On Thu, Dec 10, 1998 at 02:43:54AM -0500, Mitch Blevins wrote:
> > I am confident that I can be a good leader for Debian, and I'm pleased that
> > others who have commented seem to agree. With this message I announce my
> > intention to run for Debian project leader.
> >
> > [snip long discussion of positions, most of which I agree with]
Certainly not a requirement (that you agree with me, that is) but I'm
pleased to see that you do. Thanks. =>
> For those of us who don't know you, could you post some information about
> what you are like in the ReadWorld(tm). For example:
>
> How old are you?
I am 20 years old. I must say that I don't like that question and consider
it somewhat unfair as it assumes that age is relevant. I do not believe it
is. Does it matter if I am 16 or 60 if I am otherwise a responsible person
and well-suited to the tasks of the position?
> Does any of your work experience relate with software?
Some, though I have not had much professional work experience at all at my
age. I have been a computer user since I was three years of age (Math
Blaster rules!) and from the second to fifth grade, I had a computer sitting
at my desk in the classroom. Computers were the great euqalizer and
permitted me not only to keep pace with my classmates, but learn at my own
pace, which in the areas of mathematics and science was significantly higher
than my peers.
Having been in school since I was three and loving the computer, when one
was finally plunked down at my desk in the second grade, I started
programming Applesoft BASIC at the age of 8. I've learned many languages
since, structured and not. I don't speak C fluently as I never had a C
compiler to play with until high school and at that point I found it a
nuisance to switch between C and the Pascal I had to use for class, so I
put learning C on hold.
I've done some custom programming for dos machines and made a fair amount of
money doing it. I also spent the summer of 1995 in a work experience
program in which I worked with other blind and visually impaired people, did
some custom programming, worked longer and later than I was getting paid
for, and discovered that because I put in so much extra time nobody had any
complaints if my lunch half-hour was more often than not a lunch hour after
the first couple weeks. I still put in an average of 36 hours a week even
though I was only getting paid for 30. I am a computer geek and I loved my
job. =>
> Any other experience with leading projects?
Leading projects? Yes, a number of them. None the size of Debian. I have
been involved with projects larger than Debian, but not in a leadership
position.
> Are you a student?
The day I stop learning is the day you pry my keyboard from my cold, dead
hands. Not in the classic academic sense, not anymore. I'm not opposed to
returning to academic studies, but only when I see the kind of program which
allows me to progress on my timeframe rather than a timeframe laid out in
lesson plans affordably.
The internet is beginning to have an impact on this as the type of course
that would allow me to progress at my own pace is becoming more affordable
because of the cost-cutting the net allows. As these courses become more
popular the pricing will be more competitive and I will probably pick up a
few things that I think would be interesting to take.
> What you are proud of?
This is a difficult question. I am proud of many things. I am proud that I
have remained true to my principles over the years. I'm proud that while
there are skeletons in my closet as there are in everyone's, they aren't big
and nasty things.. I haven't done anything improper with interns on the job
or anything. => Of course I'm proud that I've managed to maintain my sense
of humor through the years, but if you haven't noticed that yet you probably
need caffination badly.
On a more personal level, I'm proud of my accomplishments. Not things like
becoming a Debian developer or anything, that's important and something to
be proud of but it's not what I mean. Throughout my life I have always been
treated as if I needed others to do things for me. Like because of my
vision I am supposed to depend on other people to do things that don't
require good vision at all. Fact is that I adapt well. I just recently as
of September moved on short notice moved across a state line and a month
later (after living with a roommate didn't work out too well for the two of
us) moved into this apartment. I have since October 4th lived in my own
apartment and I've done all right for myself in that time. Anyone whose
first new apartment is 600 miles away from their family and managed to do
well in their apartment has a right to be proud of themselves, but I'm
especially proud because of all of those over the course of my life who said
I couldn't do it. Guess what, I did.
Please note that I didn't move 600 miles away from home just to prove I did,
I had other reasons for moving here. I do tend to take "You can't" as "I
dare you to try" but that has nothing to do with why I'm running. I'm
running because I think it'd be good for me, good for Debian, and of course
good for Free Software.
And of course, I'm proud to be a Debian developer. It means a lot to me
because of my moral standing on Free Software. I got involved with Linux
because of Free Software, being someone who likes to pull the guts out of
the system now and then and play with them. I found Debian when a friend of
mine (hey Myst!) suggested I try it. I kept using it because it was
technically superior in many ways to the other things I'd tried. I
installed Debian just over a year ago now, 8 December 1997 to be exact. I
knew as early as January I wanted to be a developer, but having not really
had much experience with Linux yet I didn't think I was really qualified. A
month or two later I had gotten over my inhibitions and was building my own
packages, but it wasn't until around the time of the hamm release that I
managed to find something to maintain and got my key signed.
I'm proud of the leaps and bounds we've all made as a community since I
became part of it. Having become a mainstream platform, we face new
challenges. I would be proud to help Debian, IMO the best dist there is bar
none, meet these new challenges without becoming what we hate most. The
only way I see that we can win this one is by ignoring trolls working for
the mainstream media. We won't win this one in the traditional media until
their bottom lines are being hurt by spreading their FUD.
> Do you like moonlit walks on the beach?
> (whoops... wrong questionaire!)
<laugh>
> Also, although your ideas and your energy are exciting, we also need to
> consider how you as a person would reflect on Debian. Like it or not,
> if you were the Debian Project Leader then all of your publicly expressed
> opinions and actions would be perceived as that of Debian. This is an
> unavoidable reality that cannot be eliminated with even a mountain of IMHO's.
This worried me too, at first. I think generally I haven't taken too many
extreme viewpoints other than for example my extreme opposition to crypto
regs. But even there as I believe the only kind of opposition that is even
possible anymore is aggressive opposition, I do stress that there are high
risk factors in aggressively opposing crypto restrictions by breaking them.
I have used the web page which allows you to break the US crypto laws by
downloading the page and clicking the submit button on the webform, but that
was an act of civil disobedience.. =>
> Part of what holds us all together our acceptance and support for the
> Debian social contract and the DFSG. This is what makes me proud to be
> a part of this group.
I was impressed by and fully support the social contract and the DFSG. I
would personally consider the Debian project to have failled if it stopped
following either of these. They are in fact what caused me to want to
become a developer.
> Beyond that, we all have wildly divergent opinions and viewpoints.
<notes gross understatement>
> The only reason I bring this point up is because I have noticed that you
> are quite active on Slashdot. Would you be willing to limit your posts
> in highly-visible public forums such as slashdot to topics and opinions that
> we can all be comfortable with as representative of the Debian viewpoint?
I generally avoid posting highly controversial comments on Slashdot these
days. Slashdot isn't what it used to be anymore and there really is no
point to it. If I do post something controversial, I make it a point not to
state my opinion on the controversy just to cut down on the number of trolls
and other comments that should be able to be filtered out I'd get in
response.
Slashdot is really the only place more public than Debian's lists that I
make my voice heard. I would of course be willing to watch what I say and
be sure that my comments won't reflect badly on Debian, even moreso than I
do now (since my @debian.org email address is attached to each comment) but
I would be unwilling to simply stop posting comments because some feel it
would be best if someone in my position not be heard from other than as an
official representative of the project.
> In other words, a relatively quiet DPL is a good DPL.
I disagree. This seems to be Ian's philosophy and it isn't working as well
as a more active role would.
> A different alias would allow this while still allowing you to express
> yourself fully.
I would not object to using a different account on places such as Slashdot
for DPL-related stuff, but I don't anticipate that as being a big thing that
will come up frequently. I'd deal with it when it came up. I would be
unwilling to give up Knghtbrd as "Official use only".
> I apologize if this has offended anyone, because it certainly wasn't
> intended. I appreciate all the work you've done for Debian and Free
> Software in general.
I wasn't offended and the message was to me, so I suspect you don't have
much to worry about on that regard. Of course, I apologize for the length
of the reply. There's a lot of background on me up there but I think for
those who don't know me as well it might help.
--
"I may be a craven little coward, but I'm a _greedy_ craven little coward!"
-- Daffy Duck
Attachment:
pgpp0ky7SnYy7.pgp
Description: PGP signature