A Short Intro

• Located in: São Paulo, Brazil
• Occupation: Telecom Engineer, working as a Business Consultant
• Nickname on IRC: thiago
• Homepage: http://developer.kde.org/~thiago/
• Blog: http://www.kdedevelopers.org/blog/100

The Interview

In what ways do you make a contribution to KDE?

I develop some code in kdelibs (mostly libkdecore) and I am currently the maintainer of the low-level networking code. I have also contributed to the ioslaves, as an extension of my own networking framework, and a bit regarding encodings/Unicode-issues. The application I watch most closely is Kopete, which is probably the most visible application in kdenetwork, at least now that KMail has left us for kdepim. However, I don't consider myself a Kopete developer: I merely follow the development and try to give input to the actual developers (who are, by the way, doing a great job).

Most of my time, though, is spent in non-coding activities. I am subscribed to the kde-bugs-dist mailing list and I read each and every email that gets sent there -- that is, every post made to Bugzilla. I try to test the reports and see if they are reproducible or not. I also reply to posts requesting more information when necessary, closing entries, etc. You could say I'm part of the "first line of defense" against bugs. I'm not alone, of course, and there are many developers doing the same. In fact, there are more people subscribed to the kde-bugs-dist mailing list than to konq-bugs.

I am also now organising the KDE mentors to the first Google Summer of Code and I am a mentor or co-mentor myself to a few students. I am also maintaining the site. See my blog for information on how this came to be.

I am also trying to help the KDE 4 porting effort as much as I can. But I don't think I've built the code in quite some time, though...

When did you first hear of KDE?

I must have heard of it on IRC and my first download was of KDE beta 3 (it wasn't called 1.0 beta 3 at the time). So... sometime in 1997-1998. Unfortunately, CVS and Subversion records of that time are sketchy and I can't find a tag indicating when it was released.

I also remember thinking "yeah, right. These guys are dreaming" when I read the www.kde.org homepage (how it looked like, more or less, back then) which stated the goals for the project. I'm glad to have been wrong!

How and when did you get involved in KDE?

I spent some time learning IPv6 in 2000 in preparation for a job. When that job didn't come through, I decided to put what I had learnt to good use. In my own words in an old blog:

I've been trying to get some IPv6 code working for the past few months. [...] Given that, I decided I needed an IPv6-enabled browser. Since I already had determined to make KDE2 IPv6 enabled, I set off making Konqueror able to talk at 6bone.net. Guess what? It worked.dated 17 Aug 2000

But if you keep on reading that old blog, you'll see I didn't contact anyone in KDE until 4 months later, when KDE 2 had already been released. If there's one thing to be learnt from that is that you should never keep things to yourself in the Open Source community (that's the whole point, isn't it?): do it, but also tell whoever can make a difference about it. No one is going to find you out otherwise.

Do you use bleeding edge KDE? What are your thoughts on it? And when was the last time you used a "standard" KDE?

Yes, I do. I only run the trunk version of Subversion in my own machine. I did that first because I develop kdelibs, but I keep on doing it now because I think I can help by spotting compilation problems, which, by the way, are very rare now in the main KDE modules. And also to be on the bleeding edge :-)

I think people will like KDE 3.5 when it's out. There are no extreme changes, as would be expected from what is the last release before KDE 4. Some nice features have been implemented in kicker, plastik, kmail, etc.

And I use a "standard" KDE when I boot the laptop on a Live CD.

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

No, just some code in a branch, but not a lot.

Are you being paid to work on KDE?

No, unfortunately not.

How much time do you usually spend on KDE?

Hmm... tricky question. Does IRC time, just chatting, count? :-)

The usual answer is "more than I should, less than I would want to".

I usually dedicate 3-4h per day reading my KDE emails, including kde-bugs-dist. If you add IRC time, which can include helping people in #kde and #kde-devel (but not always), it should go up to 30-35h per week.

I have heard some people say I don't sleep. This is what I want to tell them now: reports of my sleeplessness have been greatly exaggerated.

What users do you have in mind when you're developing/contributing for/to KDE?

When I do coding, I do it for other KDE developers. Remember that I develop libkdecore mostly.

When I am doing bug hunting, I try to think of the user who reported the problem. I think I generally fail, though...

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

I think the whole of the project could use more publicity. We have great technologies and an awesome set of applications. We just have to make the world aware of it. I don't think it's underrated, but I do think there is room for more. I do think we need some more work on communicating, especially the smaller groups with a specific purpose.

We should emphasise on our so-called killer applications. The ones I feel most deserve this title are Kontact, Kopete and k3b. Konqueror is getting a lot of attention now and it is a good thing: we just have to keep the momentum. One app I think deserves more attention is KStars and I think Kalzium is progressing just fine.

What do you think is still badly missing in KDE?

For my own personal needs, I think nothing. Konqueror, Konsole, Kopete and Kontact are my most-used applications and I can do just about everything I need with them. You know, I'm one of those guys for whom "GUI" is a synonym of "more shells open".

Ok, correcting myself: we need a good NX client and server integrated into KDE.

For my professional needs, I think KOffice can grow a lot more. I am using OpenOffice.org for some tasks at home, Microsoft Office for tasks in the office. There are many "little things" you get used to that make the migration hard. That said, however, I have not used KOffice as extensively as I maybe should.

Side note: academic reports and personal [not related to work] presentations I do in LaTeX, using the standard classes and beamer, editing in kile.

Do you have any specific goals for KDE 4?

Yes, I do. Of my own code, I can say:

• support SRV-resolution
• fully support IRI (international resource identifiers)
• support multicasting and interface identification
• support UPnP
• support proxying decently throughout KDE (not just kio_http)

Of me, as a KDE contributor:

• keep my current level of activity, or improve on it
• maybe take some more responsibilities: I've been thinking of taking maintainership over kio_ftp

Some of these things are already being worked on. In fact, I plan to release SRV support in KDE 3.5.

And where do you see yourself and KDE some 3 or 4 years from now?

I honestly can't say. I've read the past interviews with other contributors, from 5 years ago, saying where they thought KDE would be today. Most of those expectations didn't come to pass, unfortunately.

I think that we'll keep on growing and improving, delivering every time a better desktop environment. But unless something big comes and breaks the status quo, there won't be too much of change.

As for me, I can't say either. I don't know if a year from now I'll still be studying, or working, or doing the two. I don't even know where I'll be living.

What motivates/keeps you motivated to work on KDE?

That's a hard question. What attracted me at first was how easy it was to understand and modify the code. In fact, that is still true: recently, I fixed a bug in KMail (bug #99089), but I had never debugged KMail code. It took me only 1h30 between starting, debugging, fixing, testing and submitting the patch.

But what I think mostly motivates me is the sense of actually doing something useful, and the community behind the project. I do get the feeling that what I am doing is being used and is being useful to people around the world, even if my own code contributions are small. It isn't everyday or on any project that you can do that. And you guys are great, everyone: if it weren't for the sense of belonging and the welcome I got and keep on getting, I wouldn't have stayed.

I don't crave recognition, but it's always nice when that happens. I was incredibly pleased when a student contacted me on IRC to be his mentor in a project on the very first day we joined the Google Summer of Code initiative, especially because I wasn't expecting that to happen at all and my name wasn't on the list of mentors.

I'd like to think that if I had chosen any other project to help on, it would have been as successful as it has been with KDE. But now it's too late to change: it's KDE all the way :-)

Has that student got a Google stipend?

No, unfortunately not. He submitted a completely different proposal and that wasn't one of those accepted. Still, he has joined the KDE community and is a nice guy.

In spite of that, I am mentoring/co-mentoring 3 students.

Which application in KDE do you think definitely needs some usability work?

My answer is probably skewed because I've recently started using it, after being "spoiled" by the competition: KSpread. That said, I am incredibly bad at usability.

What chances do you see in your country for KDE as a desktop platform?

There's a great opportunity now. The government is really into free software, making laws about how it should be preferred over closed-source counterparts. They are even pushing to the general populace, by way of tax incentives and financing of cheap computers, loaded with free software only. I am not sure if they have chosen a platform, or even if they will mandate one. But the opportunity is there to make KDE enter a big market.

However, I am also sure most of the computers financed by the government will end up with a pirated copy of Windows installed.

What is your favourite widget style?

Plastik. Some people thought I had eyesight problems when I liked Keramik -- I still do, but Plastik is "cleaner".

You still do what... like Keramik or have eyesight problems?

Uh...

Which text editor do you use? Why?

Emacs. No explanation needed!

Which distribution do you use? Why?

Conectiva Snapshot, at the moment.

I am, however, waiting for the official upgrade to Mandriva Cooker to come out.

What makes you develop for KDE instead of the competition?

I use KDE because I started with KDE. I use Emacs because I started with Emacs. And I use Conectiva because I switched once to it and never looked back (I actually started with Slackware 3.2).

And I started with KDE instead of the competition for one very good reason: there was no competition at that time. You can imagine how KDE felt light-years ahead of anything I had tried by then: twm, fvwm2, fvwm95-2. (I only tried AfterStep and WindowMaker later on, between KDE beta 3 and KDE 2.0 beta 1; I've never used KDE 1.x)

What keeps me developing for KDE is what I answered above: the sense of doing something useful, the community, the sense of belonging and the welcomeness (does this word even exist?). And my own stubbornness -- "Never surrender, never give up".

Also, because of C++. I can't think of any language better suited for the task: it's as flexible as you need it to be. I can't conceive doing what I am doing in pure C.

Is your KDE 'mom-proof'?

Yes. She uses it to browse the web sometimes. Though the other day she told me she couldn't eject the CD. (My computer doesn't auto-umount because I don't like that).

What does your desktop look like? (please put in a URL to a screenshot)

Uh... there are two clocks there. Why do you have two clocks?

I lived in France for 2 years, so I lived on the Central European timezone. My family still lived here in Brazil. So I started using two clocks so that I could more easily look at the time at home. When I moved back, the situation was reversed: friends were in France, so it was good to know when they were awake.

Among those friends I count several KDE developers, even if I only know them via IRC. A good portion of them live in that timezone. It's generally a good idea to glance at the clock before pinging coolo or dfaure on IRC at 4:30 am.

What type is your desktop? What is it named?

I have a standard, brandless desktop Athlon 1.4 GHz I bought in France when I lived there, with a 17" monitor. It is called "prometheus"; the other computers in my network have the following names: sovereign, norway, sabre, steamrunner, intrepid (there were for a time defiant and peregrine). Whoever guesses the theme gets a cookie.

My company laptop doesn't have a name: they set the serial number as an id. I am thinking of buying a laptop of my own before aKademy, so I am open to suggestions, including for the name (extra cookie for name in the theme).

What was your first computer?

It was a nice 80386DX 40MHz, with 4 MB of RAM and whopping 120 MB of hard disk. I remember my father saying, back in 1992 when we bought it, "that's hard drive for a lifetime". That was shortsighted, but, then again, other famous people have said similar things...

It came with MS-DOS 5.0, but no Windows. I remember installing Windows 3.0 on it.

If you were shipwrecked and had to share an island with a KDE contributor who would it be?

Ask me that again in September, when I'll have had the chance to meet other contributors in person. (So far, I can count on one hand those I've met: 4)

What is your most brilliant KDE hack?

If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Or, rather, you'd kill me because of it.

What is your most embarrassing KDE moment?

This one is easy: my first bug report. Read coolo's answer to know what I mean.

Or when Dirk broke my CVS password in 0.2 seconds and told me on IRC.

If we were to start a TV campaign could you think of a nice slogan for KDE?

My mousepad says "KDE makes UNIX ready for the desktop", but I don't think it would be the right slogan. Maybe something with "from Aaron to Zack". But my imagination isn't very fertile, so I'll leave this to more competent people.

Are you coming to aKademy 2005 this year?

Yes! Definitely! I'll finally be able to meet the whole bunch :-)

Personal Questions

First things first. Married, partner or up for adoption?

Up for adoption. Send resumes my way, with photo book, please :-)

Do you have any pets?

Yes, I have a yorkshire dog, called Kayla. She's our guarddog.

What is under your bed?

Two drawers, with shoes and bedsheets.

What do you see from your window?

Another building.

What event really made a difference in your life?

When I moved from Brazil to France, to live for 2 years away from my family. I matured a lot during those two years, not to mention the amount of travelling I did.

What can you tell us about your childhood?

There's not much to tell... I was your usual, shy kid -- not one of the sports guys, nor the popular one. I don't think I've ever been the "nerd kid" either, nor do I fit the stereotype.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

An astronaut. I still have my hopes up :-)

Do you watch cartoons on TV? What else do you watch on TV?

Hell, yeah! Dexter's Lab rules! So do The Simpsons and Futurama.

I watch TV series quite often: 24, CSI, CSI, CSI, Alias, Star Trek, Star Trek, Star Trek, Star Trek, Galactica, Stargate, Stargate, The West Wing, etc. You can tell I am a Sci-Fi fan, right?

If someone visits your country, which spot is a must-see?

With a country the size of Brazil, I'd like to forego answering this question, for fear I'd forget about something really important. Even if this person only visits the city of São Paulo, we'd start with barbecues and the night life, but there's still a lot more to do and see. And, of course, depending on who's coming, we can arrange other kinds of diversion. :-)

Ask me again after we've had a chance to organise an aKademy here in Brazil. (I.e., hopefully, next year)

Which book is on your bedside table?

Right now, none. I've read them all, so they are back on the bookshelf. I'm an avid book reader, so I generally finish any book in no time.

I like reading Tolkien and Star Trek novels. But the last book I read was "The Universe in a Nutshell", by Stephen Hawking.

What was the last movie you saw?

Star Wars Episode III

Do you cook? If so, what?

I've been known to cook, but you eat at your own peril.

Richard Stallman or Linus Torvalds?

Linus.

Shower or Bath?

Shower.

Pizza or Hamburger?

Pizza.

Ferrari or Mercedes?

Ferrari.

Tea or Coffee?

Both, but not simultaneously.

Baywatch or Discoverychannel?

Baywatch. Though on the Discovery Channel there's stuff I haven't yet watched, unlike Baywatch...

Bike or Car?

Car.

Skis or Surfboard?

Skis.

Disco/dancing or Bar?

Bar, followed by disco dancing afterwards.

Spaces or Tabs?

Mix and match :-)

How would you describe yourself?

1.73m, brown hair and eyes, two legs, two arms, ...

Ok, ok. I am generally a calm person, very hardworking, a bit perfectionist. I am also shy, though I'm working on it. On the bad side, I think I'm lazy and I put things off.

You're stuck on a train for 6 hours and are bored out of your skull. What do you do to amuse yourself?

Talk. I like to talk to my friends, a lot. My best friends are those with whom I can talk for hours on end. (I am not good at talking with the ladies who aren't friends, though... shyness gets in the way). IRC chatting counts, if WiFi is available.

If there are no friends or anyone else to talk to, I'd read a book. When I set off on a somewhat long trip (by plane or train), I always take a paperback with me.

What is your favourite T-shirt?

Plain white, nothing written. Easy to find anywhere in the world.

What's your signature at the moment?

Name, email, PGP key ID and fingerprint, and one of these lines from a nice story I wrote in Old English:
On frumscafte, hwonne time_t wæs náht, se scieppend þone circolwyrde wundorcræftlíge cennede and seo eorðe wæs idel and hit wæs gód. Tó cennan his weorc gearu, ymbe se circolwyrde, wearð se cægbord and se leohtspeccabord, and þa mýs cómon lator. On þone dæg, he hine reste. Ac seo woruld wearð geborod, swá se Scieppend cwæð "Gewurde Unix" and wundor fremede and him "Unix" genemned, þæt is se rihtendgesamnung. And æfter se scieppend ingelogode, he wrát "cenn", ac eala! se rihtendgesamnung andswarode "cenn: ne wát hú cennan 'eall'. Ástynt." Swa he géanhwearf tó timbran, and hwonne he cóm, lá! Unix cwæð "Hello, World". Ǽfre ǽghwilc wæs glæd and seo woruld wæs fréo.

What is your favourite place in the world?

Does "my bed" count? :-)

I think we'll always have Paris.