User:Knurpht
About Me edit
This is me (Dit ben ik)
Male, born in 1960, living in Groningen, Netherlands. I've often described myself as a linux guitarist. Music is my passion, linux has become love.
Background
In the very past I studied history, worked as a nurse, had some odd jobs. End of the eighties I was trained to be a COBOL programmer, never found a job that way, and never touched a line of COBOL again. But it gave me some basic programming skills. In the nineties I worked with and on UNIX System V, and met students that were using linux. That's where I first heard about open source, that's where I first met the disadvantages of closed sources. After years of giving bits of support here and there, helping out on webistes etc, I started my own one man company in 2007, providing open source solutions.
Me and linux
I started playing around with linuces somewhere in 1997/1998, RedHat at first, SuSE from 6.(?) if I remember correctly. From 2001 me, and my family, completely rely on SuSE, openSUSE for our computer work and hobbies. I can say I did not miss a single release. There have been worse, good and better ones, I tried other distro's, always kept openSUSE. I feel grateful to have seen it all coming and developping, almost the same as watching your children grow up.
....the Forums
A couple of years ago I found some reasons to concentrate my activities to give back to the open source world, can't remember what reasons, anyway I decided to stick to forums.opensuse.org. I'm by no means a specialist, but I know my way around in openSUSE and try to give others the support I received myself. My profile: I know a little bit about a lot of things; stack the little bits, and it's a pile. Comfortly browsing the forums on 1st of februari 2010, I was suddenly invited to join the forum team as a Global Moderator, which I accepted. One of the things I achieved on request of some dutch forum members was the founding of dutch language subforums under the roof of forums.opensuse.org
openSUSE Weekly News
Since the end of 2010 I started contributing to the openSUSE Weekly News, by publishing a selection of threads from the forums, that deserve broader attention. Unfortunately the weekly issues stopped in 2013.
Current Activities
To promote openSUSE in the Netherlands a couple of us enthusiasts started out organizing launch parties, doing live installs, presentations. Furthermore I co-moderate a couple of openSUSE's social media pages, the forums, follow a couple of mailing-list etc.
At the 2015/2016 Board Elections I was elected as an openSUSE Board Member. In 2018 I was re-elected for a second term. On the 31st of December 2020 for a third time. On the 31st of December the fourth time. Stepped down mid April 2024.
On Dec 19 2019 Maurizio Galli and me started the (openSUSE Bar) after chatting on our bridged Discrord/Matrix/Telegram. Resulting in the > 200h Release Party for Leap 15.3 ( see: https://twitter.com/knurpht/status/1403066334972317696)