Originally published at: F44 FESCo Elections: Interview with Fabio Valentini (decathorpe) – Fedora Community Blog
This is a part of the Fedora Linux 44 FESCo Elections Interviews series. Voting is open to all Fedora contributors. The voting period starts Monday, June 1st and closes promptly at 23:59:59 UTC on Friday, June 12th 2026.
Interview with Fabio Valentini (decathorpe)
- FAS ID: decathorpe
- Matrix Rooms: Too many to list them all: #devel, #rust, #epel, #multimedia, #pride, #python, #quality, #security, … (on the fedoraproject.org homeserver)
Questions
Why do you want to be a member of FESCo and how do you expect to help steer the direction of Fedora?
I have contributed to many areas of the project since I joined it over a decade ago, so I think I can bring a broad perspective to FESCo. I want to help insure the project’s continued success happens in a sustainable way.
How do you currently contribute to Fedora? How does that contribution benefit the community?
I am the most active package maintainer in Fedora (by count of updates / builds), primarily because I am the main point of contact for most Rust packages. My work includes package updates, package review, triaging build failures and broken dependencies, and pruning packages for obsolete, outdated, or unused Rust crates from Fedora. I regularly contribute to upstream projects through bug reports and pull requests to fix issues that are discovered downstream in Fedora. Additionally, I triage, report, and attempt to fix upgrade path issues caused by missing package updates every release cycle.
How do you handle disagreements when working as part of a team?
Many disagreements I’ve handled were only concerned with details, while the goals of everyone involved were still aligned. So I try to find common ground and / or explore alternative or creative solutions that can work for everyone involved.
Where do you think the Fedora Project should position itself concerning the use of ‘AI’ in software development?
I am – in general – wary of becoming dependent on products from companies that are nowhere near profitable and only kept afloat by a combination of inconceivably large amounts of venture capital and “creative” investment arrangements. Additionally, to me these “AI” systems aren’t “just tools” and can’t be treated solely as such, especially due to externalities like unethical data scraping practices, copyright / license laundering, excessive power and water consumption, noise and greenhouse gas pollution, hardware shortages and price increases, etc. I have yet to see a competitive “AI” product that does not have these problems, and I am unsure whether creating one is even possible.
What else should community members know about you or your positions?
No pineapple, and definitely not on Pizza.