[gentoo-dev-announce] New Developer: Matthew "maffblaster" Marchese

[Mikle Kolyada]

Good evening everyone,

It's my pleasure to announce a new developer.  Matthew "maffblaster" Marchese is joining us from Spokane, Washington, USA. And he will be assisting the wiki team. It means we will have a lot of good documentation soon!

Here is how he describes himself:

"Ever since I was young I have loved to dabble around with computers and
electronics. I built my first computer at the age of 16 which pushed me
in the right direction to pursue computers as career. I graduated high
school at 17 with a year of college credits and went to a tech school
for a two year degree in Computer Science and Engineering. After taking
a semester off school I decided to pursue a better theological
education, so I got a four year degree from a Bible school called Moody
Bible Institute in Spokane, WA. I met my wife at this school. After we
got married we decided to stay in Spokane, which is where I live
presently. I was able to find a job as a Software Release Engineer for a
company that does video surveillance work.

I have been interested in and have used Gentoo Linux on and off since
around 2006. Like most Gentoo users, there is a somewhat interesting
story about how I found Gentoo. When I was in my teens I frequently
visited the local public library. It was through visiting the library
that I became fascinated with Linux; ironically I think I learned about
it from reading PC magazine. I used the library’s internet to find
Distrowatch.org and discovered different “distribution categories” of
Linux were available. Through Distrowatch I filtered out any
distributions that were not labeled for “power users” which is when I
found Gentoo. After looking at the some of the desktop screenshots at
Gentoo.org I was greatly interested in learning how I could become a
Gentoo "power" user.

Today the only thing that keeps me using Windows at home is gaming. Many
companies have not created Linux clients for their games, which is
something I hope will change in the near future now that Valve seems to
be leading the charge in this regard. I enjoy playing League of Legends
(ranked and casual play). As a result I also enjoy watching professional
e-sports on YouTube and Twitch.

I am a man of faith and a man of science; I am a Christian. Many believe
these convictions are contradictory, however I am convinced they work in
perfect unity. If you are interested in discussing this, I am usually
eager to chat.

I also try to write a blog time permitting. You can find it at
http://maffblaster.github.io

Most things to do with software I find interesting: documentation,
installation, configuration, programming, etc. I tend to be a
perfectionist with my work. The way I see it, I would rather do it right
the first time than have to make changes later. This is not always
possible, but I strive to achieve this goal. I also enjoy learning new
things; it a good day when I am able to learn something new. One of the
most interesting aspects of technology is that there is a lot to learn,
which keeps me on my toes. Admittedly there is still a lot of knowledge
and skills I hope to acquire as I work improve the Gentoo project; to me
that is all part of the fun."

Please give him a warm welcome!