git.shemshak.org - ~bandali/bndl.org/blob - 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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   7 <p>Originally published on the Free Software Foundation's sysadmin
   8 blog:<br/>
   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
  61 working with the FSF tech team on a number of tasks, including helping
  62 with
  63 the <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/coming-soon-a-new-site-for-fully-free-collaboration">free
  64 software forge</a> project, as well as various improvements for
  65 gnu.org.  I look forward to learning many new things and picking up
  66 valuable skills through my internship with the FSF's exceptional tech
  67 team, who do <em>so much</em> for the GNU project and the wider free
  68 software community.</p>
  69
  70 define(__copy, `2020')dnl
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