[cab-discuss] OGB Nomination :: Glynn Foster

[Glynn Foster]

Hey,

Although it's probably widely know that I'm keen to run for the OGB this year, I
figured I'd actually follow up with an official post.


Glynn

==

Name:        Glynn Foster
Affiliation: Sun Microsystems (6+ years)
Email:       glynn.foster at sun.com


Background:
I'm not entirely sure how I managed to end up in Sun Microsystems. I suspect a
large proportion of it was nepotism (having had 2 brothers working there at the
time), but also the fact that it seemed like a cool company to work for. I
constantly listened to dinner time discussions, much to my parents disgust,
about what Sun was up to, and the fun times my brothers were having. I qualified
with a 1st Class Honors in Mathematics, from Trinity College, Dublin. Go figure.
I was originally intended to be an OpenOffice release manager, but fortunately
my intended boss was away on vacation for 3 weeks, and I got absorbed into the
desktop team under Leo Binchy, my current wonderful boss. The rest is history.

I maintain Planet OpenSolaris, write the OpenSolaris Weekly Summaries and bug
b*tch for whoever needs it.


Motivations:
Quite frankly, I believe I'm up to the job, willing to get my hands dirty, and
looking forward to continuing my involvement in the OpenSolaris project. I was
disgusted to have missed out on the year or more before the initial release, but
determined that my experience within the GNOME community can benefit the project
as a whole. I'm also looking forward to getting the opportunity to get to know a
whole host of people involved in the project in person - while the technology is
absolutely fabulous, it's the people that keep things interesting for me and I'd
like to help keeping that a fun place to be.

I'm currently a GNOME Foundation Board director and secretary. If nothing else,
I believe I can write good minutes. I've previously been on the GNOME Release
Team, Foundation Membership and Elections Committee, and 3 years board
experience. I've also had the misfortune of organizing the annual GNOME
conference in Dublin in 2003. My focus in GNOME, and the work that I'm
unofficially paid for, is to be a bridge between the GNOME community and Sun so
that both sides know what each other is doing. Preferably this bridge wouldn't
be necessary, and I'll be working to make sure it doesn't exist for OpenSolaris.


Gaps:
I have never built my own kernel. I'm not a kernel, or hardware guy and I'm out
of my depth for a large proportion of the discussions on the various OpenSolaris
lists.


Goals:
I don't think anyone outside the OGB itself (and perhaps Stephen, Keith and Ben)
have a really good idea of how the OGB currently operates, including myself.
However, with that being said, some of the goals I'd like to see are

 - Make the OGB operations more transparent than ever in terms of regular
   published agenda and meeting minutes
 - Create a membership working group to handle new and existing membership
   applications
 - Create a licensing working group to discuss, and evaluate GPLv3 if and
   when it appears
 - Ensure the project has the working public infrastructure it needs to be
   successful in the future
 - Ensure that the OGB remains a *non-technical* board, being able to
   delegate to more appropriately experienced technical working groups

If elected, I'm sure there will be other ideas that I have.


Summary:
Glynn Foster, 28, is currently living in Christchurch, New Zealand. From there,
he's fortunate enough to be able to work on GNOME and OpenSolaris for a living,
being employed by Sun Microsystems for the last 6+ years. Glynn is current
Planet OpenSolaris maintainer, and writes the weekly summaries while muttering
under his breath. He has yet to build a kernel, but doesn't think that is a
pre-requisite for being on the OGB.