Sorry for being a week late with the next interview, I was on vacation in Asia.
I must confess that I had not heard a lot about our next interviewee but I am certainly very glad to have met this very friendly person and the company she keeps. For those that do not know Em is the founder of the popular IRC channel ##club-ubuntu.
1. Tell as much as you’re willing about your “real life” like name, age, gender, location, family, religion, profession, education, hobbies, etc.
I use the nick “em” on freenode and my friends know me as emma. I live in New York City. Playing with Linux has become one of my primary hobbies. I really enjoy Freenode and IRC as a medium for finding people interested in the things I enjoy learning about.
I am not really very interesting but the ##club-ubuntu channel on Freenode is. Club Ubuntu helps to deliver on the concept that Ubuntu is an OS for everyone. We are a community that places an emphasis on freedom, openness, and individual expression. As a social channel and virtual Linux users group we are a very diverse network of friends – with people from all over the world, of various levels of skill, age, and maturity. We are definitely a channel for people who prefer the unpredictability of a busy city over the security of a comfortable suburb.
2. When and how did you become interested in computers? in Linux? in Ubuntu?
I’ve always been somewhat interested in computers. When I was very young a relative bought me a TRS 80 Color Computer and for a little while I was really on the cutting edge. That didn’t last long. About three years ago I was feeling bad that my understanding of computers and technology had become so deficient. I wanted to do something about it. I went to Barnes and Noble to find a book that might help. I found the books about Linux and it seemed that Linux would be the perfect entry-point into everything I wanted to understand. Among all of the Linux books the books about Ubuntu stood out as the most accessible so I bought one of those. I brought it home and installed the Live CD that came with it. Ubuntu installed without any problems. While I was playing around with Synaptic Package Manager I more or less inadvertently installed Xchat which, by default, drops you into #ubuntu on Freenode. One thing lead to another and not long after that ##club-ubuntu was made.
3. When did you become involved in the forums (or the Ubuntu community)? What’s your role there?
No answer given.
4. Are you an Ubuntu member? If so, how do you contribute? If not, do you plan on becoming one?
I am not an Ubuntu member although I have many friends who are. I contribute to Ubuntu, along with the rest of Club Ubuntu by creating a space where a lot of people who wouldn’t have otherwise tried Ubuntu can feel comfortable and know they are accepted. The official Ubuntu community is a well organized group that offers a lot of ways for people to be involved. Unfortunately no community can ever connect with every personality or interest. I think one of the ways Club Ubuntu contributes the most is by being a bridge between that official Ubuntu community and the rest of the world. I’ve known many long time Linux users who don’t identify with Ubuntu but enjoy hanging out in ##club. Likewise, we have introduced a lot of Windows users to Ubuntu and the benefits of open source software.
5. What distros do you regularly use? What software? What’s your favorite application? Your least favorite?
Ubuntu is the only operating system I ever use on my home machine. I have, however, successfully challenged myself to use other distros now and then. I always return to Ubuntu though because for me it is less of a hassel and the packages are a little bit more fresh than the alternatives I’ve tried. Someday when I have some more time I would love to work through Linux From Scratch. Among my favorite applications are irssi, maxima, and inkscape. I don’t have anything negative to say about any of the applications made by talented volunteers who are willing to open source their software and let me try it for free!
6. What’s your fondest memory from the forums, or from Ubuntu overall? What’s your worst?
I am fond of the time I have spent with really funny, intelligent, and interesting people in Club Ubuntu. Many of whom have become genuinely good friends. Club Ubuntu is one of the few places with the flexibility to bring together everyone from Ubuntu devs to high school kids who got banned in other channels. Our setting is informal and people tend to work things out, and get to know one another in an authentic way. That is what a real community is about, and I am proud that is what Club Ubuntu is.
7. What luck have you had introducing new computer users to Ubuntu?
We have been very successful at this. As I mentioned earlier this is probably one of the primary ways that Club Ubuntu benefits the larger and more formal Ubuntu community. You will usually find over a hundred people chatting in ##club-ubuntu at any given time, and over the years hundreds more have passed through. We also have over 150 members in our group on Launchpad. In some ways we specialize in making a home for people who didn’t feel like they were accepted in other places and we have been compared to the Island of Misfit Toys. I think that’s really valuable if you are serious about being a community for everyone.
8. What would you like to see happen with Linux in the future? with Ubuntu?
This is a great question; here are some of the things that show up on the Club Ubuntu wish-list: (1) More attractive games available for play on Linux. (2) Better hardware drivers. Especially for video and graphics. We would really like to see the Linux community get the open source AMD drivers in shape (especially for opencl support) and look forward to getting Wayland as a replacement for X (3) We would like to see Ubuntu make security and encryption as easy for ordinary users as it has done for other aspects of using Linux.
9. If there was one thing you could tell all new Ubuntu users, what would it be?
Visit us in ##club-ubuntu on the Freenode IRC network! We are a community with a lot of diversity when it comes to skills, interests, and maturity. We would be happy to see you and you will probably make some friends who can show you what Linux and Ubuntu have to offer.
Pingback: Interview with Em
You clearly don’t know her or that channel well at all. Such a shame to see this series tainted by this interview.
Hello,
Em was on the list of potential interviewees from the last set in the series. I have been participating in discussions in that channel since the early part of this year and have got to know serveral of its regular participants.
I am sorry you feel the series has been tainted by her inclusion in this community project.
Well, I’m agreed with her comment… I mean, yes, we need better games environment on Linux specially on Ubuntu… I used to use dual boot with windows..Now completely shifted to Ubuntu…Using for six months by now..:D….I’ve already got something interesting on Ubuntu! Saw many negative comments for current unity system on Ubuntu…Although I’ve tried different destro like fedora15(Gnome 3), I wasn’t comfortable like Ubuntu…. I couldn’t find any stunning software source for that like Ubuntu.!! While I was updating my system, my PC crashed suddenly! I mean showed error and generating report to send fedora..bla bla bla…Now after all, turned back to Ubuntu..I fixed some bugs myself..Now Ubuntu is much better than any other Linux OS’s…I just hope that Ubuntu will improve their technology in future…because I encouraged some of my friends to use Ubuntu, but they turned back to the windows again!! Just waiting for Ubuntu 11.10 with latest gnome technology..:D
….cheers!!
nice interview, go em!
I actually really like club-ubuntu. It’s a very free room for discussion. It’s very helpful. And I’ve made a number of good friends there in the ~month i’ve been there.
For me ##club-ubuntu is a channel that welcomes diversity, that embraces a warm jovial yet forthright ethos that should never be discouraged, and thus shuns a cold pompous arrogance one may find elsewhere.
To the author of the terse, impolite and nonconstructive critique found within the first comment, I say this; that every human being is entitled to courtesy and consideration. Constructive criticism is not only to be expected but sought. You should not be surprised to find your poor attitude reciprocated.
Keep doing what you’re doing Emma, I enjoy the enchanges on ##club-ubuntu, whether it’s a heated debate, or a relaxed evening of sharing musical tastes; we must learn to live together as ‘brothers’, or perish together as fools.
John.
A fine interview that actually embraces the true spirit of Ubuntu, which has traditionally meant Linux for Human Beings. Remember that? Not the people in “control”. and certainly not those who would seek to control others. Real human users. Like us, for example. If you have a grudge take it elsewhere and don’t “taint” this interview series with your biased commentary, Melissa.
#club-ubuntu hould be the official offtopic channel, not #ubuntu-offtopic.