MTecknology
About Me
I am currently attending college at Dakota State University majoring in Business and Computer Information Systems.
In my spare time I spend time with my girlfriend, on IRC, and managing 4 Linux servers.
My personal website is at http://www.profarius.com/
Contributions
1. Using Ubuntu. Obviously not a shocker, but Ubuntu is the only OS I use anymore. Save an XP VM for some classes.
2. Advertising Ubuntu. I have done my best to advertise the benefits of using Linux. I do my best to distribute CD's of the latest Ubuntu versions. I am currently trying to convince my university and another company to offer some sort of Ubuntu mirror.
3. Converting Users. I have converted 2 companies from using Windows and Fedora to using Ubuntu as their server operating system. During my employment at a particular company, I converted a user to Ubuntu to speed up his system. I was nearly fired offering an open source solution. I later left the company for this reason among others.
4. Supporting Users. I spend a large chunk of time trying to support users that have gone to Linux but don't understand how to use it correctly. I also try to spend at least a few hours in #ubuntu every week supporting users. I have been involved in bug reporting and fixing for users with uncooperative systems.
5. South Dakota LoCo. I have become the owner of the SD LoCo Team. I am becoming active with this team in Launchpad, as well as doing my best to promote its existence and user base. Currently, the outlook is very good for reviving this team.
6. Launchpad. I have spent a lot of time working on bugs in Launchpad. I tend to focus on bugs that affect newer hardware. I spend much of my time on Launchpad trying to take care of bugs that have been flagged as Expired. I feel that this is a good place to focus my efforts since it is commonly overlooked.
7. Little Extras. I have been writing some web logs about modifying Ubuntu to be very battery efficient, as well as some things about administration of a Linux system. These can be seen at my website listed above. I am also creating some specialized installations of Ubuntu for vary specific tasks and documenting the process.
My Linux Experience
I have been using Ubuntu since 5.04. I was initially pointed to Linux during a conversation with Kelly S. He mentioned that I don't need to be using illegal software and he helped me learn how to install Ubuntu on my first laptop.
I've worked at a lot of Microsoft dependent companies that complained about the costs of having computers. After many discussions that amounted to them enjoying having a reason to complain, I realized that these were types of places I'd never want to work in again. I would rather bag groceries at Hy-Vee than work for a company that complains about money and says everything free sucks. I can prove that pretty easily, I am also a smiling employee at Hy-Vee. My previous job was at ELBO Computing Resources where, not getting into details.
I joined the Ubuntu Marketing Team on Jun 1st 2006. This is the point where I realized that I loved Linux and despised Microsoft. For the record, I don't hate Microsoft just because it's proprietary and expensive. I hate Microsoft because they consistently degrade their product in a fashion that makes you wonder if they're trying to convince users to switch. I have done my best to consistently show people that they do have a choice and the option available to them is better than the one they're currently choosing.
I now run a personal backup/file server (modified desktop), a file/Zimbra server, web/svn server, and a backup server. I also run a pfsense router. Ubuntu on all four servers. My experience has been extremely great with each system. Other than hardware dying and incorrectly written scripts, the stability has been unbelievable. The fun part was bringing all of the systems into a real domain rather than just telling each system it's in that domain.
My System
Sony Vaio VGN-FZ240E
This site explains it pretty well. http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/product/VGN-FZ240E/B
I had been doing a lot of bug testing on this system in hopes of have all bugs fixed by the release of 8.10. We didn't exactly make this mark, however one month later counts as good enough for me. Still one incredibly minor bug.
Contact Info
Launchpad profile: https://edge.launchpad.net/~mtecknology
IRC: MTecknology on freenode, regularly in #ubuntu, #ubuntu-us-sd, #ubuntu-offtopic
ICQ: 461893205
PGP Key ID: 72D444D1