MTecknology

Revision 64 as of 2009-03-05 19:59:55

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Michael Lustfield

MTeck.jpg

Contact Information
E-Mail: <michael AT SPAMFREE profarius DOT com>
Launchpad ID: LP/~mtecknology
IRC: MTecknology on Freenode
Local Team: South Dakota
PGP Key ID: 72D444D1
ICQ: 461893205
Blog: Profarius

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 working with Ubuntu.

My personal website is at http://www.profarius.com/

Contributions

South Dakota LoCo

I have become the owner of the SD LoCo Team. I am very active with this team, as well as doing my best to promote its existence and user base. As of this writing, the SD LoCo has been my primary focus. I have rebuilt the structure of the Wiki to make it more easily manageable and structured. I have reworked the LP team and the mailing list. I have now taken over every part of the team. I created a website for our team at http://sdloco.profarius.com.

LoCo Drupal

I have been very deeply involved with a team that has put together a suite for LoCos. Any LoCo that wants to create a website and integrate it with Launchpad for their team can use our set of tools to do this. We have a theme that is legally acceptable as well as modules that integrate authentication with Launchpad the same way the fridge does.
You can read more about it here: http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/1827

Launchpad

I've been deeply involved in bug reports for a while. I try to report bugs for users so I can help them have Ubuntu working for their systems. I have been managing bazaar branches, projects, teams, blueprints, bugs, answers, etc.

I've worked a lot with bug reports. I am an active member of the Bugsquad Team and pushing myself to become an Ubuntu-Bugcontrol member.

I'm currently sitting with over 34,000 karma. This is what JoeyStanford is referring to below.

Supporting Users

I have spent a lot 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.

Converting Companies

I have been able to convert two companies from a fully Windows server environment to a fully Ubuntu environment. I have also been able to switch some of a companies Fedora servers to Ubuntu servers.

Secure Banking Solutions : 2 servers (2/5)
Arne's Computer and Paintball : 3 server (All)

Converting Users

I've been employed at a company which was very Windows oriented. I saw that everyone there thought that price directly meant quality and usefulness. During my short venture here, I was able to convert a few users from Windows to Ubuntu. This nearly lead to my discharge a few times. I left the company because of these working conditions.

Advertising Ubuntu

I have been a member of the ubuntu-marketing team in LP since 2008-09-09. I was also a member about a year prior to joining the LP team. As part of this team, I push myself hard to advertise Ubuntu every chance I get.

I am also trying to host a release mirror to give people a local repository of Ubuntu CD's.

Making Ubuntu Efficient

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.

Making Ubuntu Perfect

I have been asked by Dakota State University to create a few installations to perform very specific roles. As each guide is completed, I'll upload it to the wiki and post a link.

Very Efficient VM Player (VE-VMP) : To create an Ubuntu installation that is the absolute leanest system possible. To be geared toward only playing a virtual machine. VirtualBox OSE in mind, extensible to VirtualBox closed as well as VMWare Player.

Not Finished Yet

Extremely Secure VPN (ES-VPN) : To create a system where the user is only able to communicate to the private network and is unable to transmit any data off the drive. Connecting to the VPN checks that the system is unmodified.

Not Finished Yet

Summary

Just a quick wrap up of my contributions:

  • LoCo Drupal Development

  • Supporting users on Launchpad with Answers and Bugs

  • Supporting users on IRC in Drupal, Freenode, and Ubuntu channels
  • Admin/Contact of the SD LoCo Team

  • Creating useful and universal scripts for the public
  • Showing that Ubuntu can be used for anything

Future Plans

I want to promote Ubuntu as much as possible. I will continue by contributions in the same manner as I have been. I also want to push my LoCo to be able to thrive. I feel a thriving LoCo will be one of the easiest ways to promote Linux since it incorporates so many things that are vital to it's success. Things such as marketing, user management, friendly environments, etc.

Testimonials

  • MauricioPennaloza: Well, after read the wiki and see some report bugs, i saw that Michael, had a lot of knowledge about Ubuntu. Is only time that he needs to become a good Ubuntu Member or a Canonical employee (why not?). Saludos desde Chile!

  • TonyYarusso: Michael can frequently be found volunteering for user support in #ubuntu and related channels. Additionally, while I'm not actually in his LoCo, I'm in the neighboring state and have been proud of the efforts I've seen him putting forth there. Of particular interest are his work on web resources for that team and marketing and conversion efforts locally.

  • TravisWatkins: Michael is doing great work getting his LoCo going and is always around on IRC helping people.

  • JoeyStanford: +1. Michael has been good to work with on the Drupal items and also on LP bugs. He is dedicated to Ubuntu and his enthusiasm rubs off on you. Despite circumstantial evidence to the contrary, he has no life but Ubuntu (any doubts can be dispelled by looking at his karma) and occasionally his girlfriend Kim when Launchpad is doing a roll-out.

  • ChristianReis: +1; smart worker with a sense of humor. Am particularly impressed at him getting this LoCo in a box project assembled and shipped. You'd have to work hard to find a harder working contributor.

  • KurtvonFinck: +1; I have had numerous opportunities to interact with Michael in Ubuntu IRC namespace. I have always found him interesting and interested, and have watched him both help others and seek help and guidance. Being able to give and take direction results in valuable work like the LoCo Drupal project, which by accounts from Ubuntu-Quebec members, has been of value indeed.

  • MatthewRevell: +1; great work with the LoCo Drupal project. Good to deal with.

  • 02/20/09 03:52 "#ubuntu-meeting: < atoponce> for those that come to the meeting, and don't meet approval, MTecknology is a shining example of what we're looking for"

My Linux Experience

Initial Exposure

I have been using Ubuntu since 5.04. I was initially exposed to Linux during a conversation with a network administrator. 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.

Microsoft Angers

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.

Marketing Team

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.

Servers

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 Systems

Laptop

I use Ubuntu on my laptop. It is a Sony Vaio VGN-FZ240E. My system is listed at the bottom of this page. It took a while but we managed to get all the bugs worked out.

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.

Desktop

I only own a single desktop. I use Ubuntu on it as my only OS on any desktop I own and ever will own. I also use this desktop as a backup server.

Servers

Vindico: Samba file server, Zimbra server, Music stream server, User backups

Kabbalah: Web server (very secure), Ampache FE, Subversion server (HTTP)

Redbull: Strictly SSH only backup server, Only other servers access

Eaglei: Personal backup server, Also personal desktop


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