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[~bandali/bndl.org] / 2020 / 05 / 29 / fsf-internship-intro.html
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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>
23on May 29, 2020 <small>(also
24in <a href="fsf-internship-intro.txt">plain text</a>)</small></p>
25
26<p class="box">Originally published on the Free Software Foundation's
27sysadmin blog:<br />
28<a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/introducing-bandali-intern-with-the-fsf-tech-team">Introducing
29Amin 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
32interwebs. I wear a few different hats around GNU as a maintainer,
33webmaster, and Savannah hacker, and I'm very excited to be extending
34that to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as an intern with the FSF
35tech team for spring 2020.</p>
36
37<p>Growing up around parents with backgrounds in computer engineering
38and programming, it did not take long for me to find an interest in
39tinkering and playing with computers as a kid, and I first came into
40contact with GNU/Linux in my teenage years. My first introduction to
41the world of free software came a few years later, when a friend
42kindly pointed out to me that what I had vaguely known and referred to
43as "open source" software is more properly referred to as free
44software, 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
47about and absorbing the ideas and ideals of free software, I have
48since become a free software activist. As a computer scientist who
49enjoys studying and hacking on various programs and sometimes writing
50my own, I have made a point of releasing all I can under strong
51copyleft licenses, particularly the
52<a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html">GNU AGPL</a>
53license.</p>
54
55<p>My involvement with the <a href="https://www.gnu.org">GNU
56Project</a> started in 2016, first as a volunteer webmaster, and later
57as one of the maintainers of
58<a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuzilla/">GNUzilla and
59IceCat</a> late last year. Also around the same time, I led a group
60of volunteers in organizing and holding
61<a href="https://emacsconf.org/2019">EmacsConf 2019</a> as a
62completely online conference, using only free software tools, much
63like the excellent
64<a href="https://libreplanet.org/wiki/LibrePlanet:Conference/2020">LibrePlanet
652020</a>. I love <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/">GNU
66Emacs</a>, and use it more than any other program. GNU Emacs helps me
67do a wide variety of tasks such as programming, reading and composing
68emails, and chatting via IRC.</p>
69
70<p>More closely related to my internship with the FSF tech team, I
71have been familiarizing myself with various pieces of the
72<a href="https://savannah.gnu.org">GNU Savannah</a> infrastructure
73with help from veteran Savannah hacker Bob Proulx, gradually learning
74and picking up tasks helping with the administration and maintenance
75of Savannah. I am also a member of the Systems Committee of my
76university's computer science club, overseeing and maintaining a large
77fleet of GNU/Linux servers for our club members.</p>
78
79<p>For my internship with the Free Software Foundation, I will be
80working with the FSF tech team on a number of tasks, including helping
81with
82the <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/coming-soon-a-new-site-for-fully-free-collaboration">free
83software forge</a> project, as well as various improvements for
84gnu.org. I look forward to learning many new things and picking up
85valuable skills through my internship with the FSF's exceptional tech
86team, who do <em>so much</em> for the GNU project and the wider free
87software community.</p>
88
89<hr />
90<p id="copy">Copyright &copy; 2020 bandali</p>
91<p id="license">Copying and distribution of this file, with or without
92modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the
93copyright notice and this notice are preserved. This file is offered
94as-is, without any warranty.</p>
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