DeveloperApplication

I, Andres Rodriguez, apply for core-dev.

Name

Andres Rodriguez

Nickname

RoAkSoAx

Launchpad Page

https://launchpad.net/~andreserl

Wiki Page

http://wiki.ubuntu.com/AndresRodriguez

Who I am

My name is Andres Rodriguez, originally from Peru, but living in the US after completing a MSc in Telecommunications and Networking. I've been involved in the Ubuntu Community for quite a while now.

My Ubuntu story

It all began in 2007-12-02 when I became an Official Ubuntu Spanish Translator. After that, I became of of the Council Member for the Ubuntu Peruvian LoCo Team. This work, plus various conferences allowed me to became an Official Ubuntu Member.

In 2009-04-28 I started the Ubuntu High Availability team along with Ante Karamatic (ivoks) after determining that the HA Cluster Stack in Ubuntu was in bad shape, with the ideal to maintain it and improve it. Because of this, I wanted to be able to maintain the packages myself and I got involvement with development (in the Karmic cycle), with a MOTU Mentorship, being Ante my mentor. Short after that I became an Ubuntu MOTU Developer (2009-09-10).

(I also first tried a Mentorship in the Intrepid cycle, being vorian my Mentor, but due to lack of time was unable to continue. I retook the Mentorship for the karmic cycle as explained above).

Since then I've been contributing to Ubuntu in many ways.

As a community member I participated in various UDS'.

  • UDS-L Dallas: Where we held a Cluster Stack session with Ante.

  • UDS-M Brussels: Where we held another Cluster Stack session with Ante, and I held a TestDrive PyGTK Front-end session.

  • UDS-N Orlando: Where I held another Cluster Stack session, and I held a PowerNap improvements session.

And worked in these blueprints:

Additionally, the software I maintain is:

  • TestDrive: As part as the GSoC2010 for Ubuntu, with the project TestDrive PyGTK Front-end. I'm the current upstream maintainer/developer.

  • PowerNap: My contributions started with improvements as part as my Operating Systems course project, as part as my last semester in school (Fall 2010). I'm currently the upstream maintainer/developer along with Dustin Kirkland.

As of January 2011, I've started working at Canonical for the Ubuntu Server Team.

My involvement

My current areas of involvement:

  • The Ubuntu Server team
  • The Ubuntu High Availability team (started by Ante and me)

  • Upstream developer for PowerNap.

  • Upstream developer for TestDrive.

Things I'm proud of

The things that I'm proud of:

  • I'm really proud of being involved in the Ubuntu Community, and becoming a MOTU.
  • I'm also proud of maintaining the HA Cluster Stack, and getting them packages in shape for them to be in the Ubuntu Main archive, starting from the Natty release cycle.

  • I'm really proud of TestDrive PyGTK Front-end.

  • Also, I'm really proud of the improvements made to PowerNap.

Examples of my work

Karmic/Intrepid

Lucid

Main

Other (universe)

SRUs:

Cluster Stack (universe)

Maverick

TestDrive (universe)

Other (main)

SRUs:

Cluster Stack (universe)

Natty

ClusterStack:

The MIR's were initially filed by Ante for the Lucid cycle, however, the packages weren't in good shape. It is in the Natty cycle that I personally took control of the MIR reports and worked with Debian, who prepare an initial library split of the packages, and I improved them to get them into shape for the MIRs to get accepted. Eventually, changes were forwarded changes to Debian:

TestDrive (Universe):

PowerNap (main):

Other (main):

Other Universe:

Things I could do better

  • Be more involved with Sponsoring.

Plans for the future

General

  • Further improvements to PowerNap, as in a client/server approach.

  • Further improvements to the HA Cluster stack, as there's been quite a few changes upstream that other distributions are already shipping and we are not.

  • Further improvements to TestDrive PyGTK front-end to integrate better with Unity.

  • Become Debian Maintainer/Developer at some point.

What I like least in Ubuntu

  • Is not that I dislike it, but I do believe that there's something that we need to improve: Sponsorships. Sometimes I've found myself with packages waiting to sponsor into main for a few days/weeks and that really delays my work. Specially now that it is integral part of my work as sometimes my team members are also busy and can't always sponsor my uploads.

NOTE that I'm not saying the sponsorship process is bad nor slow, but rather, it has improved hugely with the Patch Pilot program. However, it might be because some of the set of packages I work with the most, might be gray area for patch pilots :).

Comments

If you'd like to comment, but are not the applicant or a sponsor, do it here. Don't forget to sign with @SIG@.

Endorsements

As a sponsor, just copy the template below, fill it out and add it to this section.

DustinKirkland

General feedback

I've sponsored countless uploads for Andres. Honestly, he's one of the most enjoyable developers I've ever mentored and worked with. He responds to feedback and picks up new technologies very quickly.

Specific Experiences of working together

Andres was fairly active in the Ubuntu Server community, focusing on the HA/Cluster stack already, when I selected him as my Google Summer of Code student in 2010. He did an outstanding job implementing a python-gtk graphical front end to TestDrive, which was perhaps useful to developers, but maybe a bit out of reach for less technical users. He pitched his drawings ideas at UDS-Belgium, and then spent his summer developing and testing his code. He continuously integrated these changes into Ubuntu Maverick universe, as an Ubuntu MOTU himself.

I also worked with Andres on PowerNap. He used PowerNap for his Graduate project at University, extending and enhancing it in a number of ways that I never had the time to do myself. He did a great job designing and implementing a pluggable monitor system for PowerNap, testing, regression testing it, etc. PowerNap being in Ubuntu Main, I have reviewed and sponsored his changes frequently.

Consequently, I have confidently made Andres a co-maintainer of both projects (TestDrive and PowerNap), and trust his commits universally. He knows when to ask, and when to do. That's what's most important to me, in giving someone commit rights. I think he would do well to have broader upload rights in Ubuntu in general. He could certainly help us out a lot!

Areas of Improvement

None really, to speak of.

DaveWalker

General feedback

I have worked with Andres on a few packages, and sponsored a number of them. They have always been of high quality, and I have made a few suggestions for improvements; which have always been well received and acted upon. He has a very good knowledge of packaging, and I was most impressed with some of his more complex python packaging examples. He has a positive outlook, and is good at asking for help and suggestions when needed.

Areas of Improvement

None.

Daniel Holbach (dholbach)

General feedback

Andres does a great job in the server world and it was a pleasure to see him and his technical skills grow over time. What I liked very much was that if there were small mistakes in the beginning, he always followed up quickly and fixed whatever needed fixing.

Specific Experiences of working together

Areas of Improvement

None I can name.

Chuck Short (zul)

General feedback

Andreas has done a great job with the server cluster stack and is an important part of the server team. He has grown in leaps and bounds since I have first talked to him and he has taken on other projects such as cobbler and test drive. When he has questions he knows where to ask, I dont have a problem supporting him for core-dev.

Michael Terry (mterry)

General feedback

I've only worked with Andreas on ~4 MIRs he either filed or worked on. But those interactions have been positive. He was very competent and responsive. And he worked well with upstream and Debian to resolve issues.

TEMPLATE

== <SPONSORS NAME> ==
=== General feedback ===
## Please fill us in on your shared experience. (How many packages did you sponsor? How would you judge the quality? How would you describe the improvements? Do you trust the applicant?)

=== Specific Experiences of working together ===
''Please add good examples of your work together, but also cases that could have handled better.''
=== Areas of Improvement ===

AndresRodriguez/DeveloperApplication (last edited 2011-05-26 17:10:17 by pool-108-20-137-228)