People of openSUSE: Klaus Kämpf

Please introduce yourself!

I am Klaus Kämpf and I work for Novell as an Architect for Systems Management. I spend 1/3 of my time looking into (new) technology, 1/3 looking into current products and 1/3 into integration challenges in the area of systems management.

I was born in the lower Rhine area before man landed on the moon. Since I joined SUSE, I usually celebrate my birthday together with AJ.

I studied Informatics at the ‘RWTH Aachen’ where I also met my lovely wife. After she was finished with her studies, I followed her to Nuremberg. (It wasn’t SUSE which made me move here. :-) )

We have two sons (5 and almost 3) and no pets (yet).

Tell us about the background to your computer use.

I learned how to grab a soldering iron on the right side ( ;-) ) from my father. Electronics was my first hobby and got me exposed to the digital world and computers. Well, my first ‘computer’ was just a microprocessor, programmed via dip-switches and some LEDs for output. This way, I learned computer technology from the ground up which is still valuable when working on software.

During my time in Aachen I made first contact with C and Unix, sent mail using UUCP, coded Unix device and protocol drivers and played with TCP/IP before the Internet was born.

Most of my coding was open source and I worked on a lot of projects. The internet remembers all this way better than I do.

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

Spring 1999, I mostly used BSD Unix (SunOS) and RedHat before. It was only after I started working for S.u.S.E. that I started to use world’s best operating system ;-)

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

Right from the beginning, luckily it was my job.

In what way do you participate in the openSUSE project?

Planning, prototyping, coding, bugfixing, reading and writing mails, creating and updating Wiki pages.

What especially motivates you to participate in the openSUSE project?

Seeing ideas realized.

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?

Leading sat-solver from a hackweek project to a distribution feature. (See previous answer).

When do you usually spend time on the openSUSE project?

During daylight.

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

Geek my computer !

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

Wiki documentation. Sorting or tagging documentation, howtos and workarounds by distribution version. Currently you never know if what you’re reading still applies to the version you’re running.

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

Hopefully more and better online documentation so asking Mr. Google for anything Linux related leads to openSUSE instead of Ubuntu.

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?

I would first ask what she wants to do with the computer and then eventually suggest openSUSE. (I’d rather leave people with Windows so I don’t get asked for support. :-) )

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

Too many to list here.

How many icons are currently on your desktop?

Don’t know. My ‘k’onsole window usually covers it all.

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

mutt. It’s worlds best mail client …

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

The DWIM-shell and -editor. ;-)

Which is your preferred text editor? And why?

Jed. Because microEmacs, running everywhere, had such a crappy license.

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

None. Famous persons won’t have time to participate anyways. I prefer the non-famous ones with time for contributions.

Which computer related skills would you like to have?

Knowing how to use Gimp (or any other drawing/imaging tool) inside out.

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

Great ! Finally time to get back to all these electronics projects I left in the basement years ago.

Which is your favorite movie scene?

“It’s a hundred and six miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses.”

Star Trek or Star Wars?

Star Trek, the original series please.

What is your favorite food and drink?

Thai green curry, Salty Lassi.

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

Tetris, years ago. Haven’t played computer games since then.

Which city would you like to visit?

Berlin. Have been there often before the Wall fell. Wonder how it looks like today.

What is your preferred way to spend your vacation?

Camping with my Family.

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

Dollars ? Exchange it to Euros immediately. Then I’d be more relaxed to think about what do to with the money.

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?

Sure, but I keep the laptop running.

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

This nice thing about computers is that they have quite accurate clocks one can use to set up a reminder.

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

Sorry, I usually share code, not pictures. ;-)

You couldn’t live without…

My wife and my kids.

Which question was the hardest to answer?

The last but one.

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

KDE or GNOME ? Web !