Community interview: Riccardo Padovani and Filippo Scognamiglio

We sat down with some of Ubuntu’s unsung Community heroes at the recent Devices Sprint in Washington D.C.

Riccardo and Filippo are two young and passionate developers who have adapted their own software to benefit the whole of the Ubuntu Community. We spoke about how and why they contribute to Ubuntu, and what motivates them to keep giving.

(Community gathering at the Sprint)

Riccardo Padovani

Italian Community site:

http://ubuntu.it/

Personal blog:

http://blog.rpadovani.com/

So Riccardo, how did you get involved in Ubuntu?

I started 3 years ago with the Italian Ubuntu Community as they were looking for someone who could manage the website. I was young and wanted to learn about computer science, so I started for myself. While I was contributing I started to understand what was behind the Ubuntu project and their philosophy, and I thought this was a great project for software. So then I started to do stuff for Ubuntu Touch, where I made new friends and at the same time improved my English and computer science skills.

How does working in the Italian Ubuntu Community fit into your lifestyle?

I’m at University, so in the evenings instead of watching television I open my notebook and do some coding. For me it’s very fun. It’s not something I do because someone is telling me to, I do it for me. I prefer writing code than watching TV haha.

What kind of things have you contributed to Ubuntu so far?

Last year I was mainly working on the Reminder App, but now more recently I’ve started to contribute towards the Web Browser. As I use Ubuntu as my main phone I love seeing the improvements in the software I use everyday, as I know I can do something to improve it. People will benefit when the phone is released, more so on the Italian Community Site for example: when there’s something wrong and someone reports it to me, loads of people can see my work and I can fix it. It’s awesome, as I am getting better experience at the same time.

How did you start to contribute to the Community? How does it work?

I started to use Ubuntu in 2008, but before 2012 I did nothing until I found a project I wanted to get involved with. I think for every project and Community you need to find something you love and want to improve. Opening a new bug when something is wrong is the first step to contributing to an Ubuntu project.

First you find out how the Community works and then you begin to know who you can speak to, which then graduates into a natural evolution.

Does your Community regularly meet-up?

It depends on the team, as some teams are split and do different things. Every 6 months we have a meeting where we can have a beer and socialise. The rest of the year we try to do public hangouts, and then private hangouts on what we’re doing in the next month or so.

Do you find these sprints helpful?

I think during this sprint it takes more energy to do code, because I’m busier talking to people and learning new things. For the people who can or have taught me something I can meet them and say thank you in person, it is nice.

Filippo Scognamiglio

Personal blog:

http://swordfishslabs.wordpress.com/

Hey Filippo, so tell me how did you get involved with Ubuntu?

I started with some gaming applications where I first made MineSweeper. MineSweeper is not in the Ubuntu Store at the moment due to some technicalities and design issues, but it’s all working and should be implemented soon. I also made another game called Ubuntu Netwalk where you connect sources of energy to destinations and then rotate the pieces to solve the puzzle.

I started a new project that was completely unrelated to Ubuntu, which was a terminal emulator. A terminal emulator is a program that emulates a video terminal within some other display architecture.

I published a video of my work and no one cared at the start, but then a few months after I made another video and everyone loses their mind! I was really busy answering emails and questions about it. Then David Planella (Ubuntu Community Team Manager) approached me and asked me to import the terminal to the Ubuntu Touch, as the engine was the same, and so that’s where my Ubuntu story really began.

So, what’s your background?

I am currently studying Computer Engineering at University back in Italy.

Being part of a Community, what does it mean?

I wasn’t part of the Community before doing something relevant, then I got a part after I was approached. Usually people first start with commenting on the forums or fixing bugs, where you begin to build a presence in the Community. For me it was just like falling from the sky, now I want to be more involved in the Community. I never knew all these guys, today I only knew Riccardo, Alan Pope (Engineering Manager) and David Planella through email exchange, that’s it!

How’s the Sprint going for you? 

The Sprint itself is a nice opportunity to see the USA as it is my first time here. For me it is a great opportunity to finally meet the people I have been working with remotely and say thanks. I find it hard when I work from home as you’re on your own, but now I’m here at the sprint I can go grab people and interact more.

When I compare myself to my schoolmates who aren’t involved in Ubuntu or other projects, I can see the benefits it will give me in my career after university.

What motivates you? 

I get motivated by the people I can learn from. In Ubuntu I’m involved with people who are much more experienced than me, so they can teach me new things and I can produce at the same time. Learning from others on your own project or part of Ubuntu is not possible with closed source projects, because with closed source you can have an opinion on what’s good or not. They can’t tell you should do this, they simply have an external point of view.

Another good thing about open source is that you can do a lot more things with less effort. My terminal was taken from another terminal, if it wasn’t open source I would have had to write the terminal from the engine to the user interface. I drew influenced from other engines that have been made and then adapted it to my needs, of which those people who made that engine probably took it from someone else – that’s the beauty of open source.

I am happy if my project goes on and influences something/someone else, and they can take my software and adapt it to their own needs.

(From left to right: Riccardo, Andrew, Filippo and Victor)

(Community meal out)