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About Me
My name is Matthew Lye, I'm Senior Computing Support Officer for Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. My first interest in Linux came about late 2006, when I first found Ubuntu, Fedora, and FreeBSD. I had previously made the mistake of trying Mandrake which put me off Linux for a few years. I had not installed Ubuntu to a production machine until events occurred that left me to manage 60+ linux lab environments in July 2007.
I have a little baby girl who I am currently looking forward to converting to Ubuntu soon as she is old enough. For the moment she amuses herself hitting buttons on daddy's old laptops and keyboards.
Participation
Summary
I promote Ubuntu within my community at the university and work on developing computing lab images in Ubuntu. I manage 4500 computers with a combination of Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu as well as helping to support various research and staff environments using Ubuntu, and Redhat. I contribute to the Ubuntu Forums whenever possible but most of my focus is to help new users integrate into the Ubuntu community and troubleshoot problems on IRC. I am a member of the Ubuntu Beginners Team and am an instructor preparing materials for tutorials and guides on a variety of topics.
I am a Member of the Ubuntu Community Learning Project which is dedicated to improving the quality and quantity of training information available for the community.
I am an Idea Reviewer with the Brainstorm team, helping to work through the ideas submitted by the community to improve Ubuntu.
My greatest impact on the Ubuntu community is evangelical through the work I do supporting Linux environments at work. Through the large scale implementation of dual boot (Ubuntu/XP)environments I expose thousands of university students a year to Ubuntu and assist their lecturers and professors in teaching them how to use it to their greatest advantage.
I have also spoken at Linux.conf.au about managing large scale (Ubuntu) Linux deployments and other technical matters.
Launchpad Groups
I have recently refocused my efforts in Ubuntu and an no longer participating in several groups to prevent burning out.
Ubuntu Member
Ubuntu Community Learning
Brainstorm Moderators
Ubuntu Forums Beginners Team
Ubuntu Australia
Ubuntu Marketing
Ubuntu Testing Team
Launchpad Users
Ubuntu Users
Ubuntu Forums
As above, I am a member of the Ubuntu Forums. My participation on the forums varies widely based on what im working on at the time, but usually focused on the Beginners, Desktop Environments, Desktop Effects, and Security Discussions section.
If you ever PM me on the forums, I'll get back to you ASAP. Just be patient and polite.
Im currently working with a Securing Ubuntu/Ubuntu Hardening Guide found Here and working on a guide for building Ubuntu images for school and university computing lab environments, currently being worked on here.
Ubuntu Beginners Team
I am a highly active member of the Beginners Team. The Beginners Team is a support group focused on assisting new users to migrate to Ubuntu and learn about Open Source. The efforts of the team are focused on the Absolute Beginners Talk section of the Ubuntu Forums, as well as our education focus group, and IRC support. We have also recently started to make a push into improve the support answers in Launchpad as well. I am particularly focused on IRC support and the Education Focus Group working on developing teaching materials as well as instructing. We are also beginning an effort to improve the quality and quantity of documentation and guides available in the community user help.
As part of my activities within the Beginners Team I have taken new applicants under my wing and helped mentor them as part of our Padawan system. Every person I mentored is now a member of the Beginners Team, and a Ubuntu Member.
IRC
I'm often found on IRC on irc.freenode.net - Channels I'm usually in when I'm on are:
- #ubuntu
- ##club-ubuntu
- #ubuntu-au
I can also sometimes be found in:
- #ubuntuforums
- #ubuntu-bugs
I regularly help while on IRC so please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Greater Community
Member of K-12 Open Source Community and active in promoting Linux and Ubuntu in Higher Education. Also a member of its sister group Classroom 2.0.
- Member of Australian Higher Education Linux Support Group (Linux support staff from a variety of Australian Universities)
Member of Linux Australia
Core organizing team for Linux.Conf.Au 2011.
Presenter at LCA2010
Future Hopes
- Contribute to the development of Ubuntu specifically in regard to usability and the new user experience (the WOW factor)
Help get the AUS LoCo up and running again (At the time of writing last listed meeting 13th of May, 2008)
- Improve the quality of documentation available for Ubuntu beginners
- Further the use of Ubuntu in universities and schools to encourage further exposure and uptake of Linux.
- Become a member of the Asia-Oceania Membership Board.
Development
As I learn more about coding C/C++ (then python and perl), I would like to contribute more to the development of Ubuntu, and other Open-Source projects (I'm particularly interested with the release of chromium and addons/extensions integration).
Testimonials
Asia-Oceania Membership Board
I am currently working toward a spot on the Asia-Oceania Membership board. I have been involved in a variety of non-technical areas of the community and am familiar with most of the non-technical and community related Ubuntu activites. I am located in Australia and am involved with Linux Australia, as well as being a core organizer of Linux.conf.au 2011 as well as being an active member of the Ubuntu community.
I had alot of trouble trying to find a meeting that met quorum when I was attempting to apply for membership and ended up securing membership through the Americas board instead. This is something I would like to fix by joining the Asia-Oceania board.
Nathan Handler Vantrax is a very hard-working and dependable individual. He is kind and respectful, and I know he will be able to keep all declined Members motivated and interested in contributing to Ubuntu. I recently talked with Vantrax about his nomination, and I am now confident that he is motivated and fully capable of serving in this position. Vantrax has my full support for becoming a member of the Asia-Oceania Regional Membership Board. -- nhandler 2010-04-15 04:06:08
Paul Tagliamonte I have known Vantrax since he started his work with the Ubuntu Beginners Team. He has demonstrated incredible work ethic, and has nothing but a flawless track record of sustained and thorough work. I can fully support his application for the Asia-Oceania Membership Board without so much as a modicum of apprehension. -- paultag 2010-04-20 00:43:19
Steve Woodruff I have had the pleasure of working alongside Vantrax for quite some time now. He was my Mentor when I joined the Beginners Team, and I can attest to his ability to give constructive criticism and honest feedback in a welcomed manner. He has the ability to inspire people, and to get them to want to be more active in the community. On top of this, Vantrax maintains a cool demeanor and an objective perspective in all of his actions. I feel Vantrax has all the makings to be a very strong candidate for the Asia-Oceania Membership Board, and I hope his application is received favorably. -- swoody 2024-08-25 09:05:53
Charles profitt I have worked with Vantrax since he became a Beginners Team member. His energy and enthusiasm has always been a great positive as he moves projects forward. He works well with others and shows a great capacity to understand the points of view of others. I strongly support his becoming a member of the Asia-Oceania Membership Board. -- cprofitt 2010-04-20 02:37:45
Ubuntu Membership
Testimonials supporting my application for Ubuntu Membership
BodhiZazen It is a pleasure to write in behalf of Vantrax. I have known Vantrax from the Beginners Team and he is both knowledgeable and courteous. He is very open minded and is willing to both teach and learn. He is assuming a leadership role on the Beginners Team and is assisting with Education, which is a natural fit. I support his application for membership
Charles Profitt I whole heartedly support Vantrax for Ubuntu membership. He has been a tremendous contributor to the BT Education Focus group by writing guides and he will be running some IRC sessions in the classroom. I am also particularly impressed by his work on the Ubuntu Lab Project -- cprofitt 2009-01-20 03:30:07
Andrew Morris Vantrax is a committed member to the UbuntuForums Beginners Area Team. I have worked with him on various occasions, in both the Forums, and on IRC. He has a positive attitude towards all users, beginner or guru, and embraces their problems and/or questions with open arms, and I support Vantrax's application for membership whole heartedly.
Nathan Handler Vantrax is a valuable member of the Ubuntu Forums Beginners Team. He is always willing to help people with any problems that they might be experiencing. Vantrax is kind, knowledgeable, and devoted to contributing to the Ubuntu community. He has my support for Ubuntu membership. -- nhandler 2009-03-05 04:29:47