openSUSE:Board election 2021 platform m4u
Platform
Introduction and Biography
Contact Details edit
- Email: mauriziogalli at opensuse.org
- Discord: m4u
- Telegram: @m4u_9
- IRC: m4u on libera.chat
- Twitter: @mauriziogalli
- My openSUSE Userpage
Hi! I'm Maurizio and I live in Hong Kong. People call me 'Mau' for short, which translates as 'cat' in Chinese. Online, and across the different parts of the project, I use the alias of 'm4u'(or maug). I am 37, born and raised in the warm and sunny southern part of Switzerland, and I moved to Hong Kong 10 years ago, working as a wine merchant and in the restaurant business. Having been a Linux hobbyist and contributor as well, this year culminated with my decision for a career change, which lead me recently to be employed at SUSE as a maintenance engineer.
My main contribution to the openSUSE Project has been as one of the maintainers and packagers of Xfce in openSUSE since 2018. In short, I've helped to polish defaults, add new packages and create Live and Virtual Machine images. In addition, I help out where I can, such as fixing bugs, other technicalities of the distributions, and also in the community work by moderating the openSUSE Discord server.
For those who are curious, I've got a more detailed bio in my wiki page or on my Connect profile.
Thoughts and Goals
When I first joined the openSUSE community, I was encouraged by how easy it is to make a mark and see the direct impact of your contribution to the distributions and the project overall. It's this kind of positive energy that makes the strength of the project.
Beside the publicly stated Board objectives that I agree with, I'd like to add of some my own which motivate me:
- Inspire newcomers: The board is the one body that should work hard to inspire the members of the community to bring the project forward, and also motivate new users to make big or small contributions, to improve the different areas of the project. Knowing that someone's work can have a meaningful contribution to the Project, will create a positive cycle and help the entire project grow.
- Leave a mark: Through my work with Xfce, I came across developers from other distributions. Although openSUSE tends to get positive feedback, way too often the awesome technologies like OBS and Kiwi fly under the radar and the distributions are overlooked. In order to have contributors we need better awareness, which could be achieved by Board representatives having a bigger presence on different platforms such as podcasts.
- Restore faith in the Geeko: The last year or two have been rocky with a number of dramas which I believe discouraged many contributors in the openSUSE Project and also had an impact on its reputation. It made me realize that communities need to be kept in good health because although technology is cool, we also depend on the community working together as people, in spite of individual differences. As part of the board, I would like us to be more proactive in engaging with the community.
Why you should vote for me?
- I deeply care about the future of the project and its people
- I work hard to achieve my goals and I have a track record of getting things done
- I have experience in community work and I'm easily reachable online.
- I love interacting with community members, offering help to resolve issues or "recruit" contributors ;)
- I hope to give our Asian communities a representation in governance of the Project and give more visibility to their invaluable contributions.
Endorsements
If you have any, please leave them below, you have my gratitude.
Jens <karatekhd@opensuse.org>: I fully support Mau's candidacy for the Board. Since he is a "bar-goer", I had the pleasure of spending some time with him. Maurizio is friendly and helpful, he has done a lot for the project, which is why I think he is an excellent fit for the board. Good luck!