DeveloperApplication

I, David Henningsson, apply for universe-contributor.

Name

David Henningsson

Launchpad Page

http://launchpad.net/~diwic

Wiki Page

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Diwic

Who I am

I'm a software developer from southern part of Sweden. Born in 1980, and I've been programming since I was nine. My special interest is in music/audio software. I also enjoy playing the piano.

My Ubuntu story

If we start way back, I made an attempt to use Debian, this was so many years ago I can't remember when (Woody?). Anyway, that was a dual-boot system and I managed to do something that screwed up the partition table, so every time I had booted Windows, Linux complained about broken inodes, and similar errors occurred in Windows when having used Linux. So that scared me off Linux for a while!

A few years later, I was trying to use Mandrake for a while, but never really got into it. But after having used Linux in school for a while, I felt ready to switch to Linux for real - and after having heard good rumors about Ubuntu, my choice fell on Ubuntu Gutsy. Ubuntu has been my main operating system since.

Finally, Linux had become mature enough for me. Sure, some things are not working, but that's the reality with all other operating systems as well. I also believe Ubuntu has chosen a good way for a distribution: We're starting with Debian to get a solid base of free and open source software - and we're completing Debian by adding non-free software only where there is no other option to make things work.

My involvement

My involvement is not only for fun, for me it is also an ethical standpoint: I believe I should give back to the community which has been giving so much good and free software to me.

So, since I started to use Ubuntu I have been trying to find my way around, where I can fit in, to make best contributions. Is it in Ubuntu, in Debian, or even farther upstream? And so far, I believe it must be a little bit of all three!

Upstream, I'm involved with:

  • FluidSynth, I'm a part of the developer team there.

  • I have also been working some with QARecord.

In Debian:

  • I'm maintainer for FluidSynth

  • I also help out with Audacity.

In Ubuntu:

  • I help out with sound bug triaging/fixing
  • And other bugs I find in various packages

Examples of my work / Things I'm proud of

I like tracing down crashes, such as #426492 and #436990.

And hey, not that it is much code, but I got my first kernel patch accepted! ALSA: ice1724 - Make call to set hw params succeed on ESI Juli@

I also rewrote the packaging (i e the rules file) for QARecord, so now it uses cdbs and quilt.

One of my first real contributions was to ensure Audacity and Pulseaudio worked well together. I was almost starting to write a patch, when I found out that it had already been written. So I tested the patch, made a small change, and informed the Debian maintainer that it had been written, and he gladly accepted it. I also made an upload to my PPA and told others to test it. (Story: #178895)

Areas of work

I'm currently a member of the ubuntu-audio, ubuntu-bugcontrol and the debian multimedia team.

For the Audacity part, I have worked with Benjamin Drung.

For sound triaging, I bump into Daniel T Chen every now and then.

Otherwise, I tend to jump in a little here and a little there, where I find bugs that needs fixing.

Things I could do better

For the bug triaging part, it would be to never leave a bug reporter behind. That means, if I ask the bug reporter for more information and that person responds, it is very important to follow up that information. It has happened that I forgot about that, sorry.

For the packaging part, I do have a one or two things in FluidSynth in Debian I should really fix soon.

And an area where there's always room for improvement: to lead by example and treat people in ways that make them happy and to encourage them to be more active in Ubuntu!

Plans for the future

General

Besides continuing what I'm already doing:

  • Take a more active part in development of Lucid, from beginning to finished product
  • Learn even more about Ubuntu audio, so I become a more qualified sound bug triager and fixer
  • And perhaps, to become a MOTU?

What I like least in Ubuntu

Though question, but I would say it is everything that keeps my relatives from using Ubuntu, in short, bug #1.

When I was new to Ubuntu I was a bit annoyed that we tend to leave stable releases behind and prioritize the next development version. For a bug reporter, it is a little too big step to download and run a development version. Besides, that's not the version you want it working in, you want it working here and now. I can somewhat see the reasoning behind that decision now, but I still think that if we can make our stable versions even more stable it'll be a good investment in Ubuntu goodwill. Every bug in a development version is a result of good testing, but every (non-wishlist) bug in a stable version is a partial failure. That said - every package that actually builds, every useful feature, and every satisfied user, is of course a great success and something to rejoice about!

Finally, we need appreciate each other even more. So Council, whether you think I'm ready to become a "universe contributor" or not, I know most of you have spent countless hours trying to make Ubuntu work better. Thank you! Your contributions are seen, and they are highly appreciated.

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.

Benjamin Drung

General feedback

I fully support his application to become a Universe Contributor. As already mentioned I worked with David on audacity. He creates a lot of patches for it to fix crashes reported on Launchpad. His work was great and he will be an enrichment for the Ubuntu community.

Specific Experiences of working together

Areas of Improvement

He should collaborate more with upstream (e.g. send patches to upstream).

Daniel T Chen

General feedback

David has been a welcome and friendly contributor during Karmic/9.10 with the linux and pulseaudio source packages. He has also spurred more user-friendly thinking toward troubleshooting, beginning with this blueprint. His bug triaging for checkbox and pulseaudio late in the Karmic/9.10 cycle have freed more resources for Luke and I to address problems in myriad layers of the audio stack.

In this light, I clearly value David's contributions to Karmic/9.10 and look forward to working with him in future development cycles. I have no reservation in endorsing his Universe Contributor application.

Specific Experiences of working together

In addition to the troubleshooting blueprint mentioned previously, David submitted a change for the Karmic pulseaudio source package that was merged. He also created and maintains the PulseAudio logging page that has become instrumental in finding configuration and package issues.

Areas of Improvement

As David moves toward MOTU -- at least I hope he strongly considers it! -- he will become more familiar with Ubuntu development protocol.

Stefan Lesicnik

General feedback

I have no problem at all recommending David for Universe Contributor. I sponsored 1 patch of his, and although there were small improvements to make, this will become natural with some practice.

Specific Experiences of working together

Areas of Improvement

Keep working with the Ubuntu MOTU systems (fixing, merging, FTBFS etc etc)

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 ===

CategoryUniverseContributorApplication

Diwic/DeveloperApplication (last edited 2009-11-07 17:52:34 by c83-254-139-104)