User:Danielsmw

Budgetary Items
These values reflect the cost of airfare, lodging, and estimated food costs.
 * Requested budget: $700
 * Necessary budget: $600

Why would I go to FUDCon?
Some of these reasons are the same for anyone who would want to go to FUDCon, but I list them here to avoid loss of generality.
 * Hackfest - Zikula : I'm planning on attending the Zikula hackfest. I've been trying to get involved with that project for a while but have had trouble finding a good entry point. I only just submitted a package to help with the project, but I would enjoy providing further input and having the chance to do any work that needs to be done.
 * Session - Teaching Open Source : I've complained about this for a while, and blogged about it a few weeks ago. I would absolutely love to listen to other ideas on this and possibly have the chance to engage in constructive conversation on the topic. I think I could be uniquely helpful here since I'm a physics major, and not involved with the computer science department at Clemson University (normal scientists need open source too!).
 * Hackfest - Packaging Guidelines Reorganization : I've done barely any packaging, but I've done a little bit, and I wouldn't mind sitting in on this brainstorming session so I could give input from a new packager who hasn't really been used to any conventions (or I might just sit in and listen attentively so I know for the future).
 * Session - Design*UI* : I plan to attend at least one of the design seminars if I can. I do like graphic design and try to do some (really bad) art and sketching on the side, but I'd like to learn about bringing that over to the realm of development and UIs.
 * Human Contact : I know some people in the community, but not as many as I would like. I can tell that I'm more productive when I ask people questions and get help, but I have trouble doing that when I don't know people. Going to FUDCon would really help me make connections with corporeal people that I can use to help speed up my work for Fedora.
 * Teaching : Although I've given some presentations here and there on computing topics, I'm not sure any of them would be Fedora-centric enough for FUDCon (example: using Perl for scientific data processing). But I feel like being able to observe a FUDCon at least once will help me understand how these conferences work and open up an opportunity to teach a session next time around.

Biographical Information

 * Name: Matthew Daniels
 * Occupation: Undergraduate Student
 * Hometown: Charleston, SC
 * Current Residence: Clemson, SC
 * Starting Actively Working in Fedora Project: September 2008
 * Blog: Reflected Pensiveness

Hobbies

 * Linux
 * Martial Arts
 * Physics & Mathematics
 * Camping & Backpacking
 * Programming

Goals in Fedora Project
I currently play the lead role in maintaining the Fedora User Guide, as well as a couple of wiki docs. I try to help out as much as I can with the Fedora Documentation Team, and I'm thinking of joining Ambassadors soon. My goal is to help spread Linux and Fedora as widely as possible; and I think that we're in an exciting part of history where this is beginning to happen more and more.

I'm also researching Sugar and putting together plans for writing an activity for the OLPC XO-1 that will contribute toward creating a 4th grade mathematics curriculum. When that's done, I'm tempted to write more advanced, high school or undergrad level programs for physics or mathematics, but we'll see where that goes.

I am a member of the Clemson Linux User Group, and - though they don't know it yet - I'm probably going to run for a position next time we have elections. I can't wait to get involved in that. I'm also hoping that having a physics major more involved in CLUG can get people from majors outside of computer science or computer engineering to realize that Linux is an operating system anyone can use and enjoy.

My page used to say this: But that's not really the reason I do this anymore. It's still part of it, but now that I'm involved, I'm realizing that it's just pretty fun to develop. I don't feel like I'm being burdened having to give back to the community; rather, I feel like it's a privilege, and I think everybody should look for some way to give back to the communities that give to them. It's a good feeling, and it helps you improve your own skills along the way.
 * Basically, I joined the Fedora project because I wanted to give back. Linux has been great to me over the years, and now it's time for me to be great for it.  If anybody has any projects they think I could work on (that I'm not already involved in), please let me know!

Contact Info

 * Email: danielsmw (at) gmail com
 * IRC: danielsmw on Freenode