I, Zixing Liu, apply for motu.

I am applying because:

• I'd like to eliminate delays in getting my work sponsored.
• I'd like to reduce the burden on my sponsors.

Who I am

I am a software engineer from Canada working for Canonical Canada. While this is my first job, I have some prior experience working on software projects during high school and university for various open-source projects.

I studied Computer Science and Statistics at the University of Alberta in Canada.

My Ubuntu story

In high school (circa 2013), I learned the world beyond Windows and OS X (later renamed macOS). The first version I installed on my device was Lucid (12.04), and then I discovered I couldn’t use wireless anymore (later, I learned this was because I had a Broadcom BCM4312 card). Then, I started distro-hopping until university, where I finally settled on Ubuntu 18.04 for ordinary devices and another non-mainstream Linux distro for more exotic devices.

My involvement

As a member of the Foundations team, whose responsibility is mainly to the Rust toolchain, my main focus is the Rust micro-ecosystem within Ubuntu and Debian.

However, due to the nature of my work, I am still working on a larger scope of system packages in Ubuntu. This might include “other languages” toolchains like Node.js and D language.

In somewhat recent times, I also helped the Ubuntu/Debian work through the armhf time_t transition and the xz-utils-related archive rebuild/clean-up.

Examples of my work / Things I'm proud of

General bug fixes and improvements

SRU

Merges

MIR (Main Inclusion Report)

>> List of other Ubuntu contributions

Ubuntu-related Upstream work

Areas of work

• Update and fix Rust toolchains in Ubuntu and (sometimes) upstream.
• Attending +1 maintenance shifts.
• Looking for ways to improve Rust developer experiences on Ubuntu.
• (Sometimes) maintain other toolchains for which no particular Ubuntu team is responsible.

Things I could do better

• Focus on the details and avoid minor mistakes
• Get to know the wider Ubuntu and Linux community
• Help more upstream projects to have better software delivered on Ubuntu (especially Rust projects)

Plans for the future

General

• Help Rust-GCC to at least compile the standard hello world program (as in the newcomer tutorial)
• Help more people in the Ubuntu community to know about Rust
• Help more Rust developers (Rustaceans) to know Ubuntu and clear up the misunderstandings
• Help more frontend developers understand why Rust is a good fit for JavaScript/WASM tooling
• Help grow other safe(r) system language toolchains (e.g. Ada, D, Swift and Zig) within Ubuntu (and Debian).

What I like least in Ubuntu

• Localization/CJK support was and is still a huge disaster. When I finished installing 12.04, the first thing I discovered (aside from WiFi being unavailable) was that the Chinese input method editor was not working. Fast-forward 10 years, and the input method story with Wayland is now even worse.

• The Launchpad UI/UX is problematic, especially on a HiDPI screen. With most desktop/laptop devices using high-resolution screens, the texts are so small that I must manually set the scaling (not to mention the non-existent mobile experience).
• Too few people participating in the development. Maybe it’s a general thing about all the Linux distributions. Still, if you look at #ubuntu-devel IRC, the people talking there are usually limited to a handful that you will memorize all within a day.

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@.

Lukas 'slyon' Märdian

I haven't sponsored a lot for Zixing, except for a single ftbfs fix, so I don't feel like I can be a direct endorser. But I've worked on the Foundations team alongside him since early 2023 and have seen his engagement with all things Rust, strong interest in distro-work and his deep knowledge regarding toolchain internals. He's accountable and a good fit for the Ubuntu developers crew! -- slyon 2024-10-21 07:30:29

Endorsements

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

Vladimir Petko

General feedback

Zixing is very hard-working and provides a lot of quality contributions to the Ubuntu Archive. He has done a lot of package merges and fixes and performed SRUs and MIR tasks. He has a good understanding of Ubuntu processes.  As a maintainer of the Rust toolchain, he will benefit from upload rights unblocking him in his work.

Specific Experiences of working together

I have sponsored 17 uploads[1] for Zixing. I rarely had a comment on the content of the proposed patches[2], and I do not remember having to do it recently. The submissions provided by Zixing are of good quality and lead to the overall improvement of the archive. 

Areas of Improvement

It would be nice to include bug reports in the upload changelog so that the reason for the change and the affected area are documented. 

[1] https://udd.debian.org/cgi-bin/ubuntu-sponsorships.cgi?render=html&sponsor=Vladimir+Petko&sponsor_search=name&sponsoree=Zixing+Liu&sponsoree_search=name

[2] https://code.launchpad.net/~liushuyu-011/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-nouveau/+git/xserver-xorg-video-nouveau/+merge/468539

Steve Langasek

General feedback

I have been sponsoring uploads for Zixing within the Foundations Team since 2023, for a total of 17 uploads. He is a strong systems software and toolchain generalist who continues to sometimes ask questions around Debian packaging, but also contributed significantly to fixes for build failures in the face of the time_t transition and entangled xz-utils recovery.

Simon Quigley

General feedback

I have had the pleasure of working with Zixing through various universe package fixes and sponsorship for several Rust-related packages. I find his uploads to be high-quality, and if there are issues, they are fixed promptly.

Zixing has a lot of initiative and persistence. When he says he will look into something, it gets done. Especially with the work he has done on Qt-related code, I am confident in his ability to follow through and fix packages, even those that may be complex and nuanced. I am also confident in his ability to understand autopkgtests, Britney's output, vendoring within source packages, compilers/toolchains, and relationships between packages.

According to UDD, I have sponsored 21 uploads for Zixing, 18 of which have been Universe uploads. Here's the full list as of the time of writing from UDD:

I now often ask myself why he does not already have upload permissions, which is a good sign that it is time for him to apply.

I, Simon Quigley, fully endorse Zixing Liu for MOTU, and believe he is ready for upload rights immediately.

-- tsimonq2 2024-12-20 20:00:57

Simon Chopin

General feedback

My main interaction with Zixing has been on the Rust toolchain, where I'm the primary reviewer and sponsor. He's been doing good work on it for a good while now. In addition, I have witnessed his work on the time_t transition, where he did a lot of analysis work in the initial stages, as well as in the last big push to get the core set of packages into the release pocket, where he demonstrated a good understanding of package relationships and archive health.

In addition, Zixing has an impressive knowledge on low-level topics and a knack for debugging thorny issues.

In my opinion, he's ready for MOTU.

Areas of Improvement

Zixing tends to rush things too much, although he has shown marked improvement in that area in recent months.

-- schopin 2025-01-06 09:59:31

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.''
## Full list of sponsored packages can be generated here:
##  https://udd.debian.org/cgi-bin/ubuntu-sponsorships.cgi
=== Areas of Improvement ===

CategoryMOTUApplication