[Since everyone else seems to be doing this, I'll go along....Just, if you
reply to this message for some subtopic of the message PLEASE CHANGE THE
SUBJECT (there have already be a handful of threads that discuss substantial
technical issues that are threaded 'Re: Self Introduction.....'). This is a
repost of my introduction to Fedora-Devel, with minor edits.]
While I have been contributing to Red Hat's development (through maintenance
of the PostgreSQL RPMset) for some years now, I'll go ahead with the self
intro as requested on the fedora.us site.
Lamar Randall Owen
USA, Rosman, NC
Director of Information Technology
Pisgah Astonomical Research Institute
I currently maintain the community packages for PostgreSQL, as well as
building packages for other programs, including the SWORD project and
BibleTime (Bible software for KDE using the SWORD libraries and modules).
While I do some QA testing now, I am mostly interested in making the Fedora
PostgreSQL packages the best they can be.
For Fedora Legacy, I should note that my community packages for the latest
PostgreSQL are routinely being built on Red Hat 6.2, 7.3, 8.0, 9, AS2.1, and
RHEL3, as well as FC1. The latest RPM isn't yet available for RHL9 due to
lack of a build host, and I am in process of building it on RHL8.0. I
distribute binaries for all of those, as well as Aurora 1.0, a SPARCed RHL
7.3. Upgrading to the latest and greatest from previous versions can be
mighty painful; however, if a security issue occurs in the versions
distributed with the EOLd distribution, backporting security fixes to more
than one major previous version is not going to be priority for the
PostgreSQL core developers. Red Hat 6.2, for instance, shipped with
PostgreSQL 6.5.3. This is a positively archaic version of PostgreSQL, with
the current version being 7.4.1. Versions prior to 7.3.5 are not likely to
be supported upstream at all; the EOLd distributions are all prior to that.
Since AS 2.1 is still supported, source RPMs for it could be rebuilt on at
least RHL 7.3, and maybe even 8.0. RHEL3 source RPM errata could be rebuilt
on RHL9 without much problem.
Historical Qualifications.
Over four years maintaining the PostgreSQL RPMs and contributing to
discussions there and on the RPM list. I've beta tested Red Hat for right at
four years, since the 6.2 cycle. I have programmed in numerous languages
over the years: see my sourceforge profile (user lowen). I maintain the
postgresql database driver for the AOLserver project. Red Hat trusts me (Red
Hat 6.1 shipped with rebuilt versions of my PostgreSQL packages, and they
have been the base packages ever since, even though RH has their own internal
maintainer (currently Tom Lane, previously David Jee and before that Andrew
Overholt, and before him Trond Eivind GlomsrÃd)), so I guess you should too.
:-)
Key fingerprint (fresh key, as I've not used one before for public
consumption (except in my post to Fedora Devel)):
pub 1024D/25C6AF5B 2003-12-04 Lamar Owen <lowen@xxxxxxxx>
Key fingerprint = 3142 7AB1 F9AA 5D14 BBB3 FC4A 073D 25BA 25C6 AF5B
sub 2048g/C1F9E9DA 2003-12-04
I guess I'll begin signing the PostgreSQL RPM's at ftp.postgresql.org; they
haven't previously been signed.
--
Lamar Owen
Director of Information Technology
Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute
1 PARI Drive
Rosman, NC 28772
(828)862-5554
www.pari.edu
