People of openSUSE: Marcus Rueckert

Please introduce yourself!

I was born in Wismar. After studying in Rostock for a while I got the offer to work at SuSE and I moved to Nuremberg. So here we are. Best job you can get. Nuremberg just misses the sea. But you can’t have everything.

Tell us about the background to your computer use.

I started with a KC85/4. I got my own one at home. Used it for playing with my brothers and sisters and a bit basic programming. At some point it broke and as the GDR gone as well it was hard to repair it. So I had a few years without an own computer, but I helped my friends with their PC problems anyway. In 1994 I got my own PC (dx4/100). It got OS/2 on it. But I quickly killed that one for Win95. I tried to install some Slackware version on it but it failed horribly. So I sticked to Windows NT for a while.

When and why did you start using openSUSE/SUSE Linux?

1997/1998 somewhere around that. A friend at the university gave me his SuSE 5.2 CDs and I tried it. Of course the first install didn’t survived very long. “chmod -R 600 .*” is not a good idea.

When did you join the openSUSE community and what made you do that?

I don’t think you can really join a community. You grow into it.

When more and more stuff got moved to Linux I started hanging out on some Linux IRC channels in ircnet. Later some OSS project channels got added to the list. And at some point I started packaging stuff I needed for my servers. The first 2 SuSE guys I met on IRC were mmj and daemon. I got invited to join the beta program and later started working directly at SuSE.

In what way do you participate in the openSUSE project?

Helping people, especially with packaging and the buildservice. Advocating openSUSE. And https://users.opensuse.org/.

What especially motivates you to participate in the openSUSE project?

Fun. And seeing the project evolving and growing.

What do you think was your most important contribution to the openSUSE project/community or what is the contribution that you’re most proud of?

http://users.opensuse.org/

When do you usually spend time on the openSUSE project?

Work time and when work needs to be done.

Three words to describe openSUSE? Or make up a proper slogan!

openSUSE is good for you.

What do you think is missing or underrated in the distribution or the project?

More users could step up and be a real part of the project. Every single hand helps.

What do you think the future holds for the openSUSE project?

New opportunity and new challenges. Growing or shrinking to new platforms. Reaching new user groups.

A person asks you why he/she should choose openSUSE instead of other distribution/OS. What would be your arguments to convince him/her to pick up openSUSE?

Basically I would tell them “Give it a try. We are not as hyped as Ubuntu. But a good distro anyway.”

Which members of the openSUSE community have you met in person?

Many people at SUSE. Benji, Francis, Pascal, and many people where I forgot the name.

How many icons are currently on your desktop?

None. Pekwm does not have any icons.

What is the application you can’t live without? And why?

vim. It is the tool for most of my work.

Which application or feature should be invented as soon as possible?

No need to invent it. But Linux still needs a good filemanager. Would be basically some porting work.

Which is your preferred text editor? And why?

vim. Fast. Configurable. I dont need more.

Which famous person would you want to join the openSUSE community?

Can I get 100 active contributors instead of 1 famous person too? :)

Which computer related skills would you like to have?

Some language and parser theory.

The Internet crashes for a whole week. How would you feel, what would you do?

Reading and sleeping. No internet. No work.

Which is your favorite movie scene?

The end of heroes. where you see all the arrows flying towards one man.

Star Trek or Star Wars?

Star Trek.

What is your favorite food and drink?

Corn flakes with milk without sugar. Mate tea with mint or earl grey.

Favorite game or console (in your childhood and nowadays)?

I played Tactical Ops from the first public beta until a few months ago. Nowadays I waste my time with BF2142 and Eve.

Which city would you like to visit?

Stockholm, Oslo and maybe Vancouver.

What is your preferred way to spend your vacation?

Away from people so I can really chill. No phone. No handy. Nothing.

Someone gives you $1.000.000. What would you do with the money?

Building me a small house at the beach and for the rest of it I would sponsor projects I am interested in. (This include openSUSE of course)

If traveling through time was possible, when would we be most likely to meet you?

Here and now.

There’s a thunderstorm outside. Do you turn off your computer?

Uhm no? :)

Have your ever missed an appointment because you forgot about it while sitting at your computer?

Of course. :) Way too many times I guess.

Show us a picture of something, you have always wanted to share!

Nothing here.

You couldn’t live without…

My family. Music. Internet.

Which question was the hardest to answer?

Why a person should pick up openSUSE. I am no salesman.

What other question would you like to answer? And what would you answer?

None. We had enough questions already :p