About Me

I'm a free software user since 1996. I'm a free software developer since 1998. I'm a free software consultant since 2005.

I'm married and have a son (born in 2009). I'm 31 years old.

Contact Information

Contributions

I am a long-time Debian developer (since 1998) and according to MarkShuttleworth: “Every Debian developer is also an Ubuntu developer, because one way to contribute to Ubuntu is to contribute to Debian.”.

More concretely:

• I have been working on dpkg and have developed features to make it easier to share source packages between Debian and Ubuntu (dpkg-vendor, improved source formats).

• I have improved the Debian Package Tracking System to provide information about the status of the package in Ubuntu (see here and here for the respective announces, the second part was mostly done by Lucas Nussbaum but I did my share on updating the PTS side while he setup the Launchpad side).

• I regularly contribute to ubuntu-devel@lists.ubuntu.com to provide feedback on how Ubuntu and Debian can better cooperate (latest example here) or I simply ensure that we are aware of ongoing changes impacting the other side (example here).

• I was part of Utnubu, I integrated Ubuntu's acpi-support package within Debian and sponsored other people who tried to integrate Ubuntu packages into Debian.

• I was part of several Ubuntu-Debian discussions, I remember a dinner with Mark Shuttleworth, Matt Zimmerman and others at Debconf 6: here are the notes of the discussion that I sent afterwards (but they were the summary of multiple Debian people attending the discussion).

Future Goals

My main goals will always be implemented in Debian first and will benefit Ubuntu automatically.

But my reasons to apply for Ubuntu Membership are the following:

• I want to be able to participate in votes (I wish to see more Debian representation in the various elected councils/boards)
• I want to be able to contribute to Planet Ubuntu to continue spread knowledge about good Debian-Ubuntu cooperation

Testimonials

Lucas Nussbaum

Raphael is a long time and very experienced Debian Developer, and has been interested in improving collaboration between both projects for a longggggg time. He was part of various efforts like Utnubu, and I even convinced him to send the famous For those who care about their packages in Ubuntu email (OK, that might not have been a good idea, due to the flamewar it generated). It would be great to see him becoming more involved in the Ubuntu community, as he is always good at providing insightful ideas.

Colin Watson

I've worked with Raphaël on and off on all kinds of things, including the dpkg features he mentions under Contributions. He's always been helpful in my dealings with him, and has come up with several quite inventive ways to reduce divergence between Debian and Ubuntu. He clearly cares about the health of the whole Debian ecosystem, including the Ubuntu segment of it, and has been consistent in offering assistance for several years now. I'm very happy to recommend him for Ubuntu membership.