Ubuntu Wiki

1. About Me

I am a Computer Science student at the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton) in Canada. I’m doing my degree as a part-time student, trying to complete my degree without loans. I worked for Q1 Labs from January 2006 to December 2006 as a Quality Assurance Specialist, then again from April 2007 to November 2008 as a Software Developer, first with their integration team and later with their Security Team. Currently, I work for my university's help desk as a technical support specialist.

I first started using Linux in March 2004 with Mandrake 9.1. Before Ubuntu, I'd also tried Red Hat 9. I started using Ubuntu shortly after Ubuntu 4.10 (Warty) was released and have been using Ubuntu ever since. I've tried Fedora and Gentoo alongside Ubuntu, and currently use Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid).

2. My Programming Background

My first exposure to programming was in 2000, when I started learning Visual Basic 6. It wasn't pretty, but once I saw how easy it was to make the computer do what I told it, I was hooked. Seeing how differently the computer reacted to what I told it based on what I was expecting only made me more determined to figure out why it wasn't "behaving".

I can now program in the following languages and scripting languages:

• Java
• C
• Python
• PHP
• Perl
• BASH

3. My Involvement

• jgoguen on the Ubuntu Forums

• jgoguen on Launchpad

  • My signed code of conduct

  • Karma summary

  • Answers given on Launchpad Questions

• Launchpad Beta Tester

• Ubuntu Canadian Team

• Working with the Linux Users Group for Fredericton, New Brunswick

• Ubuntu Documentation

  • You can view wiki pages I've edited with a brief list of changes here

  • You can view a list of my contributions to the system documentation here

• Ubuntu Translation Team for Canadian English

  • View my list of translation contributions here

• Working to become a member of the Ubuntu Forums Beginners Team

4. My Vision for Ubuntu

First and foremost, I would like to see Ubuntu become a serious competitor to Microsoft Windows. As Apple has already demonstrated, anything made easily available to users which is superior to Windows will become well known and widely used. I believe that Ubuntu, being superior to Apple OS X, has the potential to achieve the same fame as OS X and surpass it.

Next, I would like to see Ubuntu at the point where Bug 1 can be closed as a fixed bug. I fully agree that non-free software is holding back innovation and I believe that non-free software is preventing the adoption of technology in parts of the world that can't afford proprietary software, but don't know about the alternatives. Non-free software also raises concerns about document preservation. Older versions of Microsoft Word documents are already unreadable using recent versions of Microsoft Office. They will remain unreadable without software to open them, since Microsoft has not published the documentation necessary to write fully compatible software. The OpenDocument Format addresses this, and I believe that Ubuntu is the ideal platform to promote these open standards with.

I would also like to see Ubuntu become the system of choice for governments, businesses, and other institutions. Most of the institutions who could benefit the most from using Ubuntu are also the ones who are most resistant to using it. Governments could save money on licensing fees that could be redirected to any number of programs and groups that could make good use of it. A single provincial government in Canada spends an estimated $80-million annually on Windows Vista licenses alone. That's not including older versions of Windows, or licenses for Microsoft Office either. If a single provincial government could save that much money by switching to Ubuntu, imagine how much the entire nation of Canada could save their taxpayers. I believe in using the best tool for the job, and I believe that Ubuntu is not only the best tool for almost any job, but is flexible enough to become the best tool for the few jobs that still require a Microsoft Windows system.

Finally, I want to see Ubuntu become the system of choice for educational institutions of all levels. I believe that because of how impressionable young people are, this is important enough to be its own goal. If young children are exposed primarily (or exclusively) to Ubuntu from a young age, they will be more likely to choose Ubuntu later in life. Schools, faced with ever-shrinking budgets, could save a significant amount of money by using Ubuntu and have more to spend to improve the quality of education for their students.

5. Testimonials

• Your testimonial here
• Your testimonial here
• Your testimonial here

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