Contact Information
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Rik Mills |
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United Kingdom |
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GMT/UTC, observe DST (current time) |
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rikmills[@]kubuntu[DOT]org |
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RikMills on irc.libera.chat |
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User: acheron |
About Me
Hi, I'm a long time Kubuntu user who has decided it is time to step up to help the distribution/flavour that has been of such benefit to me over the years.
I started using Linux/Unix at University, and carried on using Linux/Unix for post-grad research. I have also used desktop Linux such as Suse - Mandrake - Mandriva over the years.
After the Mandriva 'disappearance' I switched to Kubuntu, and have never regretted that move.
Kubuntu's strap-line is "Kubuntu, making your PC friendly" and I see this as a core aim of the project, and something to always aim to improve on.
Contributions
User support/social media & team engagement
- User engagement and help on:
www.kubuntuforums.net (unofficial forum).
- Team engagement via:
IRC - #kubuntu-devel on irc.freenode.net. KDE BNC account obtained to keep a presence on this channel, which is the most important forum for development discussion.
Attending Kubuntu parties on BigBlueButton.
- Attending pre Kubuntu Podcast review meetings.
Kubuntu packaging
- Determining and making fixes for packages in the Kubuntu CI (continuous integration) system, fixing automatic branch merges made by the CI when required, and generally triggering and pausing jobs to ease the smooth running of the CI.
Determining, making and uploading fixes for staged releases of KDE Frameworks, Plasma & Applications in the Kubuntu ppas.
- Reviewing and carrying out merges proposed against the Kubuntu packaging git repositories.
Staging bugfix and and version update of frameworks and plasma. Frameworks 5.25 & Plasma 5.7.4/5.
- Backported builds of QT 5.6.1 to Kubuntu ppas prior to the landing of this QT version in ubuntu. This allowed the team to start working on the staging of dependant KDE versions (e.g. Plasma 5.7.x). Also added to the KCI to allow upstream builds to continue.
- Attending Kubuntu Ninja Packaging Dojos.
- Made member of Kubuntu Ninja packaging team on 2016-07-05.
My list of package uploads.
Testing & bug reports
- Running the development version of Kubuntu (Yakkety Yak) on my main machine in order to test and understand the evolution of the user experience, and investigate issues.
- Reporting, confirming and testing for bug reports; both in Kubuntu and upstream to KDE.
Testing on PC, laptop and various virtual machines newly staged versions of Frameworks, Plasma & Applications, and then continuing to test and report issues once these reach the landing ppas.
- Testing of daily ISOs for function and install.
- Testing of candidate ISOs for milestone releases (e.g. Xenial 16.04.1)
Timeline
Below are non exhaustive highlights.
A fuller grep'd IRC log can be found here
For example, in between most steps there was testing of ppa staging updates, upgrades, various bugs and other issues the team highlighted on IRC, and just generally interacting with the team and contributing in any way I realistically could at each stage. In items such as bug reporting, merges, discussions etc, I have simply highlighted the first occurrence.
The timeline ends with being appointed to the Kubuntu Ninja packaging team, as I believe from that point most of the team and/or Kubuntu Council members are familiar with the content or level of my contributions, as outlined in the 'Contributions' section above.
- 2015-12-31 - Made first post on #kubuntu-devel on irc.freenode.net to talk to the devel team.
(then in intervening period mostly testing of staging ppa and upgrades, and providing feedback to team. On hardware in some cases, but the majority in Virtual Machines)
- 2016-03-24 - Discussed with Clive the compilation of new Muon Package Manager version, as I had tried and found the upstream sources compiled. Eventually Clive submitted new Muon as a FFe in Xenial.
(April was a busy month for me, so there was a lull in my activity, except to check on the progress of Muon in Xenial and a bit of adjustment of the ppas I was testing)
- 2015-05-19 - Found and reported upstream KDE bug: #363337 - Recent docs/history shortcuts in kicker/kickoff fail when clicked with "Could not find any application or handler..." error.
- 2016-05-24 - Gave Clive an an upstream change as 'fix_kicker_recent_documents.diff' to fix KDE bug: #363337 until new plasma update with that fix. My name appended to Kubuntu changelog.
- 2016-05-24 - New Launchpad account merged with previous one, so could contribute via LP more effectively.
- 2016-05-24 - Made member of Kubuntu Ninja Yellow Belts team.
- 2016-05-26 - Attended Kubuntu Ninja packaging Dojo #1.
- 2016-05-27 - Started submitting git diffs to fix KCI issues etc.
- 2016-06-07 - Switched to submitting merge proposals to Kubuntu packaging git via LP web interface, as gave a better workflow with the team.
- 2016-06-16 - Started backports from debian of QT 5.6.1 in my ppa, for use in testing with Yakkety and Xenial backports prior to the official landing of QT 5.6.1 in Yakkety.
- 2016-06-30 - Attended Kubuntu Ninja packaging Dojo #2.
- 2016-07-05 - Made member of Kubuntu Ninja team (git commit and ppa permissions).
Testimonials
Note: If you have anything nice to say about this person, please do add it below along with @ SIG @ (no spaces). The @ SIG @ command will sign your name and date/time it after you "Save Changes".
Rik has been a wonderful individual to work with. In training to become a Kubuntu Ninja, he approved many pull requests I sent, which in turn allowed me to better my skills and become a better packager. He helped me gain some useful development skills I can use when doing Debian packaging. In addition, working alongside Rik has been a pleasure, whether it was the brief time when I was still a yellow belt, or when I finally became a Ninja. I would absolutely recommend him for Kubuntu Membership. -- tsimonq2 2016-09-18 17:17:08
The great thing about Rik is that he just quietly makes things better. He watches what's going on, asks the questions necessary, and then gets the job done. He not only does this with packaging and tooling, but socially as well. He will make a great Kubuntu Member. -- valorie-zimmerman 2016-09-19 19:03:58
It has been a great pleasure working along side Rik on the Kubuntu project. He is extremely conscientious with anything he is involved with and one can be sure that he has put in 100% time and effort to any task he has been set or volunteers to take on.
I know I can rely on him to be the voice of reason and logic, whatever the topic. I therefore very strongly recommend and support his application for Kubuntu Membership. -- clivejo 2016-09-20 23:11:54
Rik is always willing to help make Kubuntu better for us all and very easy to talk to and work with. He always double and triple checks everything he does and is always willing to help anyone. A perfect addition to the Kubuntu family/team -- -- aaronhoneycutt 2016-10-07 13:22:02