MAY
15
2001

Ivan E. Moore II

A Short Intro

  • Located in: Parachute, CO, USA
  • Occupation: Information Security
  • Nickname on IRC: RevKrusty
  • Claim to Fame: In the Linux world it's maintaining all the KDE Debian packages
  • Fav. KDE applications: Konq, Noatun
  • Hardware: x86/rs6000/sparc

The Interview

What is your role within KDE?

99% of what I do for KDE deals with packaging KDE for Debian.

How and when did you get involved in KDE?

I got involved originally back in 98 or around there somewhere. I needed to get my wife off of Windows as I was getting tired of supporting it. I couldn't find packages of KDE that worked or were up to date so I started building my own packages. Later on I decided to package kpilot for Debian as well. Due to all the licensing issues that surrounded the qt1/kde1 versions I put the kde packages I built up on my web site for others to use. Slowly but surely people started finding out about them. Other Debian developers started telling me things that needed to be fixed with them. Eventually I contacted Stephan Kulow about taking over the packaging responsibilities. He had taken them over from the Debian developers who dropped them when KDE was taken out of the Debian distro. Stephan had since gotten busy with doing more KDE bits than Debian bits so he welcomed my offer and slowly but surely I took everything over.

At one point in time I had all the core kde1/qt1 based apps as well as about 100 contrib apps up on kde.tdyc.com for people to download. This became a nightmare to maintain and once KDE2 came out and was uploaded to Debian I gave up maintaining all of them.

Currently I maintain most of the main packages and a few contrib apps for Debian. (kdelibs, kdebase, kdeadmin, kdegraphics, kdemultimedia, kdenetwork, kdepim, kdeutils, kdesupport).

How much time do you spend on KDE?

Oh boy. Depends. there is always something KDE related building on one of my systems. I'm currently maintaining 3 different versions of KDE. I've got KDE 2.2alpha packages I'm making available for testing and then there are the 2.1.x packages for both the stable Debian release as well as the unstable release. When 2.1 came out I was spending most of my days and weekends working on them. It's settled down recently and I'm able to do more of my real job and do KDE stuff in the background. :)

What is your favorite tool? (for developers; what is your favorite editor?)

vi. I haven't had a chance to even look at any of the gui tools.

Is there a process you follow when you design/write code/translate/write documentation?

When it comes to KDE I only do bug fixing or finding. Over the past couple years I've only committed fixes outside of the debian/tree maybe 4 or 5 times. KDE is a very large project and the smallest change can affect so much, so I try not to mess with stuff and just report things. However from time to time I find stuff that I know how to fix.

What was your first computer?

TI-99-4a

Which program would you say every KDE user should have?

I'm not really sure... personally I would go for something like noatun as everyone should have music going all the time.

If you could add one personal feature to KDE what would that be?

If I had the knowhow I'd do something like a native VMWare. I'm still stuck with using windows for somethings for work.

What application/game would you like to see ported to KDE?

The Checkpoint FW1 GUI. :) ok... serious... for another linux based app it would have to be gkrellm.

Is there any unreleased/unrevealed stuff in your pipe? (New applications/technologies for developers, new icon sets/themes for artists, ...)

no... I'm too lame to actually contribute anything significant besides the packages.

If you were going to design desktop themes, what would your themes be like?

I have no artistic value... they would look like someone else's themes as I'd probably steal them.

What is the worst thing you ever had to do for KDE?

I don't recall having anything bad to do for KDE ever.

Where do you see yourself and KDE 2 years from now?

Probably the same boat. I'll be packaging up KDE 4.x (or whatever it'll be by then) which will include some connection into my coffee pot and will make me coffee on a schedule.

Are you being paid to work for KDE and if yes by who?

Nope... well I did get a gift certificate from a thankful end-user a while back which was cool. It made my month.

What is your suggestion for the next KDE meeting? Where should it be held and when? Will you attend?

I would attend if it were close. I really didn't keep up with past KDE meetings or any of those bits in general. Between work and other things I don't have time for a life.

Which section of KDE is underrated and could use more publicity?

I really think the PIM bits are coming along nicely and don't think they get the attention they deserve.

If you had to design a banner with a KDE slogan, what would it say?

dunno... KDE: Get Over It!
I think most people who are anti-KDE haven't tried KDE in years or are still messed in the head over the licensing bits. They need to get over it and give KDE a try again.

Who would you hire to play in a KDE commercial? And what would the scene be like?

Johnny Depp... He would be dressed in his Edward Scissorhands costume... and the slogan would be... "Even Edward Scissorhands uses KDE"


Personal Questions

Where and when were you born?

Yuma, Az. USA in September of 1973.

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

Still too young or too old to do whatever it is I needed to do to become whatever it was you thought I should be in the first place.

Who did you want to be when you grew up?

I don't remember anymore. probably some movie star or something like that.

Which University/School did you go to?

I attended Arizona Western College for about 2 months. School and I didn't get along well... something about learning stuff I wasn't interested in and then having to pay for it.

What's your status, are you single and up for adoption?

I'm married however my wife would probably like to put me up for adoption from time to time.

If married/girlfriend/partner(m/f), how does he/she cope living with a KDE addict?

What was that? I'm a little deaf from the yelling. Overall she's not happy with my computer use.

Do you have children?

Not yet... and if I don't cut back on my computer use she won't let me try.

What is the first hour of your day like?

Get out of bed, walk to fridge, get soda, walk to computer room, turn on monitor, go back to bedroom get cleaned up and dressed, go back and sit down at computer... check mail... lather... rinse... repeat.

What that event really made a difference in your life?

My move to Colorado. I had met my wife in Yuma where I was not doing much with my life. I didn't have a job or anything like that... I ran around in a van that my father let me use and did odd jobs for a friend of mine who ran a computer business. When I met her we hooked up and moved out of my parents finally (I was 21 and still living with my parents...). I got a job and life was ok. Then her mother moved to Denver, Colorado and found out she had Cancer. So my wife moved up there to take care of her. I followed reluctantly about 3 months later. Big move from Yuma (population 75thousand) to Denver (population way to big for it's own good). After a few months of struggling in temp jobs I landed a job (with the company I still work for).

I can only imagine that if I were still in Yuma I'd be doing hardly anything now and probably would have never heard of KDE... well... ok maybe not that bad.

What piece of (real or fantasy) software or electronic equipment would make your life easier?

VOIP stuff. which is being worked on... speaking of which I need to go find out what's going on wit that...

What is your most indispensable possession and why?

Shoot. My wife. Tho I can't posses her... uhh... my cat then. Disposing of her would be cruel.

What is the best birthday present you could receive?

Movie passes.

What was your favorite trip within your own region?

Any... I live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country.

What custom in your country, do you wish did not exist?

The custom of celebrating other countries customs. May 5 (cino de mayo) is not a US holiday yet it's celebrated. I don't like that fact that people find excuses to party excessively and act stupid. There's nothing wrong with partying however it seems that every year people do stupid things, the cops get called, etc... grrrr

If someone plans on visiting your country, what special spot is a must-be?

There's so many. My personal favorite is the south-west part of the US. Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree, Mesa Verde, etc... there's a ton of stuff...

Of all the places you've lived or visited, which was your favorite? Would you want to live there?

I'm living there. :)

What would you do if you had the time?

Camp/hike/etc...

What do you see from your window?

Mountains

If you could have five other lives/careers, what would they be?

Teacher, hermit, cat, dog, fish.

What book have you read that was truer than this morning's newspaper?

I haven't read a book in a long time.

What would go into your time capsule?

My Commodore 64

What would you do if you didn't have to be moral or honest for a day?

Get myself in trouble with my wife.

If you knew that the world would end tomorrow, what would you do today?

Go hiking

If you could only take 3 people with you on a trip around the world, who would you take and why?

My wife and the first 2 friends to respond to my email. If I didn't take my wife I'd be in deep ... and my friends are my friends... I can't pick any of them over any of the others...

We all know the No Smoking signs. If you could put an original "No ........." sign on your door, what would it say?

No public masturbating.

List 3 of your favorite url's.

http://www.google.com/
Don't have any other favorites... I got tired of surfing along time ago...

Name your favorite quote/saying.

"Act like a dumbshit and they'll treat you as an equal."