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[~bandali/bndl.org] / fsf-internship / intro.m4
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2 define(__title, `Internship with the FSF tech team')dnl
3 define(__pub, 2020-05-29T14:38:00-04:00)dnl
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6
7 <p>Originally published on the Free Software Foundation's
8 System Administrator's blog:
9 <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/introducing-bandali-intern-with-the-fsf-tech-team">Introducing
10 Amin Bandali, intern with the FSF tech team</a>.</p>
11
12 <p>Hi there, I'm Amin Bandali, often just <code>bandali</code> on the
13 interwebs. I wear a few different hats around GNU as a maintainer,
14 webmaster, and Savannah hacker, and I'm very excited to be extending
15 that to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as an intern with the FSF
16 tech team for spring 2020.</p>
17
18 <p>Growing up around parents with backgrounds in computer engineering
19 and programming, it did not take long for me to find an interest in
20 tinkering and playing with computers as a kid, and I first came into
21 contact with GNU/Linux in my teenage years. My first introduction to
22 the world of free software came a few years later, when a friend
23 kindly pointed out to me that what I had vaguely known and referred to
24 as "open source" software is more properly referred to as free
25 software, and helped me see
26 <a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">why
27 "open source" misses the point of free software</a>. After learning
28 about and absorbing the ideas and ideals of free software, I have
29 since become a free software activist. As a computer scientist who
30 enjoys studying and hacking on various programs and sometimes writing
31 my own, I have made a point of releasing all I can under strong
32 copyleft licenses, particularly the
33 <a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html">GNU AGPL</a>
34 license.</p>
35
36 <p>My involvement with the <a href="https://www.gnu.org">GNU
37 Project</a> started in 2016, first as a volunteer webmaster, and later
38 as one of the maintainers of
39 <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuzilla/">GNUzilla and
40 IceCat</a> late last year. Also around the same time, I led a group
41 of volunteers in organizing and holding
42 <a href="https://emacsconf.org/2019">EmacsConf 2019</a> as a
43 completely online conference, using only free software tools, much
44 like the excellent
45 <a href="https://libreplanet.org/wiki/LibrePlanet:Conference/2020">LibrePlanet
46 2020</a>. I love <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/">GNU
47 Emacs</a>, and use it more than any other program. GNU Emacs helps me
48 do a wide variety of tasks such as programming, reading and composing
49 emails, and chatting via IRC.</p>
50
51 <p>More closely related to my internship with the FSF tech team, I
52 have been familiarizing myself with various pieces of the
53 <a href="https://savannah.gnu.org">GNU Savannah</a> infrastructure
54 with help from veteran Savannah hacker Bob Proulx, gradually learning
55 and picking up tasks helping with the administration and maintenance
56 of Savannah. I am also a member of the Systems Committee of my
57 university's computer science club, overseeing and maintaining a large
58 fleet of GNU/Linux servers for our club members.</p>
59
60 <p>For my internship with the Free Software Foundation, I will be working
61 with the FSF tech team on a number of tasks, including helping with
62 the <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/coming-soon-a-new-site-for-fully-free-collaboration">free
63 software forge</a> project, as well as various improvements for
64 gnu.org. I look forward to learning many new things and picking up
65 valuable skills through my internship with the FSF's exceptional tech
66 team, who do <emph>so much</emph> for the GNU project and the wider
67 free software community.</p>
68
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