Speaker Interview: Elizabeth Krumbach Joseph

Q: Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your background?

A: I'm Elizabeth Krumbach Joseph and I've been a Linux hobbyist since 2002 and working as a professional Linux Systems Administrator for just over 7 years. I currently work as an Automation and Tools Engineer at HP with a focus on managing the infrastructure for the OpenStack project. As a member of the OpenStack Infrastructure team I help to make sure all the tools developers need are up and running on the servers for the project, reviewing proposed changes to servers and helping individuals and teams get their tests into our infrastructure.

In my free time I'm an elected member of the global Ubuntu Community Council and do a lot of work in the Ubuntu community. I'm also a Director for Partimus.org, which works to put Linux-based computers in schools in San Francisco and Oakland.

Q: You're giving a talk on Code Review for Systems Administrators. Without tipping your hand on the actual talk, can you give us an idea of what we might expect?

A: Everything in the OpenStack project goes through the code review system that our team manages. At some point early in the project the team got tired of having to respond to bug reports about the infrastructure and decided to:

1. Open source our entire configuration (except for sensitive data)

2. Put everything through the code review system we run, from scripts to config file changes

In my talk I'll be discussing how this all works and how it's been as a systems administrator to use a system where every change is not only in revision control, but peer reviewed and tested before deployment
and where anyone in the project can submit changes for review. There are a load of benefits to this way of doing systems administration, a few disadvantages and some things we've learned that you can't do
through code review alone.

Q: Is this your first visit to SCALE? If so, what are your expectations? If not, can you give us your impressions of the event?

A: I've been attending and participating since SCaLE9x and it's one of my favorite conferences of the year. Over the years I've had the opportunity to work the Ubuntu booth with the Ubuntu California team, gives talks at Ubucon, and this year will be my second main track talk. In all of this I've been really pleased with the friendliness and diversity of the audience and with the casual, yet effective organization that characterizes this conference.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

A. I'm very shy, so please say hello! Even if you can't attend my talk, I'd love to catch up with other sysadmins, Linux enthusiasts and open source people for chats about all of it over lunch, beers or in the hallway.

[SCALE Team interview by Hannah Anderson.]