Ubuntu Wiki

About Me

Hi, I'm Phill, aged 48. I was born and live in the UK.

When we did computer studies at school, we wrote out flow-charts and wrote our code onto a programming sheet to be input onto a 'mini-main-frame'. We got dot matrix print-out and a roll of punched tape. Learning Flow-Charting is a great thing, as it allows you to break tasks down into 'bite-size' chunks.

My first Computer was Atari800XL. It taught me assembly language, along with machine code - for that I'm grateful. I had a Bulletin board running on that little 8 Bit machine, and even stuffed 256KB of RAM into it.

On my Atari800XL, I was inspired to study the link between computer and humans with StephenHawkin and how he could 'speak'; I got my little machine speaking using a TrackBall using SpeachSynthiserChips - do not forget that we had, at best Assembly Language or Machine Code if we wanted anything more advanced than BASIC. With all that has happened since, I have remained interested in accessibilty with and for computers. I have been up to senior support level in a UNIX environment, but that was quite a few years ago (Think Windows 3.0); so I've forgotten a lot. Coming back to the area, especially with what Ubuntu has achieved is like coming home. As for an explanation of my passion for ubuntu, I think one of my padawans summed it up so wonderfully in Why it Matters

What is Ubuntu? Nelson Mandela on Ubuntu is one of the best explanations I've ever seen.

My Involvement with the Ubuntu Community

The areas that I involve myself with are listed below. If you ever have a query that you are unsure about, please do not hesitate to get in touch; I do not bite. Consider me as a friendly librarian. I may not know the answer immediately, but I can point you to where to find information (having a 3rd Dan black belt in google-fu is helpful). I am now a full ubuntu member, something of which I am immensely proud of.

Bugs

As a member of the bug-squad I get reports back for standard bugs and Lubuntu specific ones, my activity can be found at Bugs

Lubuntu

The baby of the family, designed for those 'older' computers that just cannot manage full on ubuntu. You can find details of it over at about lubuntu. I'm really keen on the project for what it can bring to computers that would otherwise be scrapped. I am a member of the Lubuntu mailing list, and am a firm supporter of their goals for giving us a fully updated version of ubuntu for 'older' computers.

IRC

As I am a user of Lubuntu I can be found at #lubuntu. If you do not have your IRC set up then you can click LubuntuIRC As we now have an offtopic channel, you can just pop in for a chat #lubuntu-offtopic (LubuntuOfftopic) along with the other channels listed below for other teams.

Ubuntu Beginners

Getting elected to and becoming a mentor on Ubuntu Beginners Team (UBT) was also a humbling expeirance, to be accepted by your peers is scary. But for those interested in helping others, please do join... regardless of my fears, they do not bite. As a part of being a mentor I am logged on to #ubuntu-beginners and #ubuntu-beginners-team. If you do not have your IRC set up then you can click UbuntuBeginners and UbuntuBeginnersTeam to get onto those channels.

Ubuntu Forums Work

My post count should say it all. I do recall my first release day, when 9.10 came out and Grub2 was launched upon an unsuspecting audience. It was, to say the least, a busy time. I do keep active in the forum area, and do like an 'un-loved' posting that no one has replied to; it has taught me a lot (such as putting on all the software to programme up an android phone, amongst others). Signing up to Ubuntu Forum is something I would strongly recommend every one should do. When I reply to forum posts there is a very good chance that I will subscribe to the thread; this means when you answer, I get an email to let me know you have replied.

Accessibility

Often the forgotten part of computing, I've recently gotten a commercial site up to Level 3 accessibility (AAA); it is not too difficult (I lie), but I would recommend it to anyone who wants to write websites. The MGJuddLtd site is the one that I have taken to that level, which is in no way a small feat for a site full of engineering drawings! Again, if you are interested, please drop me a note and I would me more than happy to give guidance, my experience of getting there is at Accessibilty and the Internet. I am now involved in speech control for the Ubuntu family, more information can be found at their areas are Accessibility and SpeechControl.

Wiki

As a wiki admin person, whilst I mainly update the Lubuntu help pages over at LubuntuHelp. I am now also involved with updating pages for other teams. Along with helping update the general ubuntu wiki area. Feel free to contact me if you have an issue which requires admin privileges to sort it, but do be aware you'd need a pretty darn good reason for me to use them.

Ubuntu Youth

Yeah, quite a surprise at my age to be asked to get involved. I do host their forum area and am also one of the people who watches over their IRC channel at #ubuntu-youth (If you have not got IRC set up, then UbuntuYouth will take you there). If you're aged 14 - 20 it's a great channel to be on. More details of them can be found at About Ubuntu Youth.

Current Projects & Goals

I am fortunate that I have access to a 'real web-site' that I have written and can update for tutorial mode for people to see how it handles various queries in real life.

LAMP

It has caused problems with so many different (out dated) sets of instructions for people to add LAMP to their desktop system. If you want to put LAMP onto your system for learning on, please do follow the class I gave. The notes and slides are available at Classroom Notes. I am in the process of updating the documentation for LAMP, you can see the draft of it at draft LAMP wiki.

MySQL

As a further extension to my LAMP presentation, the commercial site I have written, MGJuddLtd, also holds the ability to change into tutorial mode for those who want to learn how to efficiently search through MySQL databases. The introduction and tutorial is available at FullText this links through to the MGJuddLtd site to explain how the enquiries are built, executed and displayed.

Future Plans & Projects

As a convert to Lubuntu, it is my desire to see that project attain official adoption into the family that is Ubuntu. As the new Accessibility version progresses I want it to be available across all the Ubuntu family.. I also want to spread the word on making websites accessible. My thoughts, trials and progress can be found at WebCodingForAccessibility.

Web_Hosting

I am very fortunate that my Web Hoster is a registered charity and I feel lucky in life to call him a friend. Whilst the deal is $20 (USD) / year for WebHosting, if you are a student or a group from the ubuntu community, please do ask. Between myself and my web-hoster we do have areas that can be shared for no cost and will not contain advertisements like some other so called "Free" sites, so please do get in touch.

What I can do to help

If you have a domain name such as uy-forums.net Ubuntu Youth Forum and it is educational / not for profit, then I can host it for free. If you do not have a domain name, but qualify for the free hosting you have a choice of <your-name>.phillw.net or <your-name>.quiet-zone.eu I cannot have advertising on the phillw.net area (as that is also a registered charity to enable me to have the educational version of google apps / email system), but you are permitted to have google-ads on your own domains. A personal .net domain name costs approx 15 USD / year from my domain name provider, ask me if you want me to check up any other names and you are welcome to use who ever you want to register with.

Mentoring

Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy.

Jedi use their powers to defend and to protect.

Jedi respect all life, in any form.

Jedi serve others rather than ruling over them, for the good of the galaxy.

Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.

The entire article is here My padawans will be questioned on it as computer training and respect of others is a tenant of Ubuntu Beginners Team (UBT), hence us calling them padawans.

NRWlion Checklist

Padawan Jens aka. NRWlion

Master Phillw

Last Contact Date: 1st March 2011

Jason Checklist

Padawan: Jason Odoom

Master: Phillw

Last Contact Date: 1st March 2011

notes His path is a difficult one, but his heart is pure. He will prevail.

Testimonials

If you wish to describe any of my contributions to the Ubuntu Community, please feel free to do so below. Thank You.

General Testimonials

Testimonials for Beginner Team

I worked with Phill for some times now in the Lubuntu team. He is the main helper in the #lubuntu, always trying to answer and help people, never tired for searching a solution or a way to help. He done a fantastic job on the chan, I can't count the number of hours he spend on it, it's just huge. I strongly recommends him for the BeginnersTeam Membership. -- gilir

Testimonials for Ubuntu Membership

I've had the extreme pleasure of working with Phil for some time now. He's very good at what he does, and is always willing to help and share his knowledge with others. He's been very helpful to me in many areas especially with the BT Wiki FG among other things. His work with the Lubuntu Team has also been above and beyond awesome. He's always in #lubuntu ready to answer any questions concerning Lubuntu and is always available for a kind word. He's a great friend and an awesome contributor to the Ubuntu Community. He's got my full support for whatever he does, for BeginnersTeam Membership, and Ubuntu Membership as well. -- zkriesse

Phill and I have worked together for more than a year on various teams, including several Ubuntu beginners sites and more recently as moderators on the Ubuntu forums. He has helped extensively on Grub 2 related matters, making the extra effort to ensure users become familiar with the boot loader. I have seen the great lengths to which he will go to help users on the Ubuntu forums, including researching problems for others when the answer isn't readily apparent or available. Phill exemplifies the caring spirit of Ubuntu and I strongly and enthusiastically support his membership. -- Dave Stan drs305

I've had the pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with Phill, as we are both contributors of the BeginnersTeam. He is certainly hard-working and committed on his helping of the team. I think he is a great addition to any team he may wish to join. Surely, Phill is an awesome contributor and person; definitely worthy of Ubuntu membership. -- pedro3005

BodhiZazen - I fully support Phill's application for Ubuntu membership. As you can see from this wiki page, Phill is very active in the community and I have interacted with Phill both in IRC and on the Ubuntu Forums. Phill is knowledgeable, helpful, and dedicated to the Ubuntu community .

Phill is a very kind person who is always trying to help people in any way he can. I have got to see this first hand both on IRC and on the Ubuntu Forums. He is a very knowledgeable person who goes out of his way to share this knowledge. He is a true star who deserves nothing but praise. Please support his application favorably. -- Silver Fox

I've worked with Phill in the Documentation Team for a number of months now, where his contributions have centred around wiki editing and Lubuntu. He's very active, extremely keen to learn, and has bags of enthusiasm; it's been a pleasure to have him around. I can strongly recommend him for Ubuntu membership. -- Philbull

Phill has been very helpful to the others in the Ubuntu community. He just provided the Ubuntu Youth team some web hosting space on his server so that the Ubuntu Youth team could host a forum. This is just one of the several kind acts he has done. As such, I fully support his Ubuntu Membership -- bilalakhtar

forestpiskie I know Phill from both the forums and IRC - he's a very helpful and knowledgeable user - I wholeheartedly support his application for Ubuntu membership.

Ubuntu Beginners Team Council

UndiFineD Well, I can tell you all about this guy, he has great admin skills, but they do not really matter. Phill is a wonderful balanced person. Always willing to give advise whether or not it has been asked for. We went through good and bad times, laughed and cried, if I had the chance I would visit his bar to have a drink together. I consider him my friend.
-- UndiFineD 2011-02-12

What can I say that will do Phill justice? He's an awesome IRC Admin, an AWESOME wiki guy, but more than that he's a very good friend and mentor to not only many others but to me as well. He's helped me through some rough patches before, and has been there for me when I needed someone to talk to. I would be more than happy not to mention PROUD to see Phill take up the mantle of BT Council Member. His skills to negotiate issues with multiple people and conflicts would stand him in good stead and his easy going attitude would provide the Council with a very valuable opinion and take on things. I consider him one of the kindest and thoughtful persons I know and would love for him to get this position. Way to go Phill! -- zkriesse (Zach Kriesse) 2011-02-14