I, Skia, hereby apply for core-dev.

I am applying because:

• I'd like to be able to officially join the Release Team.
• I'd like to help smoothen the release process by being able to upload some bits by myself.
• I'd like to be able to help more effectively during +1 maintenance shifts, that I enjoy particularly.

• I'm aware that this is a straight to core-dev application, but this is what I need to actually better help the Ubuntu release process, and I would have a hard time justifying a PPU application. Also, MOTU wouldn't actually help me much, given the majority of my uploads, and particularly the ones that are part of my release work, are in main.

Who I am

This is almost plain copy-paste from my Contributing Developer application, given that the story hasn't changed.

My name is Florent Jacquet, but just call me Skia, even IRL, as everyone does.

I first installed Xubuntu 7.10 alternate edition on a 64MB RAM machine in 2008. The machine was already 10 years old by that time, but the lightweight system made it usable again, and it was great! Since then, I’ve installed a lot of {X,K,}Ubuntu on all my relative’s machines: parents, grand-parents, uncles, cousins, high-school companions, high school’s machines themselves, university friends and associations, you name it. I’ve personally distro-hoped for a while, but always kept either Debian or Ubuntu on my servers or machines that I wanted stable.

I now work since 2023-10-31 for Canonical as part of Foundations/Ubuntu QA/Release Management team.

My Ubuntu story

My involvement

Examples of my work / Things I'm proud of

Exhaustive list of my uploads is available here:

• Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~skia/+uploaded-packages

• UDD: https://udd.debian.org/cgi-bin/ubuntu-sponsorships.cgi?render=html&sponsor=&sponsor_search=name&sponsoree=*Skia*&sponsoree_search=name

Below is a selection of those with some quick description and pointers, to make it easier to get an idea of my work. Please ask me about specific uploads that picks your interest and are not in the list.

Feature and bugfix uploads

• beets - s390x test failure

  • Interesting full story of a patch produced for Ubuntu, then sent out in both Debian and upstream repos, then came back with a sync.

  • Debian PR: https://salsa.debian.org/python-team/packages/beets/-/merge_requests/3

  • Upstream PR: https://github.com/beetbox/beets/pull/5708

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/beets/+bug/2106276

  • git-ubuntu MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/beets/+git/beets/+merge/483930

  • 2025-04-09 - Ubuntu Plucky - beets/2.2.0-2ubuntu1

  • sync bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/beets/+bug/2107317

• whoopsie - AptSolverDump support + packaging improvements

  • This one counts as FFe too, mentioned below.
  • This one is interestingly a native package.
  • This shows some lintian related improvements to the package.

  • MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/whoopsie/+git/whoopsie/+merge/482986

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/whoopsie/+bug/2103526

  • 2025-03-19 - Ubuntu Plucky - whoopsie/0.2.79

• base-files - upload for Oracular release

  • interestingly made without git ubuntu

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/base-files/+bug/2083825

  • 2024-10-07 - Ubuntu Oracular - base-files/13.3ubuntu6

• whoopsie FTBFS

  • This one is interestingly a native package, which was obviously out of sync between the archive and the repo.

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/whoopsie/+bug/2081271

  • MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/whoopsie/+git/whoopsie/+merge/473530

  • 2024-09-23 - Ubuntu Oracular - whoopsie/0.2.78

• autopkgtest - bugfix

  • later SRU'd with autopkgtest 5.38 to Jammy and Noble.

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/autopkgtest/+bug/2075166

  • 2024-07-30 - Ubuntu Oracular - autopkgtest/5.37ubuntu4

• apt-clone - fixing autopkgtests

  • Right before the Noble release, but didn't require an FFe because not seeded and leaf package.
  • Later synced from Debian (like, much later!)

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt-clone/+bug/2062622

  • 2024-04-19 - Ubuntu Noble - apt-clone/0.4.3+nmu2ubuntu2

• klibc - fixing autopkgtests

  • My very first upload, nothing particular of note that I remember.

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/klibc/+bug/2046336

  • 2023-12-15 - Ubuntu Noble - klibc/2.0.13-2ubuntu1

Package Merges and Syncs

• open-iscsi merge

  • autopkgtest had to be fixed from two different perspectives:

    • https://git.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/open-iscsi/commit/?id=d65d8fa5a47a0ec32e493012a1fa213bf628fd34

    • https://git.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/open-iscsi/commit/?id=fe0be07ac2de3b5710f8c33c40c050fcbb6c51c2

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-iscsi/+bug/2110454

  • git-ubuntu MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/open-iscsi/+git/open-iscsi/+merge/488607

  • 2025-07-10 - Ubuntu Questing - 2.1.11-1ubuntu1

• nfs-utils merge

  • Very simple rebase, nothing of note.

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nfs-utils/+bug/2112047

  • git-ubuntu MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/nfs-utils/+git/nfs-utils/+merge/488018

  • 2025-07-01 - Ubuntu Questing - 1:2.8.3-1ubuntu1

• bpftrace merge

  • Quite complex merge with some changes along the way, see changelog for full story.
  • Most of the changes revolved around the autopkgtests, because that's the main cause for the delta in the first place.

  • Also needed to get unstuck from -proposed with an Archive Admin, to promote libclang1-20 to main.

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/bpftrace/+bug/2111982

  • git-ubuntu MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/bpftrace/+git/bpftrace/+merge/487771

  • 2025-07-01 - Ubuntu Questing - 0.23.2-1ubuntu1

• pcb-rnd sync

  • Sync'd ten days after delta was introduced, and Debian caught up with upstream.

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pcb-rnd/+bug/2115481

  • 2025-06-27 - Ubuntu Questing - 3.1.7b-1

• apt-clone sync

  • Happened after upstream caught up (eventually!) with my 0.4.3+nmu2ubuntu2 bugfix.

  • 2025-04-09 - Ubuntu Plucky - apt-clone/0.5.3+nmu3

• kbd boring merge

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kbd/+bug/2098852

  • git-ubuntu MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/kbd/+git/kbd/+merge/481541

  • 2025-02-19 - Ubuntu Plucky - kbd/2.7.1-2ubuntu1

• shadow interesting merge

  • Interesting merge that needed to be coordinated with the next one in util-linux, because of the login binary package moving from one to the other.

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/shadow/+bug/2089923

  • git-ubuntu MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/shadow/+git/shadow/+merge/477650

  • 2025-01-13 - Ubuntu Plucky - shadow/1:4.16.0-7ubuntu1

• util-linux interesting merge

  • See shadow merge description just above.

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/util-linux/+bug/2091862

  • git-ubuntu MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/util-linux/+git/util-linux/+merge/478455

  • 2025-01-13 - Ubuntu Plucky - util-linux/2.40.2-14ubuntu1

SRUs

• SRU documentation:

  • Sparked after opening a regression-update bug (https://bugs.launchpad.net/auto-upgrade-testing/+bug/2115731)

  • Updated the autopkgtest special case test plan

  • https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/sru-docs/+git/sru-docs/+merge/488081

• lintian for Resolute Raccoon:

  • Pretty boring one: merge to devel + SRU to supported releases during archive opening.

  • SRU bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/lintian/+bug/2127769

  • git-ubuntu MP against devel: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/lintian/+git/lintian/+merge/494273

  • git-ubuntu MP against questing: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/lintian/+git/lintian/+merge/494368

  • git-ubuntu MP against plucky: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/lintian/+git/lintian/+merge/494370

  • git-ubuntu MP against noble: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/lintian/+git/lintian/+merge/494372

  • git-ubuntu MP against jammy: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/lintian/+git/lintian/+merge/494373

  • 2025-10-15 - Ubuntu Resolute - lintian/2.126.0ubuntu1

  • 2025-10-14 - Ubuntu Questing - lintian/2.122.0ubuntu2

  • 2025-10-14 - Ubuntu Plucky - lintian/2.121.2ubuntu1.2

  • 2025-10-14 - Ubuntu Noble - lintian/2.117.0ubuntu1.4

  • 2025-10-14 - Ubuntu Jammy - lintian/2.114.0ubuntu1.7

• mod_python crash:

  • This one had an interesting story revolving around some Merge-O-Matic + mod_python + Python 3.9 madness.

  • SRU bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libapache2-mod-python/+bug/2100590

  • git-ubuntu MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/libapache2-mod-python/+git/libapache2-mod-python/+merge/482125

  • 2025-03-03 - Ubuntu Jammy - libapache2-mod-python/3.5.0+git20211031-0ubuntu3

• base-files - upload for Noble .2

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/base-files/+bug/2097469

  • git-ubuntu MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/base-files/+git/base-files/+merge/480705

  • 2025-02-05 - Ubuntu Noble - base-files/13ubuntu10.2

• python-apt mirror refresh:

  • SRU exception to update mirror list before release

  • SRU bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/python-apt/+bug/2096775

  • git-ubuntu MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/python-apt/+git/python-apt/+merge/480150

  • 2025-01-27 - Ubuntu Noble - python-apt/2.7.7ubuntu4

• zip crash:

  • Pretty boring buffer overflow issue. One notable part is that this was apparently reported in 2018 as a CVE: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-13410

  • Submitted to Debian and uploaded.
  • Added a DEP8 test along the way.

  • SRU bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/zip/+bug/2093024

  • git-ubuntu MP against devel: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/zip/+git/zip/+merge/479674

  • git-ubuntu MP against oracular: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/zip/+git/zip/+merge/479896

  • git-ubuntu MP against noble: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/zip/+git/zip/+merge/479897

  • 2025-01-24 - Ubuntu Oracular - zip/3.0-14ubuntu0.2

  • 2025-01-24 - Ubuntu Noble - zip/3.0-13ubuntu0.2

  • 2025-01-17 - Ubuntu Plucky - zip/3.0-14ubuntu2

• autopkgtest new release

  • Special SRU exception: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates#autopkgtest

  • SRU bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/autopkgtest/+bug/2071609

  • 2024-10-15 - Ubuntu Noble - autopkgtest/5.38ubuntu1~24.04.1

  • 2024-10-15 - Ubuntu Jammy - autopkgtest/5.38ubuntu1~22.04.1

• autopkgtest new release

  • SRU bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/autopkgtest/+bug/2051939

  • 2024-02-13 - Ubuntu Mantic - autopkgtest/5.32ubuntu3~23.10.1

  • 2024-02-13 - Ubuntu Jammy - autopkgtest/5.32ubuntu3~22.04.1

Autopkgtest & DEP8

• Yes, I do run some tests 🙃: https://autopkgtest.ubuntu.com/user/hyask/?only-results=true&limit=4000

• open-iscsi has some interesting tests that had issue.

  • They also make use of some environment variable specific to the Ubuntu infrastructure.
  • See the "Package Merges" section for the links to fixes.

• bpftrace had its testsuite running, but logging was a bit poor.

  • In case of issue, , so I improved things by adding CTEST_OUTPUT_ON_FAILURE=ON.

  • See "Merge" section above

• util-linux recently started shipping the login binary package, but lacked tests.

  • See the "Working with upstream" section, because the test I've wrote and submitted went straight to Debian.

• zip had a crash when using -T -TT options

  • See zip SRU in section above, I've added a DEP8 test along with the bugfix.

• rust-reqwest autopkgtests were having troubles due to the proxy in Canonical's infrastructure:

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/rust-reqwest/+bug/2071789

  • Fix upstream: https://github.com/seanmonstar/reqwest/pull/2418

  • Debian upload: https://tracker.debian.org/news/1543652/accepted-rust-reqwest-01127-3-source-into-unstable/

Proposed Migrations

• I'm regularly being affected packages stuck in proposed during Foundations' Thursday meetings. Working with those usually involves retriggering autopkgtest, sometimes finding the right triggers for the tests to pass, and more rarely a fix to be uploaded.

• As part of my work on the autopkgtest infrastructure, I also regularly run retry-autopkgtest-regression for massive re-run of tests, sometimes involving shenanigans like adding a particular trigger for big sets of packages, or even running them with all-proposed=1.

• Working on proposed migration also sometimes involves giving Britney some hints:

  • https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-release/britney/+git/hints-ubuntu/commit/?id=816184dc75f114a5ebf6812eb95d2afff12ac228

    • and its later drop: https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-release/britney/+git/hints-ubuntu/commit/?id=6f34c31bb389f84dff5b23dd70911fdd8ca23ee9

Transitions

I've never driven a full transition all by myself, but I've helped out a few that I saw passing by:

• rails 7

  • (Re)triggered some autopkgtests with right combination of triggers, or sometimes after a Debian autosync happened:

    • ruby-actionpack-xml-parser: https://autopkgtest.ubuntu.com/packages/r/ruby-actionpack-xml-parser

    • ruby-globalid: https://autopkgtest.ubuntu.com/packages/r/ruby-globalid

  • Removed ruby-sassc-rails: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ruby-sassc-rails/+bug/2116076

  • Removed ruby-sass-rails: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ruby-sass-rails/+bug/2116095

  • Removed ruby-ammeter: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ruby-ammeter/+bug/2116080

  • Removed ruby-activerecord-import: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ruby-activerecord-import/+bug/2116082

  • Removed ruby-rails-deprecated-sanitizer: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ruby-rails-deprecated-sanitizer/+bug/2116096

  • Fixed the ruby-omniauth-rails-csrf-protection autopkgtests, by packaging a new upstream version and uploading it to Debian:

    • RFS: https://lists.debian.org/debian-ruby/2025/07/msg00000.html

• alberta

  • Helped the alberta transition from libalberta4t64 to libalberta5 by fixing the last remaining dependency: dune-grid.

  • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/dune-grid/+bug/2114917

  • git-ubuntu MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/dune-common/+git/dune-common/+merge/487436

  • 2025-06-20 - Ubuntu Questing - dune-common/2.10.0-4ubuntu1

• Infamous t64 transition

  • 2024-03-22 - Ubuntu Noble - pg-gvm/22.6.2-1build1

  • 2024-03-21 - Ubuntu Noble - gvmd/23.1.0-1ubuntu1

Milestones and Exceptions

• Debian Import Freeze:

  • capnproto sync

    • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/capnproto/+bug/2063194

    • 2024-04-23 - Ubuntu Noble - capnproto/1.0.1-4

• FFe:

  • whoopsie - AptSolverDump support + packaging improvements

    • bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/whoopsie/+bug/2103526

    • 2025-03-19 - Ubuntu Plucky - whoopsie/0.2.79

• Putting in place the 24.04.2 SRU freeze in Britney:

  • https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-release/britney/+git/hints-ubuntu/commit/?id=f6a3c8e7c55cf88459e50096bff4113d2c171b11

+1 maintenance

• 2025, week 25: https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/1-maintenance-report-week-25-2025/63166

  • Uploaded four packages:

    • pcb-rnd amd64 FTBFS (MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/pcb-rnd/+git/pcb-rnd/+merge/487210)

    • opensmtpd-table-mysql FTBFS (MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/opensmtpd-table-mysql/+git/opensmtpd-table-mysql/+merge/487281)

    • dune-common ppc64el FTBFS (MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/dune-common/+git/dune-common/+merge/487436)

    • linuxcnc merge (MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu/+source/linuxcnc/+git/linuxcnc/+merge/487358)

MIRs

• util-linux - after a merge, bin:util-linux started to depend on bin:liblastlog2-2 which was in Universe

  • Wasn't strictly necessary because of the "renamed of reorganized source" policy.
  • This ended up being an opt-in re-review, which is good to improve the overall quality of Ubuntu.

  • MIR bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/util-linux/+bug/2113961

  • I still need to follow-up acting on the feedback there.

• retry - new autopkgtest dependency - interesting story involving an SRU too

  • It fell under the particular case of having retry only in the jammy-release pocket, so couldn't be updated. This required a new upload to reach jammy-updates and then get promoted to main.

  • MIR bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/retry/+bug/2076381

  • SRU bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/retry/+bug/2080616

  • 2024-09-18 - Ubuntu Noble - retry/1.0.5-3build1~ubuntu0.24.04.1

  • 2024-09-16 - Ubuntu Jammy - retry/1.0.4-3build1

• mmdebstrap - there was an attempt, unfortunately unsuccessful because of a few reasons.

Seed Operations

• Simple update of ship-live for ARM laptops

  • 2025-03-19 - Ubuntu Plucky - https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu-seeds/+git/ubuntu-seeds/+merge/483070

  • commit: https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-core-dev/ubuntu-seeds/+git/ubuntu/commit/?id=1b5098bb6635bb1181faa8b5f1c6806b0aada26d

Reviews

Reviewing other people's work is, in my point of view, interesting and important for many reasons:

• catching errors before they reach production
• keeping track of changes in the ecosystem
• learning about new tools that others might be using
• improving the average knowledge of the group: both the reviewer, the reviewee, and other people reading the review later on

Here are some examples of packages reviews, as well as regular reviews in some various different contexts:

• rust-hwlib - git-ubuntu MP review taken from the sponsoring reports

  • I wanted to learn about weird rust packages. This one is not in Debian and vendors its dependencies, while remaining quite simple.

  • MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~pedro-avalos/ubuntu/+source/rust-hwlib/+git/rust-hwlib/+merge/495377

  • Specifically my comment: https://code.launchpad.net/~pedro-avalos/ubuntu/+source/rust-hwlib/+git/rust-hwlib/+merge/495377/comments/1347011

• unity-session - git-ubuntu MP review taken from the sponsoring reports

  • Unity currently is in a sad situation. Someone stepped up on Matrix trying to fix some issues, so tried to help level up their packaging skills and keep the momentum by not keeping them waiting too long for feedback.

  • MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~fredldotme/ubuntu/+source/unity-session/+git/unity-session/+merge/495403

  • Specifically my comment: https://code.launchpad.net/~fredldotme/ubuntu/+source/unity-session/+git/unity-session/+merge/495403/comments/1347017

• debian-cd - regular MP review for including stubble into Questing Quokka

  • MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~tobhe/debian-cd/+git/ubuntu/+merge/493040

• meta-release - regular MP review for the Questing Quokka release

  • MP: https://code.launchpad.net/~waveform/meta-release/+git/meta-release/+merge/494066/comments/1343403

• autopkgtest-cloud - many many reviews from back when I maintained the service

  • simple one for big_packages: https://code.launchpad.net/~james-page/autopkgtest-cloud/+git/autopkgtest-package-configs/+merge/482134

  • bigger one with some back and forth, and lots of improvements along the way: https://code.launchpad.net/~uralt/autopkgtest-cloud/+git/autopkgtest-cloud/+merge/477579

  • Just browse https://code.launchpad.net/autopkgtest-cloud/+merges and look for my name

Working with upstream

Debian

• beets:

  • Story above, in the "Feature and bugfix uploads" section.

  • Forwarded a bugfix: https://salsa.debian.org/python-team/packages/beets/-/merge_requests/3

  • Uploaded there: https://tracker.debian.org/news/1639271/accepted-beets-220-3-source-into-unstable/

• util-linux:

  • Forwarded a dep8 test for util-linux: https://salsa.debian.org/debian/util-linux/-/merge_requests/37

  • Subsequently patched this test after some feedback and discussion with @zeha (the Debian maintainer): https://salsa.debian.org/debian/util-linux/-/merge_requests/39

• autopkgtest:

  • This is closer to my regular work in Foundations, so there are many MR that have been merged there already.

  • See https://salsa.debian.org/ci-team/autopkgtest/-/merge_requests?scope=all&state=all&author_username=skia

• zip: forwarded a dep8 test + bugfix: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1093629

  • Bugfix got uploaded: https://tracker.debian.org/news/1641790/accepted-zip-30-15-source-into-unstable/

  • Bigger plans for the test suite: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1104090#17

• My +1 maintenance section also has examples of this.

• I also maintain the Debian swaysome package.

Upstream projects

• osinfo-db:

  • Updated a bunch of Ubuntu links: https://gitlab.com/libosinfo/osinfo-db/-/merge_requests/847

• beets:

  • Story above, in the "Feature and bugfix uploads" section.

  • Forwarded a bugfix: https://github.com/beetbox/beets/pull/5708

• rust-reqwest: helped make the tests work within a proxy environment:

  • https://github.com/seanmonstar/reqwest/pull/2349

  • https://github.com/seanmonstar/reqwest/pull/2418

• systemd: some documentation update on the mutually beneficial integration autopkgtest has with the upstream project:

  • https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/32584

• My +1 maintenance section also has examples of this.

Misc

Alongside packaging work, I'm also involved in many other things around infrastructure and Ubuntu tooling:

• I've led the Noble .2 release checklist.
• I've already send out announcement emails:

  • the Noble .2 announcement: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2025-February/000308.html

  • the Focal EOSS email: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2025-April/000310.html

• I'm active on Matrix helping out coordinating release work in general.
• I've helped review a bunch of FFes since the Plucky cycle. Here are some recent examples:

  • An OpenStack python dependency, with a huge version bump: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/python-pysnmp4/+bug/2125509

    • I've actually asked @ginggs whether or not this should be granted, given how on edge this one was.

  • Stubble kernel on arm64 questing images: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-signed/+bug/2121352

  • A late sudo merge for Questing. This one actually has me making a mistake, and amending it 🙃: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/sudo/+bug/2125486

  • Ubuntu insight for desktop questing images: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-meta/+bug/2121164

• I've helped out during some archive openings:

  • Plucky: https://warthogs.atlassian.net/browse/RTMP-2068

  • Questing: https://warthogs.atlassian.net/browse/RTMP-2428

• I'm currently maintaining the Error Tracker (https://errors.ubuntu.com):

  • See my activities there:

    • https://code.launchpad.net/~daisy-pluckers/daisy/trunk

    • https://code.launchpad.net/~daisy-pluckers/errors/trunk

  • I'm also working on modernizing things in this repo: https://github.com/ubuntu/error-tracker

• A selection of work on ubuntu-cdimage:

  • Decouple sstream from publishing: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu-cdimage/+git/ubuntu-cdimage/+merge/484510

  • Stop prompting for oversized images: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu-cdimage/+git/ubuntu-cdimage/+merge/484495

  • Remove Ubuntu Base i386 image: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu-cdimage/+git/ubuntu-cdimage/+merge/484611

  • Some riscv64 images fix, plus added tests: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu-cdimage/+git/ubuntu-cdimage/+merge/484314

• A selection of work on ubuntu-release-tools:

  • Some release checklist template improvements: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu-release-tools/+git/ubuntu-release-tools/+merge/483228

  • Flavors move to Matrix: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu-release-tools/+git/ubuntu-release-tools/+merge/475628

  • Updated some announcements: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu-release-tools/+git/ubuntu-release-tools/+merge/481710

• A selection of work on meta-release:

  • Big work to add automated validation and CI: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/meta-release/+git/meta-release/+merge/474070

  • Release Oracular: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/meta-release/+git/meta-release/+merge/474869

• A selection of work on ubuntu-archive-tools:

  • Some improvements on phased-updater: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu-archive-tools/+git/ubuntu-archive-tools/+merge/472901

  • Improved logging in isotracker related code: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu-archive-tools/+git/ubuntu-archive-tools/+merge/484301

  • Improved --help in retry-autopkgtest-regressions: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu-archive-tools/+git/ubuntu-archive-tools/+merge/480070

• A selection of work on ubuntu-dev-tools:

  • Fixing a bug in import-bug-from-debian: https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/ubuntu-dev-tools/+git/ubuntu-dev-tools/+merge/468091

• A selection of work on command-not-found-extractor:

  • Fixing the extractor triggering OOM-kill in various ways:

    • https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/command-not-found-extractor/+git/command-not-found-extractor/+merge/483631

    • https://code.launchpad.net/~skia/command-not-found-extractor/+git/command-not-found-extractor/+merge/492711

Bug Triage and reporting

I'm often exposed to bugs, either directly or indirectly through colleagues hitting them, so I try to report them as much as possible: Just a few examples:

• https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/tzdata/+bug/2085147

• https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/noble/+source/autopkgtest/+bug/2049529

• https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/autopkgtest/+bug/2075166

As part of Foundations, I'm subscribed to a number of packages where I receive bugs and triage them. Just a few examples:

• https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/boot-managed-by-snapd/+bug/2096979/comments/9

• https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apparmor/+bug/2099811/comments/4

• https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/2098093/comments/4

Areas of work

Since I'm working for Canonical, in the Ubuntu Release Management Team (Foundations), I'm very much involved with the release process of Ubuntu as a whole. In the past, I've also been involved in the maintenance of the autopkgtest.u.c infrastructure, and the tooling around that. In the coming future, I'd like to help automate as much as possible the release process, so that it's self-documented as code, and not tribal knowledge in people's head anymore.

On my free time, which I don't have much, I like maintaining and improving swaysome, and give a hand hosting Thread and Needles. I also like to maintain and improve my lovely little space of the Internet, as well as my self-hosted NAS running Armbian Ubuntu. As always, side projects come and go, but I generally like hacking and DIY many things more or less always related to free software.

Things I could do better

There are a few things I'd like to improve:

• Write more bug reports. It's often that I have a few things hitting me on my machine, but it's way too often that I just workaround and forget about the problem, where I could actually spend time fixing things for real.
• Take some time to improve my tooling and workflow. It's way too easy to get stuck with doing/using what I know, when sometimes there is a nice process/tool I see used by someone else, and would like to adopt it, but never get to it.

Plans for the future

General

• Reach a state where one clicks a button and releases Ubuntu. That's a long shot, and there will always be some manual steps involved, but targeting that will bring many improvements already.
• Help out set up what's needed to have nicer testing, especially around GUI. There is already ongoing work for that, but this will need integration, and a lot of work to have testsuites for everything. I'd like to give a hand, especially to flavors, to have them catch the train and improve the QA of the whole ecosystem.

What I like least in Ubuntu

• Things are improving (a lot!), but the tooling is always a pain. On the top of my head, I could think of bzr, Launchpad's merge view, the seeds file format (wiki syntax, seriously???), the ubuntu-cdimage story, etc...

• To compensate Launchpad being Launchpad, many repos within the Ubuntu world have moved to Github. While this brings nice modern features, it also reduces the integration of everything, like Ubuntu bugs, and sometimes makes it harder to discover where sources are hosted. I'm also wondering what would happen if Microsoft Github went down (or else, given current geopolitical context), regarding releasing Ubuntu, since some important repos are hosted there (like the models).

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

Paride Legovini

General feedback

I believe Florent 'Skia' Jacquet is ready to become a Core Developer right now, and I strongly support this application. The "Examples of my work" section of the application has pointers showing that Skia has touched and can work with essentially all the "core" aspects of Ubuntu development. Those technical contributions are all of very high quality, but also show Skia is able to interact with the other Ubuntu developers and the wider community, get and give feedback, to ultimately deliver to the highest quality standards. Skia shows genuine care and willingness to improve what he is working on, also striving to understand and keep in mind the bigger picture. I also trust Skia to be a Core Developer at the personal level: being a mentee in the Ubuntu Release Team gave him the opportunity to show he is able to take sound technical decisions, or to seek for help or feedback when appropriate. Skia shares and understands the Ubuntu and, more in general, Free Software philosophy. He will be a great addition to the Ubuntu Core Developers team.

Specific Experiences of working together

I worked closely with Skia for about two years, and for a good part of that time we were direct colleagues in the Canonical Ubuntu Release Management team. I had countless occasions to be directly exposed to Skia's work, more prominently anything related to autopkgtest that is mentioned in this application, and anything related to the Ubuntu release process. This work happened both online and in person.

-- paride 2025-09-27 13:52:14

Sébastien Bacher

General feedback

I've been working with Florent for a few years now and I've been impressed by the quality of his contributions. You can see from this page that he got a long list of contributions already, covering bugfixes, merges, SRUs, +1 maintenance/proposed migration, FFe, MIR, working upstream, etc. His technical work is of high quality and he is actively engaged with the Ubuntu community (matrix, mailing list, launchpad) and always friendly and responsive. He showed a solid understanding of the Ubuntu principles and knowledge of the Ubuntu processes (Freezes, SRUs, MIR, ...)

In addition of working on the Ubuntu archive Florent has also done amazing work on picking up the maintenance of some of the core Ubuntu services.

I'm giving a strong +1 to his application and I'm looking forward having him joining coredev.

Specific Experiences of working together

Taking some recent examples from this cycle which I sponsored for Florent

https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/adduser/3.152ubuntu1 https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/bpftrace/0.23.2-1ubuntu1

Those were complex merges where he did a great job. The merging was done using the git-ubuntu workflow with a rich history. The commits were properly described, the summary was clear on the changes made to adapt to the new version. The packages were built in a ppa and autopkgtests run before asking for review.

Areas of Improvement

I don't have anything to add there I can think of at the moment...

Simon Chopin

General feedback

I've worked with Skia ever since he joined Canonical. Most of our technical interactions were related to infrastructure outages or archive-wide issues (usually me causing the issues and him trying to deal with it), but we have also collaborated on more typical packaging tasks. All in all, Skia is a very solid engineer, always thriving to understand root causes and rationales behind some of our more arcane practices, and always tries to improve things whenever practical, while recognizing the value of a more pragmatic approach in some cases.

He is not afraid to acknowledge he doesn't know something and ask about it, or to change his opinion if presented with convincing arguments.

Specific Experiences of working together

One specific case relevant for this application would be the shadow/util-linux Plucky saga. Skia took upon himself to merge src:shadow with approval from its TIL, and asked me to review it since I had some prior knowledge of the package.

The merge itself was fairly involved as the Debian packaging had changed a lot and we carry a substantial delta. Furthermore, during the review, we noticed the login binary package moving to util-linux, meaning we needed both packages to be updated in the right order to avoid some fairly massive breakage. Skia took that other merge on, and also handled communicating to the community about the upcoming change and potential breakage.

On this, he did some tremendous work, and it was rewarded by the transition happening without any issue. The one thing that he could have handled better is noticing the login transition before the review stage, but I'm confident he has learned from that episode.

Areas of Improvement

Nothing comes to mind.

-- schopin 2025-10-21 14:57:09

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 ===

CategoryCoreDevApplication