ContributingDeveloperApplication

I, Dave Chiluk, apply for Ubuntu Contributing Developer.

Who I am

I currently work for Canonical in the STS Engineering group which is the bug-fix arm for the Ubuntu-Advantage product. When I'm not working on customer issues, I try to spend time bug-fixing elsewhere in the distro. I have fixes in a wide variety of packages including the kernel.

Professional Career

  • Graduated with a BS in CS from University of Illinois in 2003
  • 2003-2004 - IBM - AIX NFS Support
  • 2004-2008 - IBM - Embedded Linux Product Development.
  • 2008-2012 - IBM - Linux Technology Center, Embedded linux product support.
  • 2012-Current - Canonical - Ubuntu Advantage Engineering Support.

Personal Life

I enjoy Volleyball, Car repair, Home Improvement, and Swing Dancing.

My Ubuntu story

My first experience with linux was with Redhat 5.2 in 1999 as a student because I needed a C compiler, and didn't want to pay for Borland's. I've used Linux in one way or another ever since, and it's been my sole desktop OS since 2004. My first ubuntu version was Edgy Eft, after a co-worker caught me complaining about some poorly written fedora package dependencies. I've been assisting users on launchpad/IRC since 2008, and have been submitting fixes/SRUs since 2012.

My involvement

So far my involvement has been primarily focused on the areas of bug-fix, and sustainment.

I've also helped "man" the Ubuntu booth at Texas Linux Fest for the past 3 years.

Ubuntu Packages

There are also some uploads that I wrote that the system has not attributed to me *(these usually are ones where the sponsor included multiple fixes in the upload). Some of those follow here.

In general, I feel I have a very strong grasp of the SRU/bug fix process.

Kernel

In addition to my work on random ubuntu packages, and random ubuntu bug fixes, I've also spent quite a bit of time and effort on kernel related bugs.

Please keep in mind for every issue that has an upload or fix related to it there are probably 2 that I assisted on, reported, verified, or otherwise worked.

Upstream

Things I could do better

I need to become better acquainted with the development release processes, +1 maintenance, ftbs fix procedure for development releases, MIR, image creation etc.

Plans for the future

General

I would like to eventually become a Core Developer. As a core dev I'd like to help alleviate some of the strain on the SRU and Upload queues.

Mythbuntu-dev membership, I'd like to pursue becoming a developing member of that team as well.

Things I'd like to personally work on in Ubuntu

Power Management - I think there's still some room for Ubuntu to improve on default installs. Most likely this would be around enabling/disabling default kernel options. My default install of Wily uses 11.6 W, and should be using closer to 6 W.

Mythbuntu - I've been running mythbuntu for more than 5 years, as my primary dvr, and I still hit some nagging issues.

What I like least in Ubuntu

I dislike that apt-get/dpkg requires a separate package in order to search for which uninstalled package that provides a specific file. Yum has a search utility built in which doesn't require an additional helper package. I admit this is purely a quibble.

Community - Ubuntu is a community, it's also a community that can be pretty hard or intimidating for even smart people to break into. I think we still have some room for improvement here. Specifically in the areas of attribution, community mentor-ship, and involvement.

Comments

I have been working with Dave for more than two years. During that period of time, I have seen Dave's dedication to improve the Ubuntu experience, both from the kernel side as well as in Userspace land. He has been involved in a few very long-lasting issues where he never gave up and finally brought solution to both upstream versions as well as the Ubuntu implementations.

He has a very good knowledge of the kernel internals and regularly works on kernel specific issues. I have no doubt that Dave will continue his Ubuntu involvement so having him as a Contributing Developer will be an asset to the community. -- louis-bouchard 2024-11-18 23:40:33

I've worked with Dave in the same team. Dave is a good guy who is promptly to offer the help when he found someone is overly heavily-loaded. Dave Knows well about the kernel internals and helped to figure out several kernel bugs and is prudent in the attitude. When facing the complicated problems, Dave has the patience and is working hard to divide and conquer the difficulty. I'm convinced Dave is no doubt the invaluable asset to the community. -- mimi0213kimo 2015-11-02 03:02:49

I have met Dave more than a year ago. He has proven to be a technically skilled and a responsible engineer able to work in a wide variety of areas no matter whether it's userspace or kernel. He is a friendly and most helpful team member always willing to provide help or piece of advice.

I believe his skills along with his devotion for making Ubuntu better would greatly benefit the Community. -- dgadomski 2015-11-02 17:07:39

I've been working with Dave for almost 3 years now. He is incredibly responsive both to the support team in Canonical and to the wider community. He also doesn't shy away from taking leadership roles on big issues or entire projects.

I've seen him make a significant and sustained contributions to Ubuntu development. -- bryanquigley 2015-11-06 21:28:59

I work in the same group as Dave does and I can say that Dave is a hard working, responsible and committed engineer. He has always showed worries about maintaining Ubuntu stable and advocating for Ubuntu OS success and for its users: must-have characteristics in an Ubuntu developer. -- inaddy 2015-11-09 16:21:03

I worked with Dave when we were at IBM, as well as now at Canonical; he has consistently been hardworking, very intelligent, and driven. He takes ownership of problems, even if they aren't a requirement; he frequently sees how things can be not only fixed but improved, and drives or delegates the change. He is an important contributor to the Ubuntu community. -- ddstreet 2015-11-09 19:39:23

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

Chris J Arges

Dave has demonstrated attention to detail and patience in fixing many complex issues. I've seen his work debugging kernel issues as well as many userspace bugs. I've sponsored the following uploads:

I believe Dave has demonstrated significant and sustained contributions in Ubuntu and will continue to do so after becoming an Ubuntu Contributing Developer. Overall, I'd like to see Dave increase the number of contributions ot Ubuntu. In addition, Dave understands the SRU process very well, but it would be good for him to contribute more during development cycles and understand those processes.

-- arges 2015-10-28 18:58:49

Serge hallyn

I've sponsored a few libvirt uploads by Dave, but I've also seen him address many issues where I was not or was tangentially involved. He's very capable and exactly the type of person we want to encourage to continue on to coredev. Thanks Dave!

-- serge-hallyn 2015-10-30 20:12:00

Michael Terry

I've only sponsored one package for Dave (coreutils), but that was a good experience. His patch was solid and was even upstreamed by him. Plus, he was responsive and helpful on IRC when I had a question about his patch.

-- mterry 2015-11-02 15:10:12

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

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 ===

CategoryUniverseContributorApplication

chiluk/ContributingDeveloperApplication (last edited 2016-11-16 10:25:14 by chiluk)