MOTU application for Jonathan Thomas (JontheEchidna)

[Michael Casadevall]

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Having worked with Jon in packaging KDE 4.1 releases, he has strong
skills, and I have no concerns with him being a MOTU. Major +1 from
me, and I look forward to seeing Jon being a MOTU relatively soon :-).
Michael

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On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 7:55 PM, Jonathan <echidnaman at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear MOTU Council,
>
> Please accept this as my application for MOTU status in Ubuntu.
>
>  * My Launchpad: https://edge.launchpad.net/~echidnaman
>  * My Wiki Page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Jonathan265
>
> My involvement with Kubuntu started shortly before Hardy was released. I was
> testing the beta or release candidate of Kubuntu Hardy Heron, the KDE4
> edition, when I noticed some implementation details I didn't like. I found
> #kubuntu-kde4 on IRC and voiced my opinions. The kind people in #kubuntu-kde4
> then invited me to join #kubuntu-devel to make sure my concerns got heard.
> After that, I sorta hung around until I started getting more and more
> involved. In July I became a (K)Ubuntu member. Nowadays I am very active in a
> lot of aspects of Kubuntu, and would like to become an MOTU.
>
> I started off by doing things like fixing trivial packaging bugs. Fueled by my
> love of KDE4, eventually I began wanting packages for some of my favorite
> plasmoids on kde-look. One weekend I plopped down with the handy-dandy
> packaging guide and packaged my very first plasmoid. Unfortunately, since the
> plasmoid was never updated for KDE 4.1 it never got uploaded to Intrepid. But
> that was just the beginning. Since then I have packaged 9 plasmoids and a
> couple other packages for universe. On the packaging front I have also done
> quite a few package updates and bugfixes for universe. All in all I have done
> right around 60 uploads to Ubuntu (both main and universe) in Intrepid, with a
> dozen or so already in Jaunty.
>
> I am also heavily involved with KDE releases. I have been doing KDE4 releases
> since the first release candidate of KDE 4.1. (4.0.98 or so) Working with KDE
> is one of my favorite parts about Ubuntu, since it allows me to directly
> contribute to the quality of the KDE we provide to the world. Working with
> Ubuntu allowed me to do nifty things like this:
> https://wiki.kubuntu.org/KubuntuIntrepidDesktopDefaults
> Following that spec, I got to include a plasmoid (whose package I had babied
> from non-existence) into the default Kubuntu install, integrating it into a
> polished environment.
>
> Also on the KDE front, I lead the packaging effort for the first beta of KDE 4.2
> 2 weeks ago. I was in charge of organizing the whole thing and
> reviewing/testbuilding the KDE packagers as our wonderful team of ninjas
> produced them. Harald can attest to how good of a job I did leading KDE 4.2
> beta1 packaging.
>
> On the non-motu front, I have actively been triaging bugs for half a year.
> Anybody whose email inbox I have flooded can attest to this. (and they have
> been known to complain before :P) I am a firm believer in getting bugs
> upstream. They just usually don't get fixed otherwise. In fact, last Ubuntu
> Open Week I gave a talk on how the Kubuntu bug team does upstreaming. That was
> fun; but man, I didn't know I would almost run out of time like that! Time
> sure flies when you are typing. I have also made coding contributions to the
> KDE frontends of the software-properties and jockey utilities, giving both
> PyQt4 -> PyKDE4 ports.
>
> I am requesting to become an MOTU to aid me in my universe work. (Maintaining
> plasmoids and KDE universe packages in general, Kubuntu always needs more
> motus) I believe I have the necessary qualifications. I know how to make new
> packages, maintain existing packages, update packages, merge packages with,
> file Main Inclusion Reports, request for package removals when necessary,
> freeze exceptions, and all that good stuff. All of the above I have done. In
> the immediate future I plan to keep on packaging KDE and maintaining the
> plasmoids I have packaged, along with any other KDE universe work that comes
> up. Once we get the Jaunty specs finalised I plan to work on those too, since
> everybody will have a very full plate this time around. I can't imagine life
> without Kubuntu, and I plan to stick around for a while. Maybe one day I'll go
> for core-dev, who knows...
>
> I am CCing some of my sponsors and a bunch of good friends with whom I work.
> (I would consider all my sponsors to fall under the latter category, too. :))
> I would also like to thank everybody for helping me develop my skills and for
> including me in the Kubuntu family.
>
> Sponsors:
>  - Jonathan Riddell (riddell, like you needed his IRC nick :P)
>  - Harald Sitter (apachelogger)
>  - Scott Kitterman (ScottK)
>  - Steven Stalcup (vorian)
>
> MOTU/Core-dev/(K/X)Ubuntu contributors:
>  - Guillaume Matres (smarter)
>  - Richard Birnie (Arby)
>  - Yuriy Kozlov (yuriy)
>  - Michael Casadevall (NCommander)
>  - Roderick Greening (rgreening)
>  - Richard Johnson (nixternal, the pointy-click vista lover)
>
> Shouts to the following people too:
>  - Everybody in #kubuntu-devel
>  - Jonathan Jesse (jjesse)
>  - Lydia Pintscher (nightrose)
>  - Jussio
>  - Sayak (glade88)
>  - Michael Vogt (mvo, he sponsored/merged my software-property-kde port in
> bzr)
>  - Martin Pitt (pitti, sponsored/merged by pykde4 port of jockey-kde in bzr)
>