MOTUApplication

I, Chow Loong Jin, apply for MOTU.

Name

Chow Loong Jin

Launchpad Page

https://launchpad.net/~hyperair

Wiki Page

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/hyperair

Who I am

I am a Malaysian studying Computer Engineering in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. I have just completed my first year and will be beginning my second year of study in Nanyang Technological University come August 2009.

My Ubuntu story

My involvement

For several months, I helped out at ubuntuforums.org regarding issues to do with Xorg, as I had my own fair share of it when I first started off. Then, being a little frustrated with the lack of new packages at that time, I begun digging around some existing Ubuntu packages, and used those to create new upstream releases. Eventually, I did one such package for Banshee 0.98.1 and posted it on ubuntuforums.org. At that point, Jorge Castro and Sebastian Dröge invited me to join the Banshee Team to start maintaining a PPA for updated Banshee packages, and I got into Ubuntu packaging more seriously.

When I found out about REVU, I began using it to introduce some new packages into Ubuntu, and eventually attempted to get BansheeLyricsPlugin into Ubuntu via that method. While I was searching for a sponsor, IainLane invited me to join the pkg-cli-apps team for Debian. Since then, I've attempted to get some new packages into Debian as well, which have previously gotten into Ubuntu via REVU, as well as become the co-maintainer of Banshee in Debian, as well as several other Banshee-related packages.

I've also joined the Ubuntu-SG loco team, and am currently maintaining an archive and releases mirror for Ubuntu (http://linux.ntuoss.org/ubuntu and http://sg.releases.ubuntu.com).

Examples of my work / Things I'm proud of

With the help of the Geany Plugins developers and EvgeniGolov, I have successfully gotten the various geany plugins merged into one project that is released together, synchronized somewhat with the release of the Geany editor, packaged nicely and uploaded into Debian.

In addition to that I have adopted the nautilus-share from Debian which was bitrotting in both Debian and Ubuntu with a growing Ubuntu-Debian delta and worked on merging all the Ubuntu fixes into Debian, making it syncable again. I have also fixed most of the outstanding bugs in nautilus-share inclusive of patching up the samba auto-installation code to be more robust. Most of these fixes were gotten upstream when I finally managed to contact Federico, one of the upstream maintainers of nautilus-share.

I have also spent some effort fixing an annoying PulseAudio issue regarding suspending/hibernation, see Bug #202089 by writing the 01PulseAudio pm-utils hook script, and also modified it later on to make it remember whether PulseAudio was muted prior to suspension/hibernation.

Recently, I fixed a bug in gnome-power-manager upstream regarding a race causing gnome-power-manager to suspend twice in a row under certain conditions (pm-utils calling chvt or unplugging the power cord while machine is suspended), and proposed the fix for devicekit-power regarding the same issue. The relevant bug is Bug #425411.

Areas of work

I generally focus my contributions on package maintenance, as well as the introduction of new packages, particularly GUI applications, and any other piece of software I am interested in. I attempt to fix bugs that affect me and are within my capability, such as those regarding pm-utils, as well as bugs of the packages I maintain. A list of packages I have introduced and/or am maintaining in Debian and Ubuntu can be found in Launchpad and Debian QA.

I also maintain PPAs containing backported new upstream releases of software to stable releases of Ubuntu. Among them are:

Things I could do better

I often forget to pay attention to the bugs on the Debian bug tracker, since most of the bug reports for desktop applications generally appear in Launchpad. In future, I will attempt to pay more attention to the bug tracker so that I may balance and merge bugs which were filed to both bug trackers, as well as get them fixed.

I also have a habit of harbouring deep grudges against certain pieces of software, but not filing bugs against them for their shortcomings. I hope to change that in the future.

Plans for the future

General

I'd like to help review and sponsor uploads from prospective and existing contributors to Ubuntu who don't already have upload access, in hopes that we shall eventually gain enough users and developers to conquer Bug #1.

What I like least in Ubuntu

A significant number of Ubuntu-specific technologies, although based on wonderful ideas, to put bluntly, kind of suck implementation-wise. Examples:

  • USplash: Badly documented interface. Had to dig through the source code to figure out how to talk to it
  • Notify OSD:
    • Leaks memory like a sieve, especially when there is a lot of high-resolution album art being passed to it. The Alt+F2-"killall notify-osd" dance is something I do on a daily basis, since I never shut down my notebook.

    • Poor multi-head panel detection. Apparently, a panel at the top of a 1280x800+1280+224 display is not considered as a panel worthy of basing notifications' positions on (Bug #475373).

    • Completely ignores panels on configurations where the panel is not at the top.
  • Indicator Applet: I still do not see a point of this applet, but I have left it around on my panel in hopes of finding some use in it. This *also* leaks memory, given enough time, though significantly less than Notify OSD does.

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

Jo Shields

General feedback

Loong Jin joined us within the Debian Mono Group a year or two ago, and despite some frustrations over the occasionally more bureaucratic processes within Debian, quickly demonstrated his extreme attention to detail, ability to learn quickly, and keen analytical mind. As both Debian Developer and MOTU, and having reviewed at least a half dozen of Loong Jin's packages, I have zero hesitation or concern in dealing with his work. Frankly, I think he should have been a MOTU already.

Specific Experiences of working together

The intersection between my work and Loong Jin's is mostly surrounding Banshee and related plugins, but as part of working together it's many of the other details which have impressed me - for example, Loong Jin is our team's Git grand master, and whenever I find myself dazed and confused, he can always step in and lend a hand. I get the feeling he can occasionally feel a little frustrated by what can feel like artificial limitations on his preferred pace of work (such as the Debian NEW queue), but overall, he is a helpful and considerate developer, and I think Ubuntu would be much poorer without him. Without hesitation I support his application for MOTU.

Areas of Improvement

Iain Lane

General feedback

Loong Jin is an active contributor in several areas of Ubuntu. I am most familiar with his work in the Mono Group, where he effectively maintains Banshee and several ancillary packages to a high standard. I have no concern at all with recommending him for MOTUhood (as long as he keeps Doing The Right Thing and working primarily in Debian, as all enlightened folk should).

Specific Experiences of working together

The CLI teams work closely together on all packages. We have interacted a lot there. I don't have any bug numbers to hand, but I have also sponsored fixes into Ubuntu for Loong Jin.

Areas of Improvement

Get better internet please!

Stefan Ebner

General feedback

Loong Jin does great work in Ubuntu and especially in Debian. Like my former speakers I mostly know him for maintaining banshee and generally as part of the debian-pkg-cli group. He has definately the skills for being a MOTU and would make a great addition to the team. Furthermore he is *the* git hero and always knows an answer to git related questions.

Specific Experiences of working together

I sponsored some of his stuff in Ubuntu (merges, sync requests) and generally we work together in debian-cli team Smile :)

Areas of Improvement

Get better internet please! REALLY!

Chris Coulson

General feedback

Although I haven't sponsored much work from Loong Jin, I did oversee some great work he did recently to investigate and fix a double suspend issue in gnome-power-manager. Loong Jin identified several issues which contributed to this problem, and managed to correct them all with a series of patches which he also got accepted by upstream (1, 2, 3). He also identified an improvement in the devkit-power-gobject library which he discussed on IRC, and this was implemented by upstream (4) after discussing it with them too. The work he did demonstrated excellent technical ability and a good working relationship with upstream developers. Based on my experience of working with Loong Jin and the overall quality of his work in Ubuntu, I think he would make a great addition to the MOTU team.

Specific Experiences of working together

Areas of Improvement

Hasn't fixed all of the bugs in gnome-power-manager yet Wink ;)

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 ===

CategoryMOTUApplication

hyperair/MOTUApplication (last edited 2010-02-15 01:54:21 by w-58)