[~bandali/bndl.org] / 2020 / 05 / 29 / fsf-internship-intro.html

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<h1>Internship with the FSF tech team</h1>
<p>by <a href="https://bndl.org"><b>bandali</b></a>
on May 29, 2020 <small>(also
in <a href="fsf-internship-intro.txt">plain text</a>)</small></p>

<p class="box">Originally published on the Free Software Foundation's
sysadmin blog:<br />
<a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/introducing-bandali-intern-with-the-fsf-tech-team">Introducing
Amin Bandali, intern with the FSF tech team</a></p>

<p>Hi there, I'm Amin Bandali, often just <code>bandali</code> on the
interwebs.  I wear a few different hats around GNU as a maintainer,
webmaster, and Savannah hacker, and I'm very excited to be extending
that to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as an intern with the FSF
tech team for spring 2020.</p>

<p>Growing up around parents with backgrounds in computer engineering
and programming, it did not take long for me to find an interest in
tinkering and playing with computers as a kid, and I first came into
contact with GNU/Linux in my teenage years.  My first introduction to
the world of free software came a few years later, when a friend
kindly pointed out to me that what I had vaguely known and referred to
as "open source" software is more properly referred to as free
software, and helped me see
<a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">why
"open source" misses the point of free software</a>.  After learning
about and absorbing the ideas and ideals of free software, I have
since become a free software activist.  As a computer scientist who
enjoys studying and hacking on various programs and sometimes writing
my own, I have made a point of releasing all I can under strong
copyleft licenses, particularly the
<a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html">GNU AGPL</a>
license.</p>

<p>My involvement with the <a href="https://www.gnu.org">GNU
Project</a> started in 2016, first as a volunteer webmaster, and later
as one of the maintainers of
<a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuzilla/">GNUzilla and
IceCat</a> late last year.  Also around the same time, I led a group
of volunteers in organizing and holding
<a href="https://emacsconf.org/2019">EmacsConf 2019</a> as a
completely online conference, using only free software tools, much
like the excellent
<a href="https://libreplanet.org/wiki/LibrePlanet:Conference/2020">LibrePlanet
2020</a>.  I love <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/">GNU
Emacs</a>, and use it more than any other program.  GNU Emacs helps me
do a wide variety of tasks such as programming, reading and composing
emails, and chatting via IRC.</p>

<p>More closely related to my internship with the FSF tech team, I
have been familiarizing myself with various pieces of the
<a href="https://savannah.gnu.org">GNU Savannah</a> infrastructure
with help from veteran Savannah hacker Bob Proulx, gradually learning
and picking up tasks helping with the administration and maintenance
of Savannah.  I am also a member of the Systems Committee of my
university's computer science club, overseeing and maintaining a large
fleet of GNU/Linux servers for our club members.</p>

<p>For my internship with the Free Software Foundation, I will be
working with the FSF tech team on a number of tasks, including helping
with
the <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/coming-soon-a-new-site-for-fully-free-collaboration">free
software forge</a> project, as well as various improvements for
gnu.org.  I look forward to learning many new things and picking up
valuable skills through my internship with the FSF's exceptional tech
team, who do <em>so much</em> for the GNU project and the wider free
software community.</p>

<hr />
<p id="copy">Copyright &copy; 2020 bandali</p>
<p id="license">Copying and distribution of this file, with or without
modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the
copyright notice and this notice are preserved.  This file is offered
as-is, without any warranty.</p>
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	2	<meta charset="utf-8" />
	3	<meta name="author" content="bandali" />
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	5	<title>Internship with the FSF tech team — bandali</title>
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	18	.box{background:#1b1d1e;border-color:#373c34;}}
	19	</style></head>
	20	<body>
	21	<h1>Internship with the FSF tech team</h1>
	22	<p>by <a href="https://bndl.org"><b>bandali</b></a>
	23	on May 29, 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
93	copyright notice and this notice are preserved. This file is offered
94	as-is, without any warranty.</p>
95	</body>
96	</html>