I, Amin Bandali, apply for core-dev.

I am applying because:

• I regularly work on packages across the Ubuntu archive as a member of Canonical's Desktop Team. Becoming a core-dev would allow me to upload all kinds of desktop-related packages across the Ubuntu archive, not just the subset I have access to as a member of ~ubuntu-desktop (which excludes most packages in the desktop-core set). It would also allow me to work directly on the other packages I work on and/or maintain upstream of Ubuntu in Debian.

• I'd like to eliminate delays in getting my work sponsored.
• I'd like to reduce the burden on my sponsors.

Who I am

I'm Amin Bandali (or just bandali) and I'm a computing scientist and activist for user freedom by passion and a software developer/engineer by profession as a Software Engineer on the Desktop Team at Canonical.

I am an Ubuntu Developer (via ~ubuntu-desktop) and a Debian Developer.

My Ubuntu story

I first tried Ubuntu as a teenager in the late 2000s (I believe it was 9.04), and started using it regularly not very long after. Since then I've used Debian, Ubuntu, and many of their derivatives among other distros. I first contributed to Debian in 2020 and have since become a Debian Developer working on the maintenance of GNOME applications and libraries as a member of the Debian GNOME team, among other packages and teams. I've additionally been working on and contributing directly to Ubuntu as well since starting at Canonical in November 2022.

My involvement

Examples of my work / Things I'm proud of

Below are lists of desktop and non-desktop packages I've worked on both directly in Ubuntu and upstream in Debian.

• merges/syncs: many, see below
• transitions: notably poppler 23.08 and 24.02
• firefox security updates: many, see below

• +1 rotations: here, here, here

• MIRs: LP: #1997417

desktop set

Ubuntu (sponsored for me):

Ubuntu (uploaded by me, no sponsor):

Debian (both sponsored and direct uploads):

non-desktop

Ubuntu (sponsored for me):

Debian (both sponsored and direct uploads):

firefox deb security updates for bionic and focal

Firefox deb security uploads sponsored for me primarily by 0xnishit:

Areas of work

As part of Canonical's Desktop Team, I've worked a lot on/around desktop-related packages. For my work on Firefox, I've collaborated mainly with ricotz, 0xnishit, and seb128, as well as several folks from Mozilla. For my merges/syncs (see above), transitions (notably, poppler 23.08 and 24.02), and +1 rotations I've worked primarily with jbicha and seb128.

Upstream of Ubuntu, I'm a Debian Developer and I've worked on many packages across the Debian archive as a member of several Debian packaging teams, including the Debian GNOME team where I've helped maintain several GNOME applications and libraries used in Debian's default GNOME-based desktop as well as the Ubuntu desktop.

Things I could do better

I can be somewhat shy about asking for help when faced with a difficult challenge/problem, so I'd like to do better at asking for help or hints earlier than I currently do at times.

Plans for the future

General

I would like to further expand my activities beyond ~ubuntu-desktop. As a Debian Developer, I work on different areas of Debian and by extension Ubuntu already, but I would like to be able to upload my work on those things directly in Ubuntu itself as well.

What I like least in Ubuntu

Having worked on Ubuntu as a contributor and later as an Ubuntu Developer, I've found that developer documentation is a bit all over the place, sometimes inaccessible and hard to find, or severely outdated. I've done a few small things here and there to improve the situation a bit, but there's still much to be done. So I plan on continuing working towards those improvements.

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@.

Endorsements

Jeremy Bícha

I have had the pleasure of working alongside Amin for more than a year on Canonical's Desktop Team. Although his primary responsiblity is maintaining Firefox in Ubuntu, I have seen him go significantly beyond that. Last year, he earned Debian Developer and Ubuntu Desktop upload rights. He continues to work on packages beyond the Ubuntu Desktop set including both universe packages (like evolution) and main packages (like poppler and gst-plugins-good1.0). I am confident that Amin has the technical ability to do .deb packaging across the entire Ubuntu archive and the understanding of Ubuntu processes to do so effectively. -- jbicha 2024-03-21 15:21:09

Ken VanDine

I've had the opportunity to work on Amin on a regular basis, primarily regarding snaps. Amin has done a great job working on the Firefox snap, he's thorough, diligent, and reliable. Firefox is a very high profile snap, seeded as part of Ubuntu Desktop and his work to keep firefox building on all architectures, working as expected, and continuously improving has been impeccable.

I haven't directly sponsored any of his debian packaging work, but I have witnessed the impact he's had there and trust he will continue to contribute in a meaningful way. He understands the Ubuntu processes and has a strong desire to continue to improve the Ubuntu ecosystem. I am confident that Amin is ready for core-dev, take the responsibility seriously and will utilize it to continue to improve Ubuntu. -- ken-vandine 2024-04-08 15:48:21

Sebastien Bacher

I've been working with Amin since Octobre 2022 and I reviewed or sponsored his work on regular basis. During this time Amin has acquired a solid knowledge of Debian packaging and Ubuntu processes. He got uploads right for Debian and for the Ubuntu Desktop set but has been contributing also to other parts of the Ubuntu archive, working on soname transition for poppler for example or stepping in to help on +1 rotations. The changes I'm sponsoring for him are usually right and show his attention to detail. Amin also knows to ask questions to other teams members when he's in doubt about something. I think he's ready to join coredev.

Nishit Majithia

Since November 2022, Amin has been closely working Ubuntu Security team, specifically as a Firefox maintainer. My position as a security engineer has allowed me to closely collaborate with Amin on the sponsorship of Firefox debs (bionic and focal) for Ubuntu.

Amin's contributions have been vital in guaranteeing that Ubuntu users receive timely security updates and bug fixes. Based on his significant contributions and commendable work with the Canonical Security team, I wholeheartedly endorse Amin's candidacy for the role of Ubuntu Contributing Developer. -- 0xnishit

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

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:
##  https://udd.debian.org/cgi-bin/ubuntu-sponsorships.cgi

=== Areas of Improvement ===

CategoryCoreDevApplication