[ubuntu-studio-devel] Announcing new project leader for Ubuntu Studio

[Kaj Ailomaa]

As 16.04 Xenial Xerus is just about to be released, my duties as project
lead have to come to an end and it is time to announce the new project
leader for Ubuntu Studio - Set Hallström (a.k.a sakrecoer) - who some of
you might remember was the only candidate during our first ever election
process earlier this year - but a very good one at that!

During the last 6 months I'm happy to have seen the the team of
contributors grow (something I was almost giving up hope for in the
past). And, we've already succeeded in doing some new and fantastic
things the recent months. So, good sign for the future!

cfhowlett took the initiative for the community wallpaper competition,
something we had wanted to do for years, it seems - and it was a great
success.
Len is as always a great resource on the technical side of things -
following up bugs and fixing them, as well as contributing to some of
the user interface side of things (he is the author of ubuntustudio-menu
and has had an important influence on many of our packages over the
years). Ross is getting more and more adept in packaging, and also helps
fix many bugs. Ross has also been very competent in advancing our
testing routines (something that many have contributed to during this
cycle by writing test cases) and taking care of our milestone releases
as our testing lead and release manager. Jimmy has had less time lately,
but is always around the corner, and helping out here and there. We had
a guy who helped us out intensely during winter, (was it Noklam)? He had
some computer problems, but perhaps he will show up again at a later
date? krytarik has become more involved lately, and has helped clean up
some of our packages, as well as fixing some bugs! flocculant is as
always a great support and a fountain of knowledge, particularly when it
comes to testing, and many of us have him to thank for our knowledge.
knome has been essential to us in many ways. He is the author of our
current website theme, and is also the author of the next one we will be
using. But, he is also a supportive source in other areas - as are many
of the Xubuntu developers, who we have come to know over the years, such
as Unit193! Just a few days ago, autumna appeared and quickly became
included in the development of the website and documentation for Ubuntu
Studio. And, of course, sakrecoer, our new project lead, who has put a
lot of effort in learning what is needed in order to carry on the
maintenance and development of this fine distro.
Apart from the mentioned, there are so many who contribute - other
Ubuntu developers (and there are many), users at this mail list and
other forums, Canonical employees (who were instrumental in helping to
make linux-lowlatency available to users - and of course the original
author of the kernel, Alessio Bogani), micahg who was a great support
when we still needed sponsors for our packages, madeinkobaia who did the
artwork for us at around 14.04, and also many people who have just not
been active in the later months or years - the list is long and I will
forget to name everyone, and for that I'm sorry (but this is not an
Oscars speech anyway, so I hope you will forgive me).
But, yes, it is quite a thriving community after all!

I will not be disappearing after Thursday, by any means. Packages still
need to be uploaded, and I will always be available to answer any
questions on both the mail list as well as on IRC. There are a few
things I would like to help with still, like the next website theming
and content organization, and I absolutely am going to make a few video
tutorials, something that really needs to happen now.
But, I will be spending a lot less time on overall development, and
after three years as project lead, it's kind of nice not having the
responsibility anymore. I'm probably not the best people person either
at all times, so I see a lot of benefits when someone like Set takes
over!

With that, I hand the torch (which is burning quite bright at the
moment) over to Set, which he will carry until the next election, and
wish the team good luck in the future with all the fun that flavor
development offers!

/Kaj Ailomaa - musician and author of Oscar speeches