DeveloperApplicationPPU

I, Scott Moser, wish to apply for Per-Package Upload rights for:

  • cloud-init
  • cloud-utils
  • ec2-ami-tools
  • ec2-api-tools
  • euca2ools
  • eucalyptus
  • python-boto

  • vm-builder (added 2010-04-20)

Name

Scott Moser

Launchpad Page

http://launchpad.net/~smoser

Wiki Page

ScottMoser

Who I am

I'm Scott Moser, a member of the Ubuntu Server team. I'm personally in charge of building, publishing and maintaining the Official Ubuntu images for EC2. These same images are made available for UEC. Along with the rest of the Ubuntu Server team, I help to make Ubuntu Server and Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud great.

My Ubuntu story

I began using Ubuntu around the Warty time frame. Prior to that I had used Debian since around 2001 and other Linux distributions starting with Slackware in 1995. When Ubuntu appeared, I was in the same boat as many others. I loved using Debian. However, due to the long release cycle I wasn't ever satisfied with the 'stable', but wasn't so interested in keeping an 'unstable' system working. Ubuntu's 6 month stable release cycle was a perfect fit.

I remember a conversation with Manoj Iyer where I introduced him to Ubuntu after I had previously gotten him hooked on Debian. He was complaining about his custom kernels not functioning perfectly with his Thinkpad. I asked him why he wanted to spend his days maintaining a custom kernel, and told him that these guys (handing him a Warty CD) had people that did that for me. My persuasion half worked, Manoj was converted to Ubuntu, but still spends time maintaining a kernel (He's on the Ubuntu Kernel Team now).

The single greatest thing about Ubuntu is that virtually nothing is closed. If I'm working on a package that isn't interacting well with another, or just want to see how something works, I can dig into that package with a simple 'bzr branch lp:ubuntu/package' (DistributedDevelopment rocks)

My involvement

I became involved in the development of Ubuntu in August of 2009. Since then, I've loved working with other Ubuntu developers and contributing to making Ubuntu better. I've enjoyed greatly the 1x1 interactions with other developers, both face to face and IRC where I learn from them and occasionally share knowledge.

Examples of my work / Things I'm proud of

  • UEC in Lucid. Because of my efforts and those of the rest of the Ubuntu Server team, UEC is much more functional, stable and usable than it was in Jaunty. Some things I've contributed to this are end-user fixes and tools (uec-publish-tarball, uec-publish-image) for making usage easier.

  • Debian moved to python-boto version 1.9. Eucatools was only officially supported on boto 1.8. I made a few backwards compatible fixes that made Ubuntu's euca2ools work with either boto 1.8 or 1.9, and ran euca2ools through a fairly complete set of tests to verify it was functioning correctly.

Areas of work

I've worked primarily on core packages to UbuntuServer, and most specifically those that are related to "Ubuntu Cloud". However, I've branched out into other packages when the need arose (upstart, apport, ubuntu-dev-tools).

My biggest claim to fame is definitely maintaining the uec builds and developing automated build system and publishing scripts. I've helped to make the "Official Ubuntu Images" the best and easiest choice for an instance on ec2.

EC2/UEC Images

  • Create and maintain the official Ubuntu images on EC2 and UEC

  • I simplified and stabilized the production of these images. It is completely automated now, with nightly builds automatically published to ec2 and made available for download to UEC.

  • I also added creation of EBS root images to the above process.

  • Developed use a test suite for the EC2 images

Bug Fixes sponsored

MainInclusionRequests

New Packaging I did the initial packaging of the following new Ubuntu packages:

Cloud-init / Ec2-init

  • Maintain ec2-init in karmic and hardy

  • develop and maintain cloud-init Lucid. cloud-init represents presents a great deal more functionality and power than ec2-init did.

PPAs maintained

Things I could do better

The thing most difficult for me in Ubuntu is the fast pace of development. My background prior to Ubuntu development was in "Enterprise". Products there didn't have 6 month release cycles. You didn't "just do something", there was always planning involved and long cycles. Because of this, I can procrastinate on work items. The waiting till the last minute causes an even *shorter* period for development.

Plans for the future

General

In addition to being a member of CoreDev, I would like to become a member of MOTU. I hope to continue making Ubuntu server the obvious choice for cloud computing or server-computing in general.

What I like least in Ubuntu

Many bugs go ignored for large periods of time, or indefinitely. This may be because the reporter is not active any longer, or not technically capable enough to provide the answer to a question. More than anything else I believe this to be a resources issue. There are simply so many Ubuntu users that the bug triagers and developers have a hard time keeping up.

I think launchpadlib, and generally improvements to launchpad are helping to make dealing with the huge number of bugs that are reported an achievable task. I'd like to see 416612 addressed in launchpad. That would make a "Bugs I'm interested" list something that could be maintained. Without a launchpad fix, I'd think I'd like to add some such functionality to bughugger or a separate application.

Comments

If you'd like to comment, but are not the applicant or a sponsor, do it here. Don't forget to sign with @SIG@.

Endorsements

As a sponsor, just copy the template below, fill it out and add it to this section.

DustinKirkland

General feedback

I've sponsored dozens of Scott's uploads in Karmic and Lucid. I saw a very rapid increase in the number and quality of Scott's uploads early into the Lucid cycle. His contributions to UEC (eucalyptus, euca2ools, cloud-init, cloud-utils, vm-builder, qemu-kvm, libvirt) have absolutely contributed to the success of the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS cloud and virtualization offering. I totally trust his ability to make quality decisions when uploading packages to Ubuntu, and ask appropriate questions when he is unsure.

It should be noted that Scott is the already the guardian and sponsor of the official Ubuntu images and kernels published to EC2. As such, any user running said EC2 images is relying on the integrity and quality of Scott's work

Specific Experiences of working together

In particular, ScottMoser, MathiasGug, and I spent a week in Santa Barbara a few weeks ago focused specifically on UEC and Eucalyptus. Scott had numerous changes that were committed that week, most of which I sponsored. I was quite pleased with the quality of his work.

Areas of Improvement

If anything, I'd like to see a little more breadth in the areas of Ubuntu that Scott contributes. This isn't a problem per se, but I'm sure Scott's breadth of experience will expand with time.

Martin Pitt (pitti)

I merged some Apport patches which Scott sent via branches (486122, 525003, 494615). Two of these were for the eucalyptus package hook, where he is an expert, and one a general UI fix which was much appreciated. None of those patches changed anything in the packaging, though, and I never sponsored an actual upload from him, so I'm afraid I cannot judge about his packaging skills or experience with the release cycle/freezes.

Chuck SHort

General feedback

Scott started with the Ubuntu Server team with lots of questions on processes and overtime he has exceeded expectations of him. I have sponsored a lot of his uploads (cloud-init, python-boto) as well and he has always been receptive to feedback and knows when to ask questions.

Specific Experiences of working together

When handing over the Ubuntu EC2 to Scott, we worked closely in the karmic cycle on why this feature was implemented and how it can be improved. From then on he has taken complete control of it.

Areas of Improvement

I also like to see Scott get involved in areas other than EC2.

Thierry Carrez

General feedback

Scott is a key member of the Ubuntu Server team, and an experienced Linux developer. He quickly learned Debian packaging and applied that knowledge to a range of tasks including patching, creation of new packages and packaging of libraries.

Specific Experiences of working together

I sponsored several times Scott's work, on ec2-init, cloud-init, cloud-utils, python-boto and euca2ools. All his proposed uploads were perfectly executed and did not require any adaptation. He also fully took advantage of packaging branches and DistributedDevelopment techniques. In the server team, he very much owns the package set he is seeking PPU rights for, so I fully trust him in making the right choices.

Areas of Improvement

Like the others, I wish Scott would have the time to contribute to other packages, since his horizontal knowledge of all things could really help us on more aspects.

SorenHansen

General feedback

I've worked with smoser on cloud-init (formerly ec2-init) and VMBuilder, both of which I originally wrote (I still maintain VMBuilder). Scott's contributions to both have been technically great, and when we've disagreed on stuff, he's always had good arguments as to why he did things the way he did. He has a solid understanding of their inner working and their goal and I'd be happy to let him upload them on his own.

As for the other pieces of software, they fall neatly in the area that Scott is working on, and I'm perfectly comfortable letting him work unsupervised on those as well.

Areas of Improvement

As with almost every other applicant, it's tempting to say something along the lines of "I'd be great if he'd work on a broader set of packages", and it certainly would, but if someone were to focus on this particular set of packages, I'm happy for it to be Scott. Smile :)

TEMPLATE

== <SPONSORS NAME> ==
=== General feedback ===
## Please fill us in on your shared experience. (How many packages did you sponsor? How would you judge the quality? How would you describe the improvements? Do you trust the applicant?)

=== Specific Experiences of working together ===
''Please add good examples of your work together, but also cases that could have handled better.''
=== Areas of Improvement ===

ScottMoser/DeveloperApplicationPPU (last edited 2010-04-27 15:16:11 by 95)