Who I am

Hi, I'm a long time Kubuntu user who has decided it is time to step up to help the distribution/flavour that has been of such benefit to me over the years.

Kubuntu's strap-line is "Kubuntu, making your PC friendly" and I see this as a core aim of the project, and something to always aim to improve on.

My Kubuntu story

I started using Linux/Unix at University, and carried on using Linux/Unix for post-grad research. I have also used desktop Linux such as Suse - Mandrake - Mandriva over the years.

After the Mandriva 'disappearance' I switched to Kubuntu, and have never regretted that move.

At the very end on 2015 I popped onto the #kubuntu-dev IRC channel to report some issues with new plasma in the ppas, and progressively from then chatted more with the Kubuntu team and got involved in first testing, and than packaging and other aspects of development.

My involvement

Areas of work

Kubuntu packaging

• Determining and making fixes for packages in the Kubuntu CI (continuous integration) system, fixing automatic branch merges made by the CI when required, and generally triggering and pausing jobs to ease the smooth running of the CI. Now in recent months, administering the Kubuntu CI, backporting and adding new build dependencies (inc. Qt).

• Determining, making and uploading fixes for staged releases of KDE Frameworks, Plasma & Applications in the Kubuntu ppas.

• Reviewing and carrying out merges proposed against the Kubuntu packaging git repositories.
• Staging bugfix and version updates of frameworks and plasma and applications.
• Backported builds of Qt to Kubuntu ppas prior to the landing of this Qt version in Ubuntu. This allowed the team to start working on the staging of dependent KDE versions (e.g. Plasma 5.7.x). Also added to the KCI to allow upstream builds to continue.
• Attending Kubuntu Ninja Packaging Dojos.
• Made member of Kubuntu Ninja packaging team on 2016-07-05.

• My list of package uploads.

Testing & bug reports

• Running the development version of Kubuntu on my main machine in order to test and understand the evolution of the user experience, and investigate issues.
• Reporting, confirming and testing for bug reports; both in Kubuntu and upstream to KDE.

• Testing on PC, laptop and various virtual machines newly staged versions of Frameworks, Plasma & Applications, and then continuing to test and report issues once these reach the landing ppas.

• Testing of daily ISOs for function and install.
• Testing of candidate ISOs for milestone releases (e.g. Xenial 16.04.1)

Things I could do better

• My base coding skills could be improved. C++/Python namely
• Better knowledge of autopackagetests
• Really need to get to grips with copyright files

Plans for the future

• Continue to increase my knowledge and skill base.
• Try to work better with, and perhaps contribute to, other projects. For example KDE (including Neon) and Debian.
• I would like to help Kubuntu regain some (perceived) lost ground, and get it back to being more of the 'goto' KDE Linux distribution.

What I like least in K/Ubuntu

To be frank, the limitations imposed by the release cycle and it's freezes and debian imports/syncs. This is a tough issue to make significant improvement on, but things like:

• making sure we are as up to date as possible in our work.
• giving a good offing of updates via the ppas, or archive when possible.
• talking and cooperating with upstream (KDE/debian) or other projects such as Neon, to help them and us progress better and quicker.
• maybe examine other delivery methods for applications that are otherwise problematic to provide as always up to date. e.g. via snaps, flatpak etc.

can certainly help greatly.

Comments

If you'd like to comment, but are not the applicant or a sponsor, do it here. Don't forget to sign with @SIG@.

I'm very happy to see Rik step up and apply for Kubuntu Developer. Since he first began contributing, he's cheerfully picked up whatever jobs needed doing, asking for help or explanations along the way if needed. That is so refreshing. In addition, Rik worked and still works with everybody, including the Plasma and Neon teams.

Rik knows that becoming a Kubuntu Developer will help the project, so he's applying. That is awesome. -- valorie-zimmerman 2017-01-06 03:21:10

Rik has been a HUGE help and supportive member of the Kubuntu Community in everything from tech support to development. He has an amazing work ethic and works with very well with many teams in and out of the Ubuntu and KDE community.

-- aaronhoneycutt -- aaronhoneycutt 2017-01-06 05:26:06

Endorsements

As a sponsor, just copy the template below, fill it out and add it to this section.

Clive Johnston

General feedback

I have worked very closely with Rik before and since being accepted as a Kubuntu Developer myself, in October 2016. To date, I have sponsored packages from KDE Frameworks and Plasma, and we are currently working on KDE Applications 16.12. Rik is extremely conscience regarding his work and often pulls me up on some of mine! I fully trust his decision making process and the conclusions he reaches. If he is unsure about anything, he will ask others and will only proceed when in posession of all facts and factors.

Specific Experiences of working together

Rik and Santa worked well together in getting Yakkety released and out the door. Since then Rik has worked hard on the development branch 17.04, codenamed Zesty Zapus. He has also been heavily involved in moving the Kubuntu Continuous Integration (KCI) server to a new, faster server, a task that he has learned a lot and I think secretly enjoyed

Rik has also been involved with helping users via bug reports and online forums, often trying to replicate the issue and then researching a fix. His ability to investigate problems never ceases to amaze me.

A list of Rik's uploads can be found here - https://launchpad.net/~rikmills/+uploaded-packages

Areas of Improvement

I can't think of any area of improvement, only suggest that he keeps doing what he has been doing, learning new things and passing them on to the team. One area we are all lacking in is proper and up-to-date documentation, something that needs to be looked at and some progress made on.

-- clivejo 2017-01-03 21:31:12

TEMPLATE

== <SPONSORS NAME> ==
=== General feedback ===
## Please fill us in on your shared experience. (How many packages did you sponsor? How would you judge the quality? How would you describe the improvements? Do you trust the applicant?)

=== Specific Experiences of working together ===
''Please add good examples of your work together, but also cases that could have handled better.''
## Full list of sponsored packages can be generated here:
## http://ubuntu-dev.alioth.debian.org/cgi-bin/ubuntu-sponsorships.cgi?
=== Areas of Improvement ===