Cody Somerville will apply for Ubuntu Core Developer membership

[Cody A.W. Somerville]

Hello,

On Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 1:46 AM, Nathan Handler <nhandler at ubuntu.com> wrote:

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> On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 5:01 PM, Cody A.W.
> Somerville<cody-somerville at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> >  My wikipage can be found at
> > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CodySomerville/CoreDeveloperApplication
>
> Hello Cody,
>
> I have a few questions for you as well.
>
> * You mentioned that one reason you are applying to become a Core Developer
> is
>  so that you can sponsor all of the bug fixes and enhancements produced by
> the
>  OEM Services team. You mentioned that it takes too long for the work to
> make
>  it into Ubuntu. Do you have any suggestions for how we could improve the
>  sponsorship process to make it easier to for non-motus/core-devs to get
> their
>  work into Ubuntu?
>

I think there are ways we can improve the flow of patches from the OEM team
to Ubuntu. Unfortunately, a large number of these patches will require
experienced developers as some patches simply won't be appropriate for
Ubuntu proper or will require adaptation to become appropriate.

With the increasing number of downstream "distributions", "flavors",
"remixes", and "customizations" its evident we require tools and
infrastructure to allow us to pull up these changes in a safe and effective
manner. Thankfully most of the technology needed to do so already exists.

* You also talked about improving some of the tools we use for Ubuntu
>  development. What were some of the ideas that you had to make these
> better?
>

I'm the release engineer for the OEM team. I've developed a number of tools
and software systems that provide us with a competitive advantage. I'm
naturally keen to share the fruits of my labor under an open source license
when possible. Examples today include:

 * sftp support for dput;
 * host arguments in dput;
 * image build comparison tool (bcct);
 * ubuntu mode for live-helper;
 * fix to allow proper grub menu.lst creation on domU for non-domU images;
 * automatic bug closing on pocket copies in soyuz;
 * and much more.

As for the near future, I have a particular interest at the moment with the
launchpad API.


> * Have you talked to any Launchpad developers/filed bugs/started working on
>  making Launchpad understand our processes and workflows?
>

I've most certainly spoken with launchpad developers regarding such issues
and have filed bugs when appropriate. In fact, I even have a pending meeting
with Martin Albisetti to discuss launchpad's UI and its impact on workflow.


> Nathan
>

Cheers,

-- 
Cody A.W. Somerville
Software Systems Release Engineer
Foundations Team
Custom Engineering Solutions Group
Canonical OEM Services
Phone: +1-781-850-2087
Cell: +1-506-471-8402
Email: cody.somerville at canonical.com
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