Contributing Developer application - Alessandro Astone

[Simon Quigley]

Hi Alessandro!

On 4/3/25 05:43 AM, Alessandro Astone wrote:
> On 30/03/2025 19:18, Alessandro Astone wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I am applying for Ubuntu Contributing Developer.
>>
>> Application wiki page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/aleasto/ ContributingDeveloperApplication
>> Meeting slot:  2025-07-21  16:00
>> Agenda:  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DeveloperMembershipBoard/Agenda
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Alessandro
>>
> 
> In light of "Clarifying Policy Re: Asynchronous Contributing Developer Applications" indicating a preference for asynchronous review, I have removed myself from the agenda slot I had previously booked and will be taking questions from the replies to this thread instead.

Under the "any DMB member can ask for more time" exception, I am extending the final date on this application to April 18th, 2025, due to the unique timing of that communication and your indication.

Any DMB member, myself included, can push it further if we need to.

> Please, ask away!

Sounds good!

Given my own past experience, my personal standard for reviewing applications involves gauging technical and social skills alike. For more details on the kind of questions I ask, please feel free to read the devel-permissions archives.

Some reminders:
  - I'm not asking for perfection, I'm simply asking for your best. Take your time, I don't expect an immediate response.
  - These questions change from person to person; while it is a great sign of preparedness to read past applications to see what kind of answers I'm looking for, these are unique.

Something new: I value verbosity. You don't have to write a book, but I would rather you err on the side of over-explaining than under-explaining when unsure. I'll repeat this note in further applications. Again, take your time.

I'll start with this: your wide range of experience gives me a great initial impression.

As I'm sure you know, one of the most effective techniques in software engineering is the Rubber Ducky technique[1]. A related concept is the "explain it like I'm 5" technique, or ELI5.

I already know the answer to these questions, but let's pretend you have time-traveled back to the year 2007. I am 5 years old again, and I have kindly asked you to answer some questions for me about the year 2025:
  - What is LineageOS, what is Android, and what do those things mean for an average phone user? (Read: "30 second elevator pitch.")
  - How easy is it to port a phone OS to a new phone, very generally speaking? Is it as easy as some people make it look?
  - Are you at all familiar with Lomiri/Ubuntu Touch? What's your opinion?
  - [Bonus question, non-blocking, optional] As a prospective Ubuntu Member talking to a young person interested in the project, how would you encourage them, and/or what advice would you give them?

Okay, back to 2025. Here are some further questions:

In your own words, what does it mean to be an Ubuntu Member?

Please take some time to reflect on this portion of the Ubuntu Code of Conduct:
 > When somebody leaves or disengages from the project, we ask that they do so in a way that minimises disruption to the project. They should tell people they are leaving and take the proper steps to ensure that others can pick up where they left off.

While your experience is wide-ranging, could you please explain the steps you took to gracefully disengage from projects that are firmly in your past?

I am not attempting to hold any potentially negative history over your head. I am simply trying to gauge your understanding of this clause, separately from your publicly-stated employment at Canonical.

If you must answer this question privately, that is okay, please send me a separate, direct email with the information you are willing to share. I also want to give you the benefit of the doubt, so if I'm even slightly suggesting something that's false, tell me. :)

Okay, enough social questions, on to technical ones.

When writing a manual test case, what do you consider? Is there any kind of defined process you follow?

Pick your favorite FTBFS fix and tell me why it's your favorite. Would you have done anything differently in hindsight?

I'll admit this is a pointed question: have you done research into whether anyone has proposed improvements to the SRU process like you've stated? If you have not done this research, could you please do so, and/or ask around[2]?

Once this is complete, does this change your constructive criticism, and/or are you willing to assist on this front?

One last technical question for the time being: what do you consider when creating a new source package from scratch? Could you give me a taste of your process?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging
[2] Hint: if you openly ask this in Ubuntu Development on Matrix without pinging me, I might be the one to answer it for you.
[2a] Bonus points if you ask around to specific people first, to get general opinions on your feedback.
[2b] Extra bonus points if you keep all interactions friendly and constructive, and reflect on it in your response.
[2c] Extra extra bonus points if you reach out to an Ubuntu Developer you have not talked to before.
[2d] Extra extra extra bonus points if you end up being persuasive enough that the SRU team actually changes policy.

Have a great weekend,
-- 
Simon Quigley
simon at tsimonq2.net
@tsimonq2:ubuntu.com on Matrix
tsimonq2 on LiberaChat and OFTC
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