Ubuntu Wiki

About Me

I am a 20 year old currently attending Saint Paul College, studying networking computer systems. Previously I spent time in the Physics department at Trent University and the Concurrent Education program with Queen's University, both in Ontario, Canada. I live in Minnesota, USA.

Contact Info

Launchpad profile: https://launchpad.net/~tonyyarusso

IRC: tonyyarusso on freenode, also in ##tonyyarusso

Jabber: tonyyarusso@deployopensource.com

E-Mail: tonyyarusso@gmail.com

GTalk: tonyyarusso@gmail.com

AIM: tonyyarusso

MSN: tonyyarusso@earthlink.net

PGP Key ID: 5E1E6F1A

Other Web Presences (aka My Links)

Blog

Contributions

I can be regularly found in ##tonyyarusso, #ubuntu, #ubuntu-offtopic, #ubuntu+1, #ubuntu-ca, #ubuntu-marketing, #ubuntu-doc, #ubuntu-classroom, and #ubuntu-meeting, both asking questions and answering others', with varying activity levels (some I mostly watch, others I'm more active in). I also keep summarized logs of answers to many of my questions, for ready retrieval when someone else has the same one (and my own use!). (You can see some of my activity by Googling logs.)

In December 2006 I was invited to help as a member of the IRC team, and accepted.

I have answered support requests on Launchpad, and frequently use the Wiki, and make contributions and corrections where it seems fitting on that (mostly small stuff here and there).

I wrote the second page of ubuntu-letter-dev.pdf, which was designed as a letter for inclusion with ShipIt CDs being handed out to people with no prior knowledge of Ubuntu or Linux.

I am a member of the NewUserNetwork - a list of members is available both on the wiki and on Launchpad, and the CanadianTeam - members listed on the wiki and on Launchpad.

On 19 November 2006 I taught a class on GPG encryption and signing in the Classroom.

I helped out in the Classroom during UbuntuOpenWeek, mostly by changing the topic for the current session since everyone was so well behaved. Way to go everybody!

I have worked on the UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter, Issues 19, 22, 28, and 29. In the recent reworking of how jobs for this are divided, I signed up for the "Beats" of Security announcements and In the Press.

I've added some specifications, although many still need full Wiki page write-ups when I have the time.

I hand out as many CDs as I can, my most recent unexpected opportunities being half a dozen 6th graders from my last Con-Ed placement who became interested after seeing my laptop running something they didn't recognize and random folks on the street the morning of the Edgy release.

I did a series on my blog a while back relating to open source software alternatives, as a lead-up to Dapper release. My main target audience is Windows users who have never used anything else, and I hope to raise general awareness, and ideally get a few to try at least cross-platform FOSS apps, or hopefully even Ubuntu Linux itself. On that note, I do take the stance that it's okay to dual-boot, and stress that possible new users do not have to leave their Windows comfort zone unless they decide later that they want to. My primary goal is to make people aware and get them to try things; I am confident that they will make the decision to switch later largely on their own accord as I work with them to point out the numerous advantages and they become reassured that this is a usable alternative for them. More discontinuous blog posts have followed, and I hope to do another series type thing soon.

I've started work towards getting an Ojibwe translation of Ubuntu going. It will likely be a slow process and take a lot of work, but it's been exciting so far to see interest from a few people. I'm hoping to get a formal announcement out asking for volunteers in coming months, and am currently looking for help putting together a document explaining what Ubuntu and FLOSS translation is all about to people who have never encountered it, if even a computer, before.

I also maintained traffic statistics and random quotes for a period around Edgy release on my server, and these should be returning in the near future (when I get around to setting it up again after drastically altering the server setup). These serve little real purpose, but many people found them interesting.

Most recently, I started trying to package KompoZer, the bugfix replacement for the Nvu web publishing tool. So far I'm having varied success - join #ubuntu-motu or #ubuntu-mozillateam if you'd like to help me.

I am also now serving as the leader of the MinnesotaTeam LoCo.

Things to come (ie my Ubuntu future)

Continuing the translation effort
Writing up my specifications more formally
Expanding the MinnesotaTeam

Things I'd like to do some day

Bug triaging
Packaging (perhaps adopt some and/or backport)
And much more long-term, FLOSS in education is of interest to me (see current enrollment at top)

Linux and Me (personal background)

I have come to Linux relatively recently from a long background of other OSs, including a Commodore 64, DOS, Old World Macintosh, and every MS Windows from 3.1 through XP. After getting frustrated with Windows, and with the new concept of buying my own computer, which I would then have full control over rather than it being a shared family one, I starting thinking about other options. I had heard of Linux, but honestly had never seen it in use. So I hit up Google. I was tentative about the concept, so not looking for anything with significant investment, which ruled out all "Enterprise" editions. When I found out that Ubuntu was free, and would even ship to me for free, I figured I'd hit gold, and would try it out. I had. ShipIt came through and I installed Ubuntu Linux for the first time in August 2005. I started with Hoary (5.04), and have used each version on up, to currently running Edgy on both a server and laptop, with the laptop using Feisty.

My System

I run an IBM/Lenovo T43, model 2668-49U (laptop), and just got an IBM Netvista M42, model 8303-AGU (desktop-server)

Specs for T43:
Pentium M 750 1.86 GHz processor (686 architecture)
1024 MB RAM
40GB 5200rpm hard drive
64MB ATI Radeon X300 video card
CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive
Intel Pro Wireless 2915 a/b/g
Conexant chipset built-in winmodem
Gigabit ethernet card
Came with MS Windows XP Pro - I dual-booted in the past, but now am all-Ubuntu. Meaning, I have it on the system, and can support dual-booting and Windows questions, but don't actually use it for my own use anymore.

Specs for M42:
Celeron 1.70 GHz processor
512 MB RAM
40 GB 7200rpm hard drive
Intel Extreme embedded graphics
CD/DVD+RW drive
3 Ethernet NICs
Conexant chipset PCI winmodem
Came with MS Windows XP Home - I may try to get a refund for this.

Follow-up

For a broader view of me, just hit up Google for my nick and my name. If you'd like to know more, have a question about Ubuntu or an app, or whatever, contact me by any of the means listed above, and I'll see you in #ubuntu!

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