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.
In 2021 Maurizio Galli and 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)