F-XX Council Election Interview

What is your name (Given/First and Family/Last Names please)?

Jared K. Smith

What is your FAS Username and Nick?

jsmith

What Matrix Channels do you tend to use?

Mostly the Fedora Meetings and Fedora ARM channels

Why are you running for Fedora Council?

I have a great love for the Fedora community, and want to ensure it continues to be a strong and vibrant place. One of the best way I can contribute is to help the Fedora council make great decisions. For me, it's about giving back to a great project.

The Fedora Strategy guiding star is that the project is going to double its contributor base by 2028. As a council member, how would you try to help the project delivering on that goal'?

First, it's about ensuring that Fedora continues to be appealing -- not only as an operating system, but as a community and a project. It's also about recognizing that perhaps free software operating systems aren't as cool or shiny as they were 20 years ago, and that's OK -- part of what makes Fedora special is the community that it has built -- and perhaps we haven't been good at explaining that part.

How can we best measure Fedora's success?

I would love to see Fedora leadership focus as much on community engagement as they do downloads.

What do you see as Fedora's place in the universe?

I see Fedora as an incredible group of humans -- from many parts of the world -- who come together to participate and make something bigger than themselves. It's a place where people (typically) respect each other, collaborate to solve interesting problems, and continue to promote the ideals of software freedom and innovation.

The Fedora Council is intended to be an active working body. How will you make room for Council work?

I think it's a myth that people just "find" free time. Fedora is important to me, and I'll prioritize it in my schedule so that I can actively participate.