This is my personal blog, where I talk about everything and nothing.
Me and Free/Open Source Software
In 2004 I was introduced to the concepts of Free Software and Open Source. At the time I was studying Software Engineering and came across the writings of Stallman. Reading his thoughts I became convinced that the four freedoms offer an important ethical framework for software developers.
Under the guise of talk the talk, walk the walk I started solely running Free Software on top of a well known proprietary operating system and by dual booting into (GNU/)Linux over the next few years I gradually kicked the habit. I started using Linux in 2005 and since April 2007 Linux has been my main operating system (specifically Ubuntu).
My Contributions
Begrudgingly I have to admit that over the last few years I’ve been mostly slacking/procrastinating. However, here’s some things I’ve done:
- I’ve been a member of the Ubuntu Forums since June 2006 and have answered a great many questions (+/- 200).
- I’ve been involved in the RabbitVCS project since late 2006 / early 2007. However, the application hasn’t been actively developed for all those years.
- Early 2009 I updated and reorganized the Nautilus wiki. The developers liked my work so much they forwarded the non-maintained website to the wiki. I also help out from time to time on the Nautilus mailing list and the IRC channel (mostly with questions related to extension development).
- I’ve been working on an idea for a time/life management application. I maintain the specification at GNOME Live! under the codename Project Monkey (it’s a bit outdated now).
Me and music
I’d categorize my current taste as upbeat alternative indie folklore-power pop soft rock with mostly female vocalists. Check out my Last.fm profile for an up-to-date overview of music I listen to (or my Last.fm Library).
Some of the artists/bands I like are 10,000 Maniacs (Natalie Merchant), Architecture in Helsinki, Ani DiFranco, Belle and Sebastian, Camera Obscura, Dar Williams, Hole (Courtney Love), Ladytron, Neko Case, Metric, Rainer Maria, Regina Spektor, Rilo Kiley, Stars, The Sundays, Suzanne Vega and Tegan and Sara.
Me and books
While I’m a big fan of sharing knowledge, I don’t tend to read a lot of books (those with lots of pages). Instead I mostly watch documentaries (independent, PBS Frontline, SBS Dateline etc.), presentations (TED, FORA.tv or whatever I stumble upon) and read articles (blogposts mostly).
Besides a bunch of technical and well known self-help books, the only book I own is The Cathedral & the Bazaar. However, there are a couple of other books I have sitting on my disk, but I can’t honestly say I’ve read them. These are:
- “Democratizing Innovation”, Eric von Hippel
- “Hacking the field”, Elgin Blankwater (this is actually a thesis paper)
- “Lifetracing: The Traces of a Networked Life online at Networked”, Anne Helmond
- “The Art of Community”, Jono Bacon
- (dutch) “Handboek Communities”, Erwin Blom
More about me
If you want to see my technical skills see the skills page.
My Identi.ca profile probably gives you a good look into the things I’m thinking about. You could also take a look at my StumbleUpon profile.
If you’re interested in seeing what software I personally run see my stacks over at Ohloh.