Joe Blog's A Day In The Life Of Your Average Joe

An Interview With Silver Fox

First off - I apologise for not getting one of these up sooner - I realised last week that I haven't done an interview since February! I'll try and get them a bit more often from now on

So, it is without further ado that I introduce my next victim guest. Silver Fox is generally a quiet member of the Ubuntu Beginners Team, but does good work within said team which goes - largely - unnoticed. I thought it would be appropriate to try and bring these to light for others to see.

1. Tell as much as you're willing about your "real life" like name, age, gender, location, family, religion, profession, education, hobbies, etc.

I am a professional web developer and database administrator living and working in the UK. I don't really have much family but I do have a good number of friends. My hobbies include running, badminton and just lately photography. I also keep a blog where I post pretty much anything on my mind.

2. When and how did you become interested in computers? in Linux? in Ubuntu?

The earliest computer I remember "playing" with was an acorn electron. I got fascinated by how what you typed somehow made sense to the computer (certainly didn't to me). I got it into my head to try and work out how this all works. After much time and effort I had to give up, I just didn't "get it".

I can't remember what I was doing after that but I picked up the computer interest sometime around windows 3.1. Again I was drawn to the programming side , with fond memories of writing applications in qbasic. This time I seemed to get on better with it and stuck the course. Years later I found myself with a BSc (Hons).

Linux was a bit of a background noise initially to me, I had heard people mention it but I was not sure what to make of it at all. I finally took a jump after some serious problems with Microsoft Vista. A colleague suggested I try Ubuntu (I believe I caught the end of 7.10). Since then I have tried many distros but a firm favourite would have to be Ubuntu (and those based on it).

3. When did you become involved in the forums (or the Ubuntu community)? What's your role there?

I joined Ubuntu Forums in June 2008, though I lurked for a period before hand. Here is a link to my profile. I try to help anyone I can, even if its pointing them to a howto. I especially try to help those who post in Absolute Beginners Talk. These are the people I can relate to most, totally stuck and feeling lost. I consider myself a beginner at best but I would like to think I must have learnt something by now about Ubuntu

4. Are you an Ubuntu member? If so, how do you contribute? If not, do you plan on becoming one?

I am an Ubuntu Member. Here is a link to my wiki page. My main involvements are with the Ubuntu Beginners Team. I am in my second term of leading the IRC focus group. This group aims to provide real time support to those who require help. I have other activities listed on my wiki page for those who would like an in depth breakdown.

5. What distros do you regularly use? What software? What's your favorite application? Your least favorite?

Currently I am mainly using Ubuntu and #! Crunchbang Linux at home. From time to time I boot into Fedora and Zenix.

My favourite application would probably be Firefox. Its usually one of the first application I run when I turn on my computer

6. What's your fondest memory from the forums, or from Ubuntu overall? What's your worst?

My fondest memories on the forum are two little words, Thank You. I get great pleasure from knowing that I helped someone.

7. What luck have you had introducing new computer users to Ubuntu?

I have had some success in introducing people to Ubuntu. A few of my friends are now happily running the operating system with me serving as immediate source to help if it goes wrong (very little has )

8. What would you like to see happen with Linux in the future? with Ubuntu?

I would like to see awareness of Linux increase to the point where I can talk to "Joe Public" about Linux and to not get a blank look back.

9. If there was one thing you could tell all new Ubuntu users, what would it be?

Hello and welcome The community is fantastic. Never feel like you are alone when tackling a problem.