Faces of FreeBSD 2015: Erin Clark

FACES OF FREEBSD

Back by popular demand we're again sharing a story from someone involved in FreeBSD with our Faces of FreeBSD series. It may be a story from someone who’s received funding from us to work on development projects, run conferences, travel to conferences, or advocate for FreeBSD. Or, it may be from someone who gives back to FreeBSD financially or in another way. But, it is always from someone who is making a positive difference in the FreeBSD world.

Here’s a chance to get to know your fellow FreeBSD enthusiasts. Sit back and enjoy the next 2015 Faces of FreeBSD story.

Erin's Story

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Erin Clark.  I am 32 years old, and I live in San Jose, California.  I have had an interest in tinkering with computers since I learned to program in Logo in the 3rd grade on IBM PS/2 computers.  I pursued my passion in computers on into college where I received a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri.  In my free time I enjoy practicing martial arts, playing video games, and reading science fiction and fantasy novels.

How did you learn about FreeBSD and/or when were you first exposed to it?

My original introduction to open source unix was with Linux back in 2003. I was a user of Slackware Linux for a long time, but I discovered FreeBSD in 2009 through some friends and have been a user and proponent of it since then.

I use FreeBSD because it is very solid and secure and has a great selection of open source software that can be used with it from the ports collection.  I have always appreciated FreeBSD’s networking stack because it makes a great router or network appliance.  FreeBSD’s use of the ZFS file system is also very nice - ZFS snapshots definitely saved me a few times.  I also like that FreeBSD is very well documented; almost everything you need to know about working with FreeBSD can be found in the FreeBSD Handbook.

What is your involvement in FreeBSD?

I work with FreeBSD at my job at iXsystems as a developer for the FreeNAS project.  FreeNAS is a FreeBSD-based storage appliance that takes advantage of FreeBSD’s ZFS file system for a robust storage solution.  My current involvement in the FreeNAS project is developing the Command Line Interface for the next generation FreeNAS 10.

Before I was a FreeNAS developer I was a system administrator and I managed my company’s network of servers running mostly FreeBSD, which proved to be a very stable and powerful platform for hosting applications on.  As system administrator I also managed the desktops, many of which ran the FreeBSD-based PC-BSD which is very user friendly and reliable.

Final thoughts about the Project and community? 

I highly encourage donating to the FreeBSD Foundation, without them the FreeBSD project would not be what it is.  FreeBSD is an open source project which means we as a community have to pitch in so that it can continue to thrive.  I have donated to the FreeBSD Foundation and will continue to since I think it is a worthy cause to support.

As a woman who uses and develops with FreeBSD I would say that I think the project and community is welcoming to people of all genders.  I think there is still a need for more representation of women in the project since we bring our own perspectives and ideas.

You Make FreeBSD Possible

Dear FreeBSD Community,

It’s hard to believe the year is almost over. As we reflect on this year’s successes, we are grateful to you for making it possible. It is a privilege to be part of this community, and all of us at the FreeBSD Foundation want to say thank you.

Thank you for your commitment to working on this Project and keeping it vibrant, innovative, and cutting-edge. Thank you for making this community welcoming and inclusive, and thank you for supporting FreeBSD with your donations. Your passion for FreeBSD inspires us to tell the world about FreeBSD, and your support makes that possible!

As 2015 comes to a close, please consider making a gift so we can continue supporting the operating system you love. Why make a donation to help FreeBSD? You are passionate about FreeBSD, and like us, you see many opportunities and possibilities to grow and improve the operating system. You understand that there are goals for FreeBSD that may be difficult for its mostly-volunteer community to tackle alone. You see the need to promote FreeBSD for new users, contributors, and the need to make it more accessible to researchers, educators, end-users, and builders of commercial products.

In addition, your donation will help us:

·      Accelerate improvements to FreeBSD and support for new platforms and technologies, like: improving UEFI booting and the vt(4) system console, developing a new autofs-based automount daemon, and porting FreeBSD to the new AArch64 64-bit ARM architecture.

·      Provide outreach and advocacy for FreeBSD, which includes sponsoring many BSD and non-BSD conferences, sending FreeBSD contributors to these conferences, supporting work on creating FreeBSD curriculum to be taught in schools and universities,  publishing the high-quality FreeBSD focused magazine, The FreeBSD Journal, and providing more informational material.

·      Build FreeBSD infrastructure to provide the latest technologies for testing and developing on the FreeBSD platform.

·      Facilitate collaboration by providing vendor summits and company visits to bring together the commercial users and the Project, to work together on creating a bigger and healthier ecosystem.

·      Provide full-time release engineering support, resulting in on-time and reliable releases.

None of the above is possible without your help. Please make a donation today to ensure that FreeBSD remains the high-performance, secure, and reliable operating system that you count on.

Thank you for your support in helping us make FreeBSD possible!

Deb Goodkin

Executive Director

The FreeBSD Foundation

Show Your Support for FreeBSD

Dear FreeBSD Community Member:

Did you know your contribution to the FreeBSD Foundation makes a direct impact on the FreeBSD Project?

 Your donations:

• Fund work to improve FreeBSD such as improving UEFI booting and the vt(4) system console and porting FreeBSD to the new AArch64 64-bit ARM architecture.
• Send people to conferences to meet and work with other developers.
• Buy hardware needed to improve the Project’s infrastructure.
• Advocate for FreeBSD to recruit new people to the Project, and educate people on FreeBSD.

That’s just the beginning. In honor of #GivingTuesday, help the Foundation by sending in your donation today. It's only with your help that we can continue and increase our support to make FreeBSD the high-performance, secure, and reliable OS you know and love.

Thank you for your support. We can't do this without you!
Deb Goodkin