/bob-young

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Cheers,

Mike