The Ubuntu Beginners Team has recently had an election for new council members. I was very surprised to find that I have been awarded one of the seats on the council. Thank you to all that voted for me 
Congratulations must also go to DarkwingDuck for securing the other seat on the council.
I also wish to thank paultag and nhandler for doing an excellent job in taking the team forwards and also their commitment to the team over the years. You both should be very proud of your contributions.
Today I would like to introduce fellow Ubuntu Forums staff member CharlesA.
1. Tell as much as you’re willing about your “real life” like name, age, gender, location, family, religion, profession, education, hobbies, etc.
My name is Charles Auer, and I’m just a guy from California. I got my Associates degree in Electronic Technology in 2004 and been working as Tech Support since. I usually play RPGs in my spare time.
2. When and how did you become interested in computers? in Linux? in Ubuntu?
I first got into computers back in 1995 or 1996, when I had a teacher who worked to get older PCs usable so they could be used in the classroom. Most of them were 386 or 486 machines running Windows 3.1, but it was better then nothing. I started learning a bit about Linux in a class I took in 2007, after that I decided to redo my home server and have it running *nix. Been using it ever since.
3. When did you become involved in the forums (or the Ubuntu community)? What’s your role there?
I started out on the forums back in October of 2009, when I first started messing around with Ubuntu and ran into a snag that I didn’t understand. I eventually figured it out on my own, but it was nice to put thoughts on “paper” so to speak. I’m now a member of staff, and have been since September of 2010.
4. Are you an Ubuntu member? If so, how do you contribute? If not, do you plan on becoming one?
Not an Ubuntu member yet.
5. What distros do you regularly use? What software? What’s your favorite application? Your least favorite?
I mostly stick to either Debian or Ubuntu, but I have used both CentOS and Fedora at times. I don’t really have a favorite application, per say, but I do use bluefish a lot when I’m working on my website.
6. What’s your fondest memory from the forums, or from Ubuntu overall? What’s your worst?
Being asked to be a member of staff has got to be one of my fondest memories. Not sure if I have a worst memory from the forums, unless you count the slowness we had due to hardware problems, but that wasn’t anyone’s fault.
7. What luck have you had introducing new computer users to Ubuntu?
Some mixed luck so far, but in the end it didn’t work out so well. My philosophy is to use what works best for the job you are trying to accomplish, and sometimes *nix isn’t the best for the job.
8. What would you like to see happen with Linux in the future? with Ubuntu?
I’m not too sure, to be honest. I can see it growing in popularity, but time will tell which way it’ll go.
9. If there was one thing you could tell all new Ubuntu users, what would it be?
Always have backups of your data – anything you don’t have a backup of is not worth keeping.
Our next interviewee should be well known to pretty much anyone who has anything to do with Ubuntu. Jane Silber has been the CEO of Canonical since March 2010. I will say no more and let you read on…
1. Tell as much as you’re willing about your “real life” like name, age, gender, location, family, religion, profession, education, hobbies, etc.
I’m Jane Silber, CEO of Canonical. I live in London and hold dual American/British citizenship. I spell like a Brit, speak like an American, and wave my hands about like an Italian. I grew up In Springfield, Illinois and have lived in Washington DC, Nashville, and Yokohama, Japan. I moved to the UK in 2002. My background includes jobs in start-ups and large companies, in domains ranging from health risk appraisal to artificial intelligence to military command and control. I hold degrees in Math/Computer Science from Haverford College, Management of Technology from Vanderbilt University, and an MBA from Oxford University. Outside of work I enjoy holiday travel, live performances, engrossing books, good food, witty people, and new experiences.
2. When and how did you become interested in computers? in Linux? in Ubuntu?
I first became interested in computers in high school, and studied computer science in much more depth in college. At the risk of sounding ancient, I first learned programming in Pascal and FORTRAN, and worked for many years as a C and C++ developer. I became aware of Linux through Unix while working in Japan, and found my way to Ubuntu when I joined Canonical in 2004 (back in the no-name-yet.com days!).
3. When did you become involved in the forums (or the Ubuntu community)? What’s your role there?
My first involvement with forums was before they existed! Ryan Troy took the initiative to contact me with a proposal for the Ubuntu Forums, and we discussed how to set them up, what it would mean to make them “official”, etc. I continue to be astounded by and appreciative of the effort that the Forum staff and users put into the site.
4. Are you an Ubuntu member? If so, how do you contribute? If not, do you plan on becoming one?
No answer supplied.
5. What distros do you regularly use? What software? What’s your favorite application? Your least favorite?
All Ubuntu all the time! I probably spend most of my time in Thunderbird, but one of my favourite apps is the Ubuntu Software Centre. As I answer these questions, my open apps are Thunderbird, Firefox, OpenOffice, Gwibber and Pidgin. I don’t really have a least favourite application, other than the games in Ubuntu that on occasion lure me into wasting many hours! For example, I have a long-standing backgammon battle against my laptop in GNU Backgammon.
6. What’s your fondest memory from the forums, or from Ubuntu overall? What’s your worst?
I have so many fond memories it is impossible to pick. My repeating highlight is probably each Ubuntu Developer Summit. It’s so exciting to catch up with other Canonical folks, as well as the familiar names from the community. And there is a real sense of excitement and adrenalin at each UDS as new faces join the community, new companies who are using or shipping Ubuntu come to participate, and the next version of Ubuntu begins to emerge from the collaboration.
Outside of UDS, I love hearing the personal stories of random Ubuntu sightings – e.g., airport screeners recognising Ubuntu stickers on laptops, taxi drivers recognising Ubuntu t-shirts, the thank you notes we receive from all over the world, etc. Those stories remind me of how large an impact the project has, beyond my day to day focus of making Ubuntu and Canonical successful.
7. What luck have you had introducing new computer users to Ubuntu?
I think I’ve had quite a bit . Some of that is direct advocacy amongst family and friends, just like so many of you do. Amongst my many activities at Canonical, I ran the ShipIt programme for quite a long time, and I think that has had a big impact on introducing new users to Ubuntu!
8. What would you like to see happen with Linux in the future? with Ubuntu?
I’d like to see Linux be the standard platform underlying people’s computing experiences. It already achieves that in many behind the scenes ways, and one of the reasons we focused on the desktop initially was to bring the goodness of Linux and open source in the limelight for a larger number of users. I think that in order to achieve that, the Linux and open source community writ large need to avoid the temptation to tear each other down, but rather realise that a big tent approach strengthens us all.
9. If there was one thing you could tell all new Ubuntu users, what would it be?
Tell others! We want Ubuntu to be fantastic for those in the Ubuntu and open source community, but also for those who simply want a great experience. Each Ubuntu user becomes a member of an ever-widening circle, and each can help that circle grow.
Have you ever had a song in your head all day? Something similar happened to me, but it was not a song. It was a poem. After a bit of googling I was able to find the entire poem.
I am very bothered
I am very bothered when I think
of the bad things I have done in my life.
Not least that time in the chemistry lab
when I held a pair of scissors by the blades
and played the handles
in the naked lilac flame of the Bunsen burner;
then called your name, and handed them over.O the unrivalled stench of branded skin
as you slipped your thumb and middle finger in,
then couldn’t shake off the two burning rings. Marked,
the doctor said, for eternity.Don’t believe me, please, if I say
that was just my butterfingered way, at thirteen,
of asking you if you would marry me.- Simon Armitage
I have no idea how it got it my head, but glad I was able to find the whole thing.
I imagine quite a few of you have heard of System76. System76 is a company that provides and supports Ubuntu pre-installed laptops, desktops, and servers. What I expect is not so well known is the people behind System76. I thought it would be a nice idea to get to know them better.
1. Tell as much as you’re willing about your “real life” like name, age, gender, location, family, religion, profession, education, hobbies, etc.
I’m Carl Richell, co-founder and CEO of System76. I’m 31 and live in Denver, Colorado. I’m married to a wonderful wife. We have tons of fun and I try to take her on business trips as often as possible.
I come from a line of entrepreneurs and have been one for as long as I can remember. My first business was buying candy in bulk and selling individual pieces to other kids at school. For a number of years I worked with my Dad in his construction company. I miss swinging hammers sometimes. My favorite was finishing basements. An empty pallet to play with.
I then started telephony consulting for Lucent Technologies. That migrated into complete IT consulting and finally, in 2005, to System76. I constantly need new projects and adventures. System76 provides the creative and professional expression I require. There’s never a boring day… though with the company becoming a “real” business over the years, I miss not being able to geek out as much (I used to run development releases at alpha 1 – now I must exercise patience).
I’m an atheist… a fan of Russell’s teapot, always trying to keep Occam’s razor sharp. I enjoy snowboarding, gaming, camping, boating, road trips, and finding small holes in the wall. On road trips I like to stay at cheap seedy places. They’re more interesting – and play better movies .
2. When and how did you become interested in computers? in Linux? in Ubuntu?
I think Pong – the single game console – got me started. Something about controlling what’s happening on a screen with your hands. In middle school we were tasked with writing a letter to our hero. I wrote Steve Jobs. In 1995 I wrote a letter to the CEO of IBM urging them to create a competing OS to the impending Windows 95 monopoly. I haven’t really put that together before… it’s strange to be here now.
Ubuntu, and in particular, Canonical’s business model, caught my attention when I started searching for the System76 distro of choice. The lack of an “Enterprise” pay version was important. From my perspective, Canonical and Ubuntu had all the right pieces in place – something that didn’t exist anywhere else.
Hoary was the first release I installed and our first computer – a Gazelle 2600 laptop – shipped with Breezy. We sold one computer our first month
3. When did you become involved in the forums (or the Ubuntu community)? What’s your role there?
I think my first post was announcing System76 in the Community Market just over five years ago. I spent System76′s first year helping customers and other folks in the forums. Now I spend a good amount of time reading post in the System76 section (thank guys, awesome to be in there!). The forums help me keep in tune with customers and learn the perspectives of others.
4. Are you an Ubuntu member? If so, how do you contribute? If not, do you plan on becoming one?
I’m not an Ubuntu member though I really should work on becoming one! We have a couple community programs to help promote Ubuntu. Our free ‘Powered by Ubuntu’ stickers and the 76er program for US LoCo’s.
5. What distros do you regularly use? What software? What’s your favorite application? Your least favorite?
This goes back to growing into a “real” business. I used to switch between difference *buntu variants all the time. These days it’s Ubuntu exclusively. On most days I use Chromium, GIMP, Inkscape and Rhythmbox. I also use Eclipse, nano and GnuCash regularly and, of all things, Calculator (a lot)! I’ve been itching to make video ads but Pitivi isn’t doing it for me. I’d like to see something more aggressive here.
6. What’s your fondest memory from the forums, or from Ubuntu overall? What’s your worst?
My fondest memories are community events. I love having a beer and laughing with the folks that make up Ubuntu. Castro cracks me up.
What’s my worst? Probably having to grow a thicker skin. For some reason, not everyone will love our products
7. What luck have you had introducing new computer users to Ubuntu?
I think we’ve done pretty well. My primary job is introducing new users. Press coverage of System76, and Ubuntu for that matter, are becoming more mainstream. We’re hitting ZDNet, Engadget, and PC Mag now!
8. What would you like to see happen with Linux in the future? with Ubuntu?
World domination! Seriously. I think the community builds better software. I think System76 builds better hardware. That’s why we do it. Let’s take risk, drive, compete!
9. If there was one thing you could tell all new Ubuntu users, what would it be?
Welcome to the revolution.
You may have heard of these…Since September 2007, K.Mandla, conducted interviews with forum members on his blog, Motho ke motho ka botho, giving all of us an opportunity to get to know some of the people who are consistently helpful and friendly contributors to our community. This has been a fun way to introduce the wonderful members of our worldwide forum community to one another in a little bit deeper way, with posts coming once every two to six weeks*, depending on the time of year, how busy everyone is, and how easy or difficult it is to get a response at a given time.
Then in July 2008, K.Mandla decided that he didn’t have enough time to keep up the interviews. Rather than letting them end, matthew took on the task, and has since provided many fantastic interviews with both forum and general community members alike. The most notable of these being Mark Shuttleworth (SABDFL) himself, all of which provided a great insight into who the person behind the name is. Sadly, matthew has suffered a similar fate to K.Mandla and found a lack of time to dedicate to the interviews.
Thankfully Joeb454 was able to step up in August 2009 and take the reigns. He has scoured the community and provided us with many memorable interviews including with Jono and Mako. For this we thank him for investing his time in keeping the interviews alive. Sadly Joeb454 is a little too busy with real life to continue the interviews.
This is where I come in. Similarly to what has happened before – I will be taking over the role from Joeb454, and hopefully beginning series in the next week or 2. As Joeb454 did, I won’t be limiting the interviews to specifically forum members. So, to all of you lovely people on Planet Ubuntu, you may very well get an email from me one day – don’t say you haven’t been warned! Though if you do want to volunteer, feel free to email me.
The bottom line reason for doing these interviews is that everyone has a life beyond the nickname and avatar that we see, and it is interesting to find out a little bit more about the human being behind the screen, the blog, or the reputation. To that end, I am picking up on an idea that was borrowed from an idea originally suggested by forum staff member extraordinaire aysiu, and given legs by K.Mandla, further expanded by matthew and then finally by Joeb454. I will be asking the same simple series of nine open-ended questions.
- Tell as much as you’re willing about your “real life” like name, age, gender, location, family, religion, profession, education, hobbies, etc.
- When and how did you become interested in computers? in Linux? in Ubuntu?
- When did you become involved in the forums (or the Ubuntu community)? What’s your role there?
- Are you an Ubuntu member? If so, how do you contribute? If not, do you plan on becoming one?
- What distros do you regularly use? What software? What’s your favorite application? Your least favorite?
- What’s your fondest memory from the forums, or from Ubuntu overall? What’s your worst?
- What luck have you had introducing new computer users to Ubuntu?
- What would you like to see happen with Linux in the future? with Ubuntu?
- If there was one thing you could tell all new Ubuntu users, what would it be?
The questions are intentionally generic; that gives everyone a common ground to start with, and allows them to direct their replies in whatever way they see fit. Interviewees can answer as fully or as briefly as they like, and might even skip questions. Replies are only edited for punctuation, grammar or clarity, and so what you read is what they responded.
* Now as you read this you may assume I’m taking this on as I have a lot of free time – I don’t. Though I do hope to get at least 1 interview per month if possible (e.g. every 4 weeks), so I feel that should be spaced out evenly enough for those who don’t want to read them while still being regular.
Early responses can be found here on K.Mandla’s site, a further set of responses here on matthew’s site, an additional set here from Joeb454′s site & my interview from July 2010.
List of Interviews:
This made me smile, but also strangely reflects what I have been up to. I have just been sitting and watching the world around me. Perhaps you could say a bit of a reflection on “stuff”. I have come to the conclusion that it is sometimes nice to do nothing. I have realized I can do things in my own time.
This weekend I have a few things to do :-
- I am going to buy this CD
- I am also going to buy this DVD
- Enjoy a muffin and a cup of tea at a cafe
- I need to get a new charger lead for my iPhone
- I might go see The King’s Speech at the cinema
My list is rather short, but nothing on it that important. If I wake up and don’t feel like doing any of it then I can choose to do that.
I have not posted any music videos for a little while 
This song is pretty catchy and the video is “fun” . I hope you enjoy.
During the week I mentioned in my twitter feed I have had a brilliant idea, but did not elaborate much on it. Time to fill you in. I have decided to create a short url facility using this domain (serial-coder.co.uk). I know it is not a short URL, but that is not the entire point. The point is that I can be self dependent and not require 3rd party solutions such as tinyurl.com. This service will only work for me and this website. It does not work for any other sites. Here is a sample of my short url.
Sometimes you have to give into wants and desires. It is part of being alive I guess. Below was something I treated myself to, a raspberry sponge cake and custard (all hot). It was delicious.
