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| | 21 | <h1>My internship with the FSF tech team and beyond</h1> |
| | 22 | <p>by <a href="https://bndl.org"><b>bandali</b></a> |
| | 23 | on December 18, 2020 <small>(also |
| | 24 | in <a href="fsf-internship-beyond.txt">plain text</a>)</small></p> |
| | 25 | |
| | 26 | <p class="box">Originally published on the Free Software Foundation's |
| | 27 | sysadmin blog:<br /> |
| | 28 | <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/my-internship-with-the-fsf-tech-team-and-beyond">My |
| | 29 | internship with the FSF tech team and beyond</a></p> |
| | 30 | |
| | 31 | <p>Hello! I'm |
| | 32 | <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/introducing-bandali-intern-with-the-fsf-tech-team">Amin |
| | 33 | Bandali</a>, and this is my second blog post on the FSF sysadmin blog, |
| | 34 | concluding my internship with the FSF tech team this year.</p> |
| | 35 | |
| | 36 | <p>Throughout my internship with the tech team, I have worked mainly |
| | 37 | on sysadmin tasks related to setting up and/or managing FSF's |
| | 38 | GNU/Linux servers. Perhaps most significantly, I set up an instance |
| | 39 | of the <a href="https://sourcehut.org">Sourcehut</a> forge software to |
| | 40 | help |
| | 41 | <a href="https://libreplanet.org/wiki/FSF_2020_forge_evaluation">evaluate</a> |
| | 42 | it as a candidate for the upcoming |
| | 43 | <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/coming-soon-a-new-site-for-fully-free-collaboration">FSF |
| | 44 | forge project</a>. I documented the installation and setup process of |
| | 45 | Sourcehut's various components in the form of a literate GNU Emacs |
| | 46 | Org-mode file, where source blocks are interspersed with comments and |
| | 47 | prose explaining them. One can then progressively evaluate and |
| | 48 | execute the source blocks, and optionally have their results stored |
| | 49 | back in the Org file itself to help with |
| | 50 | documentation/demonstration.</p> |
| | 51 | |
| | 52 | <p>I have also been slowly working on various improvements for the |
| | 53 | server running www.gnu.org, and will continue doing work on it as a |
| | 54 | volunteer after the end of my internship. This will hopefully be |
| | 55 | beneficial to the FSF sysadmins running the server, the GNU webmasters |
| | 56 | who do webmastering work on gnu.org, and the general public browsing |
| | 57 | and using gnu.org's pages. Notably, changes included upgrading the |
| | 58 | server to the latest release of Trisquel GNU/Linux, and revamping and |
| | 59 | improving the search mechanism for gnu.org's pages. Additionally, |
| | 60 | there are several other projects that I would like to tackle with the |
| | 61 | tech team in the near future.</p> |
| | 62 | |
| | 63 | <p>During my internship with the FSF tech team, I picked up a variety |
| | 64 | of new skills and learned more about a diverse set of topics and |
| | 65 | tools. This included building and installing a complex piece of |
| | 66 | software like Sourcehut and debugging issues encountered along the |
| | 67 | way, using Ansible for managing and deploying infrastructure, as well |
| | 68 | as learning more about the Exim mail transfer agent used to run FSF |
| | 69 | and GNU's array of mail servers.</p> |
| | 70 | |
| | 71 | <p>In conclusion to my internship and the year 2020, it's safe to say |
| | 72 | that this year has been an eventful year for many people, including |
| | 73 | myself. I started my internship with the tech team back in May, and |
| | 74 | as a graduate student at the time, I was expecting a reasonable and |
| | 75 | balanced workload for my work on my thesis over the coming months. |
| | 76 | However, early on (less than two weeks) into my internship I learned |
| | 77 | that due to a number of reasons, I needed to complete my master's |
| | 78 | studies on a two-month deadline. I told the tech team about the |
| | 79 | issue, asking whether I could take a hiatus to complete my studies |
| | 80 | without affecting my internship. I am beyond thankful to the tech |
| | 81 | team and the FSF as whole for being accommodating, and for their |
| | 82 | flexibility in allowing me to take a leave to focus on writing my |
| | 83 | thesis and wrapping up my master's studies. I managed to successfully |
| | 84 | wrap up my studies in that short timeline, and focus on my internship |
| | 85 | afterwards.</p> |
| | 86 | |
| | 87 | <p>However, all good things must come to an end, and this internship |
| | 88 | is no exception. I am incredibly grateful to the members of the FSF |
| | 89 | tech team — Ian, Andrew, Ruben, and Michael — for |
| | 90 | welcoming me to the team as an intern and mentoring me, answering my |
| | 91 | many questions, and helping me learn more. It has been an honour and |
| | 92 | a wonderful experience for me all around working with you all and |
| | 93 | seeing the energy and passion with which you take on the work and |
| | 94 | responsibilities that come with being an FSF sysadmin and Web |
| | 95 | developer. While most of my interactions were with the tech team, I |
| | 96 | also got to interact with FSF staffers from several other teams during |
| | 97 | my internship, and I'm thankful for our conversations and the chance |
| | 98 | to get to know and appreciate the important work you do.</p> |
| | 99 | |
| | 100 | <p>This internship has come to an end, but I will carry with me all of |
| | 101 | the good memories and the lessons I learned along the way, and will |
| | 102 | happily to continue working with you as a volunteer. The things I |
| | 103 | learned have been invaluable and greatly helpful to me, as I |
| | 104 | transitioned into my new full-time job at Savoir-faire Linux as a Free |
| | 105 | Software Consultant, where I get to work on various parts and aspects |
| | 106 | of Jami, a GNU package for universal communication which respects the |
| | 107 | freedoms and privacy of its users.</p> |
| | 108 | |
| | 109 | <p>I would like to thank the FSF for providing me this excellent |
| | 110 | opportunity to work alongside the tech team as an intern, and take |
| | 111 | away so many valuable lessons and great memories.</p> |
| | 112 | |
| | 113 | <p class="box">Interested in interning for the Free Software |
| | 114 | Foundation? The application period for spring 2021 internships is |
| | 115 | currently open. Please see |
| | 116 | <a href="https://www.fsf.org/volunteer/internships">https://www.fsf.org/volunteer/internships</a> |
| | 117 | for more details and information on how to apply!</p> |
| | 118 | |
| | 119 | <hr /> |
| | 120 | <p id="copy">Copyright © 2020 bandali</p> |
| | 121 | <p id="license">Copying and distribution of this file, with or without |
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| | 123 | copyright notice and this notice are preserved. This file is offered |
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