Report for new developer applicant Stephen Birch <sgbirch@imsmail.org>
1. Identification & Background
------------------------------
Check with Keyid 0xAEEFD127:
ID Check passed, Key signed from 13 existing DD
Output from keycheck.sh 0xAEEFD127
pub 1024D/AEEFD127 2004-03-04
Key fingerprint = 0D4A EB31 A19D 2568 1456 6911 CB8A 9C64 AEEF D127
uid Stephen Birch <sgbirch@imsmail.org>
sig!2 3FCC2A90 2004-03-15 Amaya Rodrigo Sastre <amaya@debian.org>
sig!2 DF81EE83 2004-03-16 Rob Bradford (robster) <robster@debian.org>
sig!2 2B46A27C 2004-03-30 Branden Robinson <branden@deadbeast.net>
sig!2 2BE16D01 2004-04-21 Moray Allan <moray@sermisy.org>
sig!2 3501E6C5 2004-12-17 Robert McQueen <robot101@debian.org>
sig!3 88C7C1F7 2004-03-14 Steve McIntyre <steve@einval.com>
sig!3 68FD549F 2004-03-14 Martin Michlmayr <tbm@cyrius.com>
sig!3 A3F9E30E 2004-03-30 Michael C. Schultheiss <schultmc@debian.org>
sig!3 CD98B20A 2004-10-22 Tim Riker <Tim@Rikers.org>
sig!3 FC81E159 2004-11-27 Tim Cutts <timc@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
sig!3 EBE31EF5 2004-11-30 Vincent Sanders <vince@kyllikki.org>
sig!3 10FA4CD1 2005-06-06 Colin Watson <cjwatson@flatline.org.uk>
sig!3 AEEFD127 2004-03-04 Stephen Birch <sgbirch@imsmail.org>
sig! 23F5ADDB 2004-05-29 Ian Jackson <ian@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
sub 2048g/60B4A472 2004-03-04
sig! AEEFD127 2004-03-04 Stephen Birch <sgbirch@imsmail.org>
Applicant writes:
--8<------------------------schnipp------------------------->8---
My interest in computers dates back to 1978 when I purchased and
constructed a Science of Cambridge (later Sinclair) MK14.
http://net.supereva.it/retroware/sinclairstory.htm?p
For software, we created an MK14 newsletter. Since email did not exist,
participants wrote their assembly programs down and circulated the papers
them using snail mail. Our newsletter was quite typical of the nascant
free software movement as it existed in the 70s.
My bugeoning interest in computers led me to a career programming some
truly fascinating machines. RSX-11 on a PDP-11, VMS on a VAX and Unix on a
Sun.
When Miscrosoft released the long anticipated NT I plonked down nearly $1k
of my own money to aquire a copy. I was well aware that Microsft had hired
the VMS architect (David Cutler) to design NT, so it was bound to be good.
I will never forget the feeling of disappointment as I investigated the
product. What happened to the tools I loved so much? Where was NFS, UUCP,
grep, awk, sed, the bourne shell etc etc etc etc etc. NT didn't have the
software that even a very basic server should process. I was truly shocked
by this pathetic attempt at a computer operating system.
NT may have had preemptive multi-tasking and virtual memory, but you
couldn't DO anything with it. Imagine Linux (the kernel) without GNU.
My interest in Linux bagan when a friend gave me a copy of the Yggdrasil
distribution. I was utterly amazed that my little 386 was capable of
running a real unix clone, including X. I began using Linux for all of my
computing tasks and ultimately installed it on all of my machine. NT was
permanantly removed in favour of this beautiful free operating system,
As time passed and personal machines grew ever more powerful, I remained
loyal to Linux and worked my way through a number of distributions
(Slackware, Red Hat, SuSE) before discovering Debian. It quickly became
clear that Murdock had created an incredible environment for the
collaborative construction of a truly free distribution.
Debain is where I want to be - it is very, very high quality. Having
observed the industry for many years, I am convinced that the Debian
development model is such that it will ultimately bacome the number 1
distribution.
So why do I want to give up my time to help with the project?
I have been participating in the free software movement for many years. A
bug fix here, a patch there. I do this for several reasons, some
benevelant (to give back), others selfish (scratch an itch and want the
changes in upstream).
It is my belief and hope that the days of a monopoly controlled operating
system are numbered. It is not that I have any objection to closed source
software, I just believe that the opearing system and a good collection of
tools can be, and should be, completely open. This creates a level playing
field for companies wishing to write and sell software. This desire is
consistant with the Debian Social Contract and is explicitly mentioned in
paragraph 4.
By helping with the packaging process I hope to "do my bit" to help
continue to make a 100% free distribution available to the world. Debian
is the very best of breed and I want to help keep it that way.
--8<------------------------schnapp------------------------->8---
2. Philosophy and Procedures
-----------------------------
Stephen has a good understanding of Debians Philosophy and
Procedures. He answered all my Questions about Social Contract,
DFSG, BTS etc. in a good way.
3. Tasks and Skills
-------------------
Stephen is Maintainer of vobcopy and xball, co-maint of spca5xx, all
Packages in Debian.
He also answered my other Questions regarding T&S without problems.
4. Recommendation
-----------------
I recommend to accept him as a Debian Developer.
Account: sgbirch
Forward-Email: sgbirch@imsmail.org
--
bye Joerg
<vorlon> since anyone who can get along with elmo must *surely* be part of
the cabal.
<Overfiend> vorlon: Not true. I've gotten along with elmo from time to time.
We're just both ashamed of it.
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