July 2012 – GNOME Foundation

Interview with incoming Board Member Seif Lotfy

Today’s interview is from Seif Lotfy, one of the new GNOME Foundation board members.

Where do you live/work?
Darmstadt, 30km south of Frankfurt Germany.

Why is open source/free software important to you?
I believe open source/free software promotes innovation, due to its nature of crowd sourcing.

How/when/why did you become involved in GNOME?
I started using GNOME in 2004. I had SUSE installed at that point. Later I switched to Ubuntu. I got involved trying to fix a bug in Gimmie that was keeping me away from using it. So I sat down and looked at the python code which seemed to me like pseudo code. 3 weeks later (after learning python) I had my first patch and Alex Graveley motivated me to fix more issues.

Why did you run for the GNOME Foundation Board?
I wanted to contribute to GNOME in more ways then just code, as well as push for more visibility of the board in the community.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term on the board?
I hope to improve and find ways to make GNOME more interesting for its current (as well as potential future) sponsors. Also I am looking forward to developing initiatives to improve the communication within the community

Do you think GNOME is heading in the right direction? Why or why not?
While I think the direction (GNOME OS) is very noble, I fear that maybe it was not thought out properly. I hope to be able to assess the long and short term implications with the rest of the board this year.

Have you attended GUADEC in the past? If so, when/where?
My first GUADEC was during Desktop Summit 2009 in Gran Canaria, it was really exciting. I have been to every following GUADEC (Desktop Summit) ever since.

What are you looking forward to most at GUADEC?
Meeting up with fellow developers that I communicate mostly online. Also enjoy outings after the hackfests.

Any other thoughts on GUADEC and/or GNOME?
GUADEC has always been awesome, and I don’t think that will change anytime soon. And there wouldn’t be GUADEC without GNOME.

GNOME publishes the GNOME Outreach Program Yearbook 2012

In the last year, the GNOME Outreach Program made several improvements to its central projects, the Outreach Program for Women and Google Summer of Code. Some of these improvements are making sure each intern connects with a potential mentor ahead of time, contributes a patch to the relevant module as part of the application process, and has blog posts with progress updates incorporated on Planet GNOME. All of these requirements were made to help students and interns to connect to their projects early on.

These efforts are extended today with the publication of the GNOME Outreach Program Yearbook 2012. In this book, you will find all participants from the Outreach Program for Women 2011/2012, Outreach Program for Women 2012 and Google Summer of Code 2012. Furthermore, all students and interns who will be at this years GUADEC are highlighted with a badge. Please take the time to get to know our newest contributors!

Download the GNOME Outreach Program Yearbook 2012

GNOME UX Hackfest Kicks off in A Coruña

GUADEC is only a few days away, but GNOME contributors are already gathering in A Coruña and getting down to some important work. Today marks the beginning of a two-day design event that is being hosted in the Igalia A Coruña office.

The UX Hackfest brings GNOME designers and developers together to review ongoing development initiatives. Features that are in development will be tested and discussed, and future development activities will be planned. The event aims to ensure that the next version of GNOME is the best ever.

The hackfest brings together members of the GNOME design team, in addition to key developers. It also involves a number of new GNOME contributors with the help of Google Summer of Code and the GNOME Outreach Program for Women.

This event could not have taken place without the support from sponsors: Igalia and Red Hat. It has also been supported by the GNOME Foundation. Many thanks to all.

You can learn more about the UX Hackfest on the event wiki page.

hackfest-sponsors-vertical

Interview with GUADEC Organizer Emilio J Padrón

Our next interview comes from another member of the local GUADEC organizing team Emilio J Padrón.

Whats your name?
Emilio J. Padrón

Where do you live and/or work?
I both live and work in A Coruña, though I often stay in Ourense as well, my hometown.

What do you like to do in your free time?
Mainly reading. I also love playing (and watching) basketball. What I really-really hate is all kind of computer stuff. The last statement is not true most days. 🙂

What is your favorite part of A Coruña (and/or the surrounding area)?
In the city… probably the ‘Paseo marítimo’ (promenade/seaside). In the surrounding area I like ‘O Seixo Branco’, a beatiful place near Mera (a village nearby).

Why did you want to hold GUADEC in A Coruña?
Just for fun! … and also because as a free software zealot I like to help the community in all ways I can.

Have you attended GUADEC in the past? If so, when/where?
Nope. This will be my first GUADEC.

Has organizing GUADEC been fun?
Sure! Anyway, I think ‘the best is yet to come’.

What was the most challenging aspect of organizing GUADEC?
Scale! It is a bunch of people attending the conference.

What are you looking forward to most?
As a member of the local team, I hope everything in GUADEC 2012 works as well as possible. As an attendant I am interested in multiple talks. Besides, I look forward to meeting some interesting people 🙂

Any other thoughts on GUADEC this year?
I hope everybody has a nice time in A Coruña.

Interview with GUADEC Organizer Francisco Javier Tsao Santín

Our next interview comes from the President of the GPUL-Linux Users and Developers Group, Francisco Javier Tsao Santín. GPUL is the main local organizer involved in the organization of GUADEC 2012 in A Coruña, Spain.

Whats your name?
Francisco Javier Tsao Santín

Where do you live and/or work?
I live in a little coastal village called Pontedeume, between the cities of Ferrol and A Coruña. I work as programmer in the School of Civil Engineering in A Coruña.

What do you like to do in your free time?
What is free time? 🙂 Seriously, I like to experiment with several OS’s, to improve my programming methods, to learn about structural engineering and urban planning, reading Poetry and Philosophy. And, of course, I like music, cinema and sports too.

What is your favorite part of A Coruña (and/or the surrounding area)?
My favorite part is the medieval town (Azcárraga-María Pita-España squares). There are some pretty places to go for a walk, nice restaurants, funny pubs…

Why did you want to hold GUADEC in A Coruña?
Since its foundation in 1998, GPUL have been organizing meetings spreading free software philosophy and helping to developers to integrate into free software projects. GUADEC is the greatest meeting we have ever celebrated, and it is a challenge and an honor for us.

Have you attended GUADEC in the past? If so, when/where?
No. But I was in the local team we organized GUADEC-ES two years ago in A Coruña.

Has organizing GUADEC been fun?
Of course it is very fun… but I’m a little nervous now 😉

What was the most challenging aspect of organizing GUADEC?
We’ll try to make everybody feel comfortable like they were at their homes.

What are you looking forward to most?
Mmmm… network running fine? People enjoying food?

Any other thoughts on GUADEC this year?
I wish that our effort could help to push GNOME to be the favorite desktop for disabled people.

Interview with GUADEC Organizer Serafín Villar

Our next interview comes from Serafín “riptide” Villar, who is a member of the local GUADEC organizing team.

Where do you live and/or work?
Now I’m living in Cambre (a town near A Coruña) and work throughout Galicia.

What do you like to do in your free time?
Any kind of stuff with computers, play flag football, walk with my family, friends and dog.

What is your favorite part of A Coruña (and/or the surrounding area)?
In the city Barrera street is a nice zone to eat and drink something; in the surrounding area the Hercules Tower zone, which has awesome views of the ocean. And some kilometers away the city “A Costa da Morte” is a beautiful place to lose oneself 😀

Why did you want to hold GUADEC in A Coruña?
I’m a computer enthusiast and I like social events, so GUADEC is a good way to enjoy a week.

Have you attended GUADEC in the past? If so, when/where?
No.

Has organizing GUADEC been fun?
Yes, it is a lot of work but worth it.

What was the most challenging aspect of organizing GUADEC?
For me the network design, but the coordination of all the aspects of the event is a huge challenge for Chema.

Any other thoughts on GUADEC this year?
Come and have fun.

Thanks for organizing GUADEC!

Interview with incoming GNOME Foundation Board Member Tobias Mueller

Our next interview comes from one of the new members of the GNOME Foundation Board of Directors Tobias Mueller.

Where do you live/work?
I live in Hamburg, in the lovely north of Germany.

Why is open source/free software important to you?
I believe that Free Software makes the world a better place. Also, as I am a bit of a computer security person, it is absolutely crucial to be able to see how the software in question works and be able to eventually fix issues (or have someone fix them).

How/when/why did you become involved in GNOME?
I’ve been using GNOME since I actively started using Free Software, probably back in 2002. I started to follow it more and more until I became greatly involved as a Summer of Code student in 2007.

Why did you run for the GNOME Foundation Board?
I have been around GNOME for about 5 years now and while I enjoy being in the community I also want to progress within GNOME and take on new responsibilities.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term on the board?
I hope to push the revamp of the bylaws and enable people to work together more effectively.

Do you think GNOME is heading in the right direction? Why or why not?
I think GNOME is doing well so far, but it must not rest (decadence anyone?). We have very smart people in our community and we should enable them to get awesome stuff done for both GNOME and the world of Free Software generally.

Have you attended GUADEC in the past? If so, when/where?
My first GUADEC was the one in Birmingham in 2007.

What are you looking forward to most at GUADEC?
To see friends again and have nice discussions.

Any other thoughts on GUADEC and/or GNOME?
GNOME is a great community and GUADEC is a good place to get in touch. Sometimes though, it might not be comfortable for newcomers to chime in. I still remember myself being too shy to talk to some great GNOME people. So while I recommend young GNOMErs not to be shy, maybe a “This is GNOME” introductory session for new GNOME people might be a good idea.

Interview with GUADEC Organizer Alejo Pacín

Our second interview comes from another member of the local organizing team Alejo Pacín:

Q: Where do you live and/or work?
Alejo: I live in the best place in the world! Taboada, a small rural municipality in the province of Lugo (about 140 km from A Coruña). Some pictures.

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
Alejo: In addition to computer engineering, I’m a professional musician (violin, Galician bagpipe, Galician traditional percussion, …). Especially in summer, I play a lot with a Galician traditional group called “Varacuncas”.

The rest of the year, I have typical hobbies, such as mountain biking, cross country running, swimming, basketball, football, gym sports, playing video games, watching movies, reading books and so on. Also not-so-typical hobbies, such as collecting dreamcast and old rare hardware (alpha, sparc, powerpc, x86, …), and finally I have a new hobby: Arduino. I really love it!

But above all this, my biggest hobby is to organize the GPUL events: free software/hardware conferences, workshops on cryptography, privacy and security, multimedia conferences, seminars for novice students and, of course, the GUADEC 2012!

Q: What is your favorite part of A Coruña (and/or the surrounding area)?
Alejo: Hmm, a really complicated question. There are so many… But if I have to choose, I think I prefer the Old City. It has a lot of charming places: Galician traditional taverns, parks, museums and so on.

Q: Why did you want to hold GUADEC in A Coruña?
Alejo: There are a lot of reasons to hold GUADEC in A Coruña:

A Coruña is one of the ten hidden gems of Europe.
Excelent facilities for work and stay.
A lot of GNOME users (the Faculty of Computer Science has more than 2500 students and use GNOME on all its computers) and developers.
A huge local team (more than 400 potential volunteers)

And ,paraphrasing myself: “To be a volunteer at GUADEC is a way to help GNOME to improve the experience of its desktop users”.

Q: Have you attended GUADEC in the past? If so, when/where?
Alejo: No, I have not had that luck. I’m a busy student: no time, no money. But I have attended to some GUADEC-ES edition.

Q: Has organizing GUADEC been fun?
Alejo: Yes, but not at all, obviously. What I liked most were the local team meetings; so funny… xD. But they have many hard and complicated tasks… not so fun. But it’s all for a good cause, so no complaints. 😉

Q: What was the most challenging aspect of organizing GUADEC?
Alejo: Well, I’m on the travel and accommodation team, so I don’t know all aspects. But I think that coordinating so many people (about 220 registrants right now) is the most complicated.

Q: What are you looking forward to most?
Alejo: Well, this is not serious but… the Social Program, of course, :D.

Q: Any other thoughts on GUADEC this year?
Alejo: A lot! But… surprise. MUHAHAHAHA!!!

Interview with GUADEC Organizer Laura M Castro

With GUADEC 2012 starting in just two weeks, GNOME News is starting a series of interviews with members of the local organizing team. Our first interview is from one of the members of the local team, Laura M. Castro.

Where do you live and/or work?
I live and work in A Coruña.

What do you like to do in your free time?
Nothing out of the ordinary, really. I like to spend as much time as possible with my loved ones and closest friends, I love traveling and visiting new places, and I enjoy reading and listening to music.

What is your favorite part of A Coruña (and/or the surrounding area)?

I think the park at Monte de San Pedro (Saint Peter’s Hill) is one of the best spots in the city. It has privileged views of the whole city and the sea, it overlooks a very impressive cliff, and its green grass is perfect to lay down and just let the time flow away looking at the sky. The only bad thing is that it is naturally very windy most of the time… but again that is usually true for most of the city. Picasso did call A Coruña ‘the city of the wind’ for a reason!

Why did you want to hold GUADEC in A Coruña?
It is not the first time I have been involved in the organization of events related to the free software world, and I have always find it to be very enjoyable at many levels. I trust that people visiting our city, and in general this part of the country for the first time, will have an unforgettable time here.

Have you attended GUADEC in the past? If so, when/where?
Well, sort of. I was part of the organization team of the VII GUADEC-ES which was held in A Coruña in 2010.

Has organizing GUADEC been fun?
Yes, people in the local organization group have known each other for a long time, so we enjoy working together. However, the best is yet to come between 26th July and 1st August!

What was the most challenging aspect of organizing GUADEC?
As happens with most software systems: dealing with scale!

What are you looking forward to most?
Attendees enjoying their time at GUADEC.

Any other thoughts on GUADEC this year?
I hope a lot of our local computer science students get involved and decide to actively join the community.

Many thanks to Laura. Stay tuned for the next episode!

GUADEC 2012 Program Published

The full program for this year’s GUADEC conference has been announced. GUADEC is the premier GNOME conference, and is being held in a Coruña, Spain, from July 26th to August 1st. A total of 46 talks will be held during the core conference days, as well as 4 keynotes and a number of lightning talk sessions.

This year’s keynote speakers are Jacob Appelbaum, Yorba’s Adam Dingle & Jim Nelson, Alex “Skud” Bayley, Federico Mena Quintero, Jonathan Blandford & Dave Mason.

Jacob Appelbaum will speak about “The Tor Project: Anonymity online” and how this project has enabled roughly 36 million people around the world to experience freedom of access and expression on the Internet.

Adam Dingle & Jim Nelson will give a talk titled “Crowdfunding GNOME Application Development”, which is based in their experience at Yorba and GNOME projects as Shotwell and Geary.

Alex “Skud” Bayley will speak about “What’s Next? From Open Source to Open Everything” based in her experience of being involved in uncountable open projects ranging from copyright reform to community schools,

Federico Mena Quintero, Jonathan Blandford & Dave Mason will give a history of GNOME, recounting the early days of the project to our recent present.

The four core conference days will be followed by three days of working events and hacking sessions, which will give the GNOME community an opportunity to work and plan together.

More information about this year’s GUADEC, including how to attend, can be found on the conference website.