Issue21 / NicolasValcárcel

Age: 24

Location: Lima - Perú

IRC Nick: nxvl

How long have you used Linux, and what was your first distro?

4 or 5 years ago, I started with RedHat. I tried it for a few months, then I started testing a lot of distros (Gentoo, Fedora, Conectiva, Mandrake), and finally found Debian, which I used for almost a year until Ubuntu shows up. Then I switched and never left the distro.

How long have you been using Ubuntu?

Since Warty Warthog.

When did you get involved with the MOTU team, and how?

Almost a year ago. I always wanted to contribute back to the FOSS Community doing some developments, and, since I was an Ubuntu user, one day I came into the web page, then saw the “Get involved” link, clicked on it, and that was the point of no return. I started doing some merges on the early Hardy release cycle, and then got involved on the server team, where I've been doing most of my work lately.

What helped you learn packaging and how Ubuntu teams work?

I started reading the packaging guide. Recipes was also a good help, but the key to my learning process was the MOTU community - I find a lot of lovely and helpful people that were always there to answer my questions; my lovely sponsors, who, with a lot of patience, checked my patches and pointed out my errors and/or best practices on how to solve things. There is where I really learned about the Ubuntu work.

What’s your favorite part of working with the MOTU?

That it's a huggy community!! All the people involved are helpful, lovely, and don’t hesitate in showing their love. They also can point out your errors in a really polite way, but they will also tell you when you do good work, and I find that awesome.

Any advice for people wanting to help out MOTU?

Jump in now! “I will do it tomorrow” is a lie. If you want to start helping, start now, why wait until tomorrow? You will find a lot of helpful people who can guide you on your process. I swear it would be an awesome experience.

Are you involved with any local Linux/Ubuntu groups?

Yes! I’m part of the Peruvian LoCo Council where I try to get more people involved on the Ubuntu development; giving some talks in local conferences when I can.

What are you going to focus on in Intrepid?

I’ve been working on Server Usability, namely easier ways to manage your servers, since there is a big barrier for Windows sysadmins to switch to Linux. But, as it is hard work (and actually a lot), and I don’t have the free time I hoped for, it won’t be ready for Intrepid, but we already have some of the pieces getting into shape!

What do you do in your other spare time?

Spare time? What’s that? I actually work at PriceWaterhouseCoopers as an intern (I used to be senior consultant in the past on a full time job). I’m also finishing at university, and have a wonderful girlfriend who takes almost all of my free time :P. I also love to hang out with my friends, having some beers and stuff, and, on Summers, I love to go to the beach and surf when I can, but there is not a lot of other spare time for me now!