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==About me== | ==About me== | ||
Hello, I am Ratnadeep Debnath. I | Hello, I am Ratnadeep Debnath. I have been a Fedora user since 2008 and gradually I started contributing to the Fedora project as an ambassador, packager and then as a developer. I graduated in Computer Science and Engineering from Dr. B. C. Roy Engineering College, Durgapur in 2011. Currently, I work at Indifex, remotely from India, as a Software Developer and QA. Mostly, I work on the Transifex project fixing bugs, writing tests and developing new features. I also contribute to Askbot and Ankur Bangla projects. When I am not coding, I practise meditation or try my luck with cooking. I like reading manga and love to watch Sci-Fi movies. | ||
==How did it all start== | ==How did it all start== | ||
Revision as of 10:41, 25 October 2011
Contacts
IRC Nick: rtnpro
Channels found in: #dgplug, #fedora, #fedora-india
Email: rtnpro@gmail.com
Blog: ratnadeepdebnath.wordpress.com
About me
Hello, I am Ratnadeep Debnath. I have been a Fedora user since 2008 and gradually I started contributing to the Fedora project as an ambassador, packager and then as a developer. I graduated in Computer Science and Engineering from Dr. B. C. Roy Engineering College, Durgapur in 2011. Currently, I work at Indifex, remotely from India, as a Software Developer and QA. Mostly, I work on the Transifex project fixing bugs, writing tests and developing new features. I also contribute to Askbot and Ankur Bangla projects. When I am not coding, I practise meditation or try my luck with cooking. I like reading manga and love to watch Sci-Fi movies.
How did it all start
It would be wrong to say that I was totally unaware of the term Linux before joining the engineering course. I myself tried Turbo Linux (which I received as a Recovery media with my Compaq Presario Desktop). My father's colleague, Amal Biswas is a computer geek and he also used Fedora and other Linux distros. He advised me to use Linux. Then I came to the engineering college, and one day, two DGPLUG members, Subhodip and Ajitesh came to our classroom to tell us about FOSS. I liked the intro and I took the responsibility of noting down the names of interested students. Alas! there was a poor response from the others. Then, one day, Kushal Das, our alumni called us for an evening meet after the college hours. He introduced us to the existing DGPLUG members and told how they are contributing to FOSS. He told us other important things also. Then, finally the big day came, the Installation Fest in early 2008. I got Fedora installed in my Dell XPS M1530 notebook. The initial issues with Nvidia graphics card were solved and then I started using Fedora. I started with Fedora 8.
Summer Training 08
Another big thing that took place in 2008, it was the Summer Training arranged in #dgplug. The summer training proved to be greatly helpful in making me acquainted with various FOSS tools like svn, wiki, mailing lists, blogging,etc. We were taught some basic C, python. We were also taught about the shell, vim, gcc, gdb, etc. It was a great summer.
Small things I have done
During the "DGPLUG Summer Training 08", I wrote a small program using C and shell script to automate setting up connection to internet via GPRS through a mobile phone. I used the features provided by "wvdialconf" to identify the mobile phone settings (like the port to which it is connected, usually /dev/ttyACM0, its Baud rate,etc) and I used C file I/O to edit the /etc/wvdial.conf file to insert the phone number to dial, user name, and password provided by the user.
Lately, I wrote a few shell scripts to "automate the setup of a local Fedora mirror". This proved to be greatly helpful in performing the post-installation setup in the newly installed Fedora systems. This has, indirectly, boosted the Fedora installations and usage in the locality and among friends. The details of the shell scripts can be found here. Any suggestions and comments for improvement are gladly welcome.
A "Fedora Ambassador"
It was due to the efforts of some of the "Fedora Ambassadors" that I came to know about "Linux, Fedora and FOSS". I am very grateful to them. It's been almost 1 year since I switched to Fedora for my activities, be it academic or entertainment and during this small period I have helped others "switch to Fedora" and work together in this "FOSS" movement. Responsibilities increased after I was chosen as a Local Coordinator for the "Linux Users' Group of Durgapur, DGPLUG" alongside Kishan Goyal (Fedora Account user name : Kishan). I and Kishan are already working together in increasing Fedora and FOSS awareness in our College and the locality. That is why I want to join want to join the Fedora Ambassadors Team to feel the spirit and zeal of the "Fedora Ambassadors" and help spread the message of "FOSS and Fedora".
Present activities:
Holding weekly meetings to discuss various user issues in Fedora, help the newbies get acquainted with Fedora - which involves installation and complete post installation setup so that they can switch to Fedora for their daily activities easily (The local fedora mirror and my shell scripts have come very handy in this regard). We also discuss the things we learned in the DGPLUG Summer Training '08. These meetings help in in "increase of knowledge through exchange of knowledge".