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-My internship with the FSF tech team and beyond
------------------------------------------------
-
- Originally published on the Free Software Foundation's sysadmin
- blog:
- https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/my-internship-with-the-fsf-tech-team-and-beyond
-
-Hello! I'm Amin Bandali, and this is my second blog post on the FSF
-sysadmin blog, concluding my internship with the FSF tech team this
-year.
-
-Throughout my internship with the tech team, I have worked mainly on
-sysadmin tasks related to setting up and/or managing FSF's GNU/Linux
-servers. Perhaps most significantly, I set up an instance of the
-Sourcehut[1] forge software to help evaluate[2] it as a candidate
-for the upcoming FSF forge project[3]. I documented the installation
-and setup process of Sourcehut's various components in the form of a
-literate GNU Emacs Org-mode file, where source blocks are interspersed
-with comments and prose explaining them. One can then progressively
-evaluate and execute the source blocks, and optionally have their
-results stored back in the Org file itself to help with
-documentation/demonstration.
-
-[1] https://sourcehut.org
-[2] https://libreplanet.org/wiki/FSF_2020_forge_evaluation
-[3] https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/coming-soon-a-new-site-for-fully-free-collaboration
-
-I have also been slowly working on various improvements for the server
-running www.gnu.org, and will continue doing work on it as a volunteer
-after the end of my internship. This will hopefully be beneficial to
-the FSF sysadmins running the server, the GNU webmasters who do
-webmastering work on gnu.org, and the general public browsing and
-using gnu.org's pages. Notably, changes included upgrading the server
-to the latest release of Trisquel GNU/Linux, and revamping and
-improving the search mechanism for gnu.org's pages. Additionally,
-there are several other projects that I would like to tackle with the
-tech team in the near future.
-
-During my internship with the FSF tech team, I picked up a variety of
-new skills and learned more about a diverse set of topics and tools.
-This included building and installing a complex piece of software like
-Sourcehut and debugging issues encountered along the way, using
-Ansible for managing and deploying infrastructure, as well as learning
-more about the Exim mail transfer agent used to run FSF and GNU's
-array of mail servers.
-
-In conclusion to my internship and the year 2020, it's safe to say
-that this year has been an eventful year for many people, including
-myself. I started my internship with the tech team back in May, and
-as a graduate student at the time, I was expecting a reasonable and
-balanced workload for my work on my thesis over the coming months.
-However, early on (less than two weeks) into my internship I learned
-that due to a number of reasons, I needed to complete my master's
-studies on a two-month deadline. I told the tech team about the
-issue, asking whether I could take a hiatus to complete my studies
-without affecting my internship. I am beyond thankful to the tech
-team and the FSF as whole for being accommodating, and for their
-flexibility in allowing me to take a leave to focus on writing my
-thesis and wrapping up my master's studies. I managed to successfully
-wrap up my studies in that short timeline, and focus on my internship
-afterwards.
-
-However, all good things must come to an end, and this internship is
-no exception. I am incredibly grateful to the members of the FSF tech
-team -- Ian, Andrew, Ruben, and Michael -- for welcoming me to the
-team as an intern and mentoring me, answering my many questions, and
-helping me learn more. It has been an honour and a wonderful
-experience for me all around working with you all and seeing the
-energy and passion with which you take on the work and
-responsibilities that come with being an FSF sysadmin and Web
-developer. While most of my interactions were with the tech team, I
-also got to interact with FSF staffers from several other teams during
-my internship, and I'm thankful for our conversations and the chance
-to get to know and appreciate the important work you do.
-
-This internship has come to an end, but I will carry with me all of
-the good memories and the lessons I learned along the way, and will
-happily to continue working with you as a volunteer. The things I
-learned have been invaluable and greatly helpful to me, as I
-transitioned into my new full-time job at Savoir-faire Linux as a Free
-Software Consultant, where I get to work on various parts and aspects
-of Jami, a GNU package for universal communication which respects the
-freedoms and privacy of its users.
-
-This internship has come to an end, but I will carry with me all of
-the good memories and the lessons I learned along the way, and will
-happily to continue working with you as a volunteer. The things I
-learned have been invaluable and greatly helpful to me, as I
-transitioned into my new full-time job at Savoir-faire Linux as a Free
-Software Consultant, where I get to work on various parts and aspects
-of Jami, a GNU package for universal communication which respects the
-freedoms and privacy of its users.
-
-I would like to thank the FSF for providing me this excellent
-opportunity to work alongside the tech team as an intern, and take
-away so many valuable lessons and great memories.
-
- Interested in interning for the Free Software Foundation?
- The application period for spring 2021 internships is currently
- open. Please see https://www.fsf.org/volunteer/internships for
- more details and information on how to apply!
-
-
- -*-
-
-Copyright (c) 2020 bandali
-
-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.
-
-published: 2020-12-18
-plain text: https://bndl.org/fsf-internship-beyond.txt
projects / ~bandali / bndl.org / blobdiff