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OSUOSL News

We're Hiring! Join the OSL Development Team

We're Hiring! Join the OSL Development Team
1/15/12

Oregon State University's Open Source Lab is recruiting a full-time software developer (Analyst Programmer, Competency Level 3) who will design, deploy, and maintain software for Ganeti Web Manager, several home-grown Open Source Lab projects, and other tools supporting the hosting we provide.

Reporting to the Operations Manager of the Open Source Lab, the Analyst Programmer (Competency Level 3) will possess at least 2 years of experience as a software engineer or equivalent. Candidate must be proficient in relational databases (such as MySQL or PostgreSQL) and proficient in Python and one or more of the following programming languages: Ruby, Java, PHP or Perl. Open Source Lab employees also work closely with and mentor student developers and interact with clients, so excellent communication skills are required for success in this role.

The person in this position is responsible for developing and modifying complex software applications, documenting code and development processes, and overseeing student software developers. This position will allow the candidate to interact with many of the open source projects hosted by the OSL. We seek candidates with a high level of initiative, motivation, and a high degree of success in previous endeavors.

This position requires full-time, on-site work at the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis, Oregon.

To review posting and apply, go to http://jobs.oregonstate.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=59806

Closing date: 1/31/2012. OSU is an AA/EOE.

Highlights from Beaver BarCamp8

Highlights from Beaver BarCamp8
10/31/11
Beaver BarCamp8 Quick Facts:
  • Number of T-Shirts Ordered: 100
  • Number of Raffle Tickets Distributed: 136
  • OSL Mugs Raffled Off: 6
  • Happy Recipients of Kindle Fire Door Prize: 1
  • Hero Sandwiches Consumed: 42' of Tasty
  • Awesome Sponsors: Mozilla, SAO Corvallis and Thumb Arcade
  • Cool Factor: 11

The Oregon State University community shared its talents, knowledge and ideas this past Saturday, October 29th, in the Kelley Engineering Center during Beaver BarCamp8 (BBC8), an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees.

BBC8 Schedule Grid and Registration Desk
Staffed by Our Own Stalwart Project Manager, Greg Lund-Chaix

More than 130 people met for the second and final Corvallis BarCamp of the year, hosted by the OSU Open Source Lab. There were sessions for many tastes at BBC8.

The OSL’s Lead Systems Administrator/Architect, Lance Albertson, hosted a talk about Ganeti and what people should know about its virtualization capabilities. Corbin Simpson, a veteran OSL student developer, let his nerd flag fly free with his own session, “Corbin Code: how to improve code maintainability.”

BBC8's flagship sponsor Mozilla launched the day with a web security workshop. Andy Rosic, CEO of Portland, OR based Thumb Arcade, treated attendees to a speed hackathon touching on Geo, Mobile and Augmented Reality.

Mozilla's Michael Coates, Julie Deroche and Ben Kero Talk Shop with Student Attendees

Some attendees took a different route by hosting non-technical sessions, including “Cheap Home Brewing” and “Planning and Cooking for Yourself to Save Money.” A good and delicious time was had by all.

Attendees and those unable to come to BBC8 were able to follow along on Twitter: @Beaverbarcamp. You can still check out updates from the unconference using hashtags #beaverbarcamp and #bbc8. If you are interested in attending future Beaver BarCamps, remember to sign up for the event mailing list or join our Facebook group.

Our Very Own Student Developer, Emily Dunham, Models BBC8's Custom Swag

Many thanks to all of our attendees for a fabulous BBC8! Most of all, thanks to our generous sponsors, especially Mozilla, for their support of the event. We could not have made the day possible without your support!

We'll see you at BBC9 in spring 2012!

We're Hiring! Join the OSL Systems Administration Team

We're Hiring! Join the OSL Systems Administration Team
9/27/11

The Oregon State University Open Source Lab has an immediate opening for a systems administrator. We're looking for someone to help us support some of the world's most well-known open source projects and to mentor the next generation of DevOps superstars.

This position is responsible for design, deployment, and maintenance of infrastructure including servers, workstations, and network equipment, as well as support and maintenance of Linux servers, databases, backups, web sites, code repositories, and other community and development tools used by our hosted partners. OSL employees work directly with hosted partners to respond to support and change requests.

System administrators at the OSL also oversee the efforts of student developers as they assist with system administration, documentation, and testing, so being comfortable in a mentoring role is required for this position.

The right candidate will be proficient in Linux system administration (2-3 years experience) on at least one of the following distributions: RHEL, CentOS, Gentoo, Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora. We're looking for someone familiar with relational database servers (MySQL or PostgreSQL especially), email servers, backups, network setup and troubleshooting. We need someone who has effective communication and interpersonal skills, demonstrated success in independent problem-solving, self-direction, and the ability to manage multiple tasks.

Ideal candidates possess an in-depth knowledge of open source software development / hosting practices and open source communities. Experience with Puppet, CFEngine, or other configuration management systems is required, as is experience with source control systems such as git or Subversion. Past experience and involvement in one or more open source communities is highly desired.

For more information and to apply, please visit the job listing on the Oregon State University website.

Please note that this position is offered on-site in Corvallis, Oregon only. We are not offering telecommute roles at this time. Salary listed on the Oregon State University is monthly salary, not annual salary.

Lots of Love from LinuxCon

Lots of Love from LinuxCon
8/29/11

You may recall our earlier article on the OSU Open Source Lab's plans for LinuxCon North America 2011. If you're following us on Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen some of this great news stream by already. But we do have some great new photos to share, so read on in any case.

The first ever Linux Learners Day was a resounding success. We welcomed more than 35 student participants to this day long track on all things Linux and open source. The best part of the day? Letting our attendees know that we could forgo the concluding panel session on careers if they were tired from 5+ hours of lecture and having them not only decline to leave early, but then keep the panel discussion going a full twenty minutes over schedule because of all the great questions.

OSUOSL Staffers Wrapping Up the Linux Learners Day Careers in Open Source Panel

We want to make sure the content we created is most widely useful, so we've made all the presentations available on Slideshare. The presentations are downloadable and Creative Commons licensed, so feel free to adapt them to suit your needs. Even better if you let us know that you used them for a course, Linux Users Group (LUG) meeting or just to learn more about Linux and open source.

We were fortunate enough to have several of the lab's student employees join us for Linux Learners Day and the whole of the conference. Many, many thanks to the Linux Foundation for putting together specially discounted packages for student attendees of LinuxCon and arranging the LinuxCon or Bust Bus Tour to the event for attendees in Corvallis and Portland. And our sincerest thanks for inviting us to be a part of the conference program and to spread the Linux love amongst the next generation of computer scientists and technologists.

Proud to Help the Linux Foundation in their Search for the Next Linus Torvalds

You no doubt know that this year marks the 20th Anniversary of Linux, making this year's LinuxCon North America that much more exciting for all in attendance. OSLers were out in force at the Roaring 20's 20th Anniversary Gala at LinuxCon and had a truly wonderful evening. We were also incredibly excited to tour the 20th Anniversary of Linux Gallery and see the many artifacts of Linux history on display.

OSUOSL Staffers in Full Gala Regalia
Back Row: Tim Harder, Jeff Sheltren, Greg Lund-Chaix
Front Row: Lance Albertson, Leslie Hawthorn, Deb Bryant, Peter Krenesky

Last but not least, we capped off our time at the conference with an inside look at the OSL's operations. Lance Albertson, the OSL's Lead Systems Adminstrator/Architect, spoke on Hosting Open Source Projects at the OSUOSL. Not only did we get to give folks an under the hood view of how the lab provides core infrastructure for some of the world's most well-known open source projects, we even got Slashdotted. Victory!

Lance Albertson on Hosting Open Source Projects at the OSUOSL

Ed. Note: The Careers in Open Source Panel photo was taken by Linux Learners Day attendee Jason Barnett and is used with his permission. The Linus in Waiting Sticker photo is copyright the Linux Foundation and is used under a Creative Commons license. The OSL team group photo was taken by Linux Foundation photographers at the LinuxCon Roaring 20's Gala and is used with permission. The photo of Lance Albertson was taken by Deborah Bryant, OSL Public Sector Communities Manager.

All Aboard for Vancouver! The OSUOSL Heads to LinuxCon North America 2011 Next Week

All Aboard for Vancouver! The OSUOSL Heads to LinuxCon North America 2011 Next Week
8/10/11

The entire OSU Open Source Lab team will be catching a ride on the Tux Bus next Monday, headed to Vancouver, B.C. and LinuxCon North America 2011. We're very excited to be leading all the sessions for the brand new Linux Learners Day, a full day of talks geared to students. The schedule includes:

  • Fundamentals of Open Source Development
  • Linux Basics
  • Introduction to Python
  • Embedded Systems
  • Careers in Open Source

Linux Learners Day is one of the many ways the Linux Foundation supports students in pursuit of future careers in the Linux arena. Other efforts include Linux Training Scholarships, with the first round of scholarship recipients announced just yesterday.

Our Stalwart Lead Systems Administrator/Architect, Lance Albertson

We'll also be at LinuxCon the rest of the week to enjoy the sessions and the company of our fellow Linux and open source enthusiasts. While we're looking forward to many of the talks, we're particularly looking forward to our very own Lance Albertson presenting on Hosting Open Source Projects at the OSUOSL.

Registration is still open for Linux Learners Day and LinuxCon, so if you haven't made arrangements to join us, there's still time to do so. Hope to see you in Vancouver!