Ubuntu Wiki

About Me

I was born in Italy but have been living in Germany for the last 15 years. I've got a degree in Computer Science, have been using Linux-based operating systems since about 1997 and currently work as an administrator and software developer for a supercomputing facility run by the german government.

My first Ubuntu installation was most likely 5.10, I remember creating my Launchpad account shortly after that.

Things I do for Ubuntu

Community

• I helped run Ubucon Germany 2015 in Berlin, sponsored my own travel there, gave a talk about "Linux and Supercomputing" and ran a tutorial on Blender, the 3D modelling and animation software.
• I currently help organize Ubucon Europe 2016 in Berlin.

• I "invented" and organized UbuContest, a community-run contest with prizes for Ubuntu Phone apps/scopes and community members who have contributed in an "outstanding way". I sponsored a bq Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition phone, the winner announcement was a live show on the Ubuntu Community Q&A Hangout and we had a whole award ceremony at Ubucon Germany 2015 in Berlin with international guests.

• I plan to start working on UbuContest 2016 soon.

• I created advertisement videos for Ubucon Germany 2015 and the "Monster Wars" and "Falldown" Ubuntu phone games.
• I plan to give a talk at Ubucon in Paris in a couple of weeks.
• I plan to attend a couple of other community events in the near future.

Development

• I own several desktops, laptops, servers, phones and tablets running various stable and unstable releases of Ubuntu, and provide feedback.
• I became an Ubuntu Pioneer for uploading one of the first 200 apps to the Ubuntu Phone store and have currently published ten apps on the store.
• I became an Ubuntu Phone Insider and provide feedback on development and stable releases. I currently own a bq Aquaris E4.5, a Meizu MX4 (sponsored by Canonical) and a Nexus 4 for testing.
• I wrote various article series about internals of Ubuntu Touch and the bq/Meizu phones on my blog.

• I provided feedback and design proposals for core phone APIs and features like WiFi, Bluetooth, Lifecycle Management etc.

• I created a series of templates for various phone application types, e.g. for HTML5 and Python.

• I have extensive knowledge about technical things and how to debug stuff properly.

Support

• I often hang out on various channels (currently IRC, Telegram, and G+) and give support to users and developers.
• I report and comment on Launchpad bugs and filter through hundreds of Launchpad bug e-mails a week to stay on top of phone development.

Future Work

• While running UbuContest I found out that I actually like Design work and I would like to contribute work in this area for Ubucon Europe.

• I have about ten more phone applications ready to be finished as soon as the necessary APIs are available.
• I have a few ideas for other applications that I would like to see developed and might even port some of those.

Room for Improvement

There are areas where I'd like to improve myself and my own knowledge:-

• Write more blog articles again.
• Learn to go to sleep at normal hours.

Testimonials

Sujeevan Vijayakumaran (svij)

I know Simon since the beginning of this year 2015. First, we only discussed some Ubuntu Phone stuff, later on he became one of the Ubuntu Phone Insider. Since then he started collaborating with me and some other folks in the German LoCo to organize the UbuContest. While he initially only wanted give away one of his Ubuntu Phones, we quickly got the support from Canonical to make a bigger UbuContest and also advertise the Ubucon Germany at the same time. At the event itself he helped us out and also did some talks. For the future UbuCon Europe, he already raised some good ideas in our organisation group. I look forward to continue to work with him, both in the UbuCon organisation and also as part of the ubuntu phone insider.

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