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| 21 | <h1>Internship with the FSF tech team</h1> |
| 22 | <p>by <a href="https://bndl.org"><b>bandali</b></a> |
| 23 | on 29 May 2020 <small>(also |
| 24 | in <a href="fsf-internship-intro.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/introducing-bandali-intern-with-the-fsf-tech-team">Introducing |
| 29 | Amin Bandali, intern with the FSF tech team</a></p> |
| 30 | |
| 31 | <p>Hi there, I'm Amin Bandali, often just <code>bandali</code> on the |
| 32 | interwebs. I wear a few different hats around GNU as a maintainer, |
| 33 | webmaster, and Savannah hacker, and I'm very excited to be extending |
| 34 | that to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as an intern with the FSF |
| 35 | tech team for spring 2020.</p> |
| 36 | |
| 37 | <p>Growing up around parents with backgrounds in computer engineering |
| 38 | and programming, it did not take long for me to find an interest in |
| 39 | tinkering and playing with computers as a kid, and I first came into |
| 40 | contact with GNU/Linux in my teenage years. My first introduction to |
| 41 | the world of free software came a few years later, when a friend |
| 42 | kindly pointed out to me that what I had vaguely known and referred to |
| 43 | as "open source" software is more properly referred to as free |
| 44 | software, and helped me see |
| 45 | <a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">why |
| 46 | "open source" misses the point of free software</a>. After learning |
| 47 | about and absorbing the ideas and ideals of free software, I have |
| 48 | since become a free software activist. As a computer scientist who |
| 49 | enjoys studying and hacking on various programs and sometimes writing |
| 50 | my own, I have made a point of releasing all I can under strong |
| 51 | copyleft licenses, particularly the |
| 52 | <a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html">GNU AGPL</a> |
| 53 | license.</p> |
| 54 | |
| 55 | <p>My involvement with the <a href="https://www.gnu.org">GNU |
| 56 | Project</a> started in 2016, first as a volunteer webmaster, and later |
| 57 | as one of the maintainers of |
| 58 | <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuzilla/">GNUzilla and |
| 59 | IceCat</a> late last year. Also around the same time, I led a group |
| 60 | of volunteers in organizing and holding |
| 61 | <a href="https://emacsconf.org/2019">EmacsConf 2019</a> as a |
| 62 | completely online conference, using only free software tools, much |
| 63 | like the excellent |
| 64 | <a href="https://libreplanet.org/wiki/LibrePlanet:Conference/2020">LibrePlanet |
| 65 | 2020</a>. I love <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/">GNU |
| 66 | Emacs</a>, and use it more than any other program. GNU Emacs helps me |
| 67 | do a wide variety of tasks such as programming, reading and composing |
| 68 | emails, and chatting via IRC.</p> |
| 69 | |
| 70 | <p>More closely related to my internship with the FSF tech team, I |
| 71 | have been familiarizing myself with various pieces of the |
| 72 | <a href="https://savannah.gnu.org">GNU Savannah</a> infrastructure |
| 73 | with help from veteran Savannah hacker Bob Proulx, gradually learning |
| 74 | and picking up tasks helping with the administration and maintenance |
| 75 | of Savannah. I am also a member of the Systems Committee of my |
| 76 | university's computer science club, overseeing and maintaining a large |
| 77 | fleet of GNU/Linux servers for our club members.</p> |
| 78 | |
| 79 | <p>For my internship with the Free Software Foundation, I will be |
| 80 | working with the FSF tech team on a number of tasks, including helping |
| 81 | with |
| 82 | the <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/coming-soon-a-new-site-for-fully-free-collaboration">free |
| 83 | software forge</a> project, as well as various improvements for |
| 84 | gnu.org. I look forward to learning many new things and picking up |
| 85 | valuable skills through my internship with the FSF's exceptional tech |
| 86 | team, who do <em>so much</em> for the GNU project and the wider free |
| 87 | software community.</p> |
| 88 | |
| 89 | <hr /> |
| 90 | <p id="copy">Copyright © 2020 bandali</p> |
| 91 | <p id="license">Copying and distribution of this file, with or without |
| 92 | modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the |
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