Fedora Project Leader Matthew Miller: A change of hats!

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Header image: Matthew represented as a Lego minifigure, with the Fedora logo on his shirt. A speech balloon says "Time for a new hat!"
Header image: Matthew represented as a Lego minifigure, with the Fedora logo on his shirt. A speech balloon says "Time for a new hat!"3084×1304 3.36 MB

Okay, wow… deep breath….

Hi everyone!

I’ve been the Fedora Project Leader for more than ten years. That’s half of Fedora’s existence as a distribution project. It is my dream job, and I love it, and honestly, I could do it forever.

However, I don’t think I should do it forever. When I started in this role, I thought: I’m going to aim for five years. But, when I got there, I felt like I’d just found my footing. We had a series of great releases, a super-productive Fedora Council meetup in Minnesota, and Flock to Fedora in Budapest was amazing. With that energy, I saw so much more to work on. I definitely wasn’t done.

Now, after another five years, it’s time. The project is in great shape. We have high community engagement, stronger support than we’ve seen in years from our major sponsor, and increasing popularity and visibility in the whole Linux world. We build the distro of choice for new CPU architectures like RISC-V, and vendors ship our OS on laptops. Atomic image mode is awesome. We’re on a good path for big infrastructure improvements.[1] I want all this to keep expanding — and more! To get there, I think we need someone with new energy and fresh ideas standing in my place.

Stay tuned for a job posting from Red Hat, and details about all that. I’m hoping we can hire someone awesome early in 2025, and make the official handover on the release of auspiciously-numbered Fedora Linux 42.

I’m not going to leave Fedora, though. As I said above, although it might not always feel like it from the outside, Red Hat support for Fedora is stronger than ever, and I plan on helping that grow even more. I’m stepping into a full-time management role in the Community Linux Engineering organization, so Fedora will still be part of my day job, just in a different way.[2]

Likewise, I’ll be nearby as a resource for the incoming FPL. This is a big, difficult job, and I know from experience (thanks, Robyn!) that it’s crucial to have someone close who understands what it’s like to provide support. I want the next person to feel confident and up-to-speed in quite a lot less than five years.

Thank you, everyone, for making Fedora the best Linux distro ever. Thank you for listening to my good ideas and being patient with many more bad ones. I would not be here without your support and friendship all these years, through difficult times and amazing times.[3] I love you all!

– Matthew

  1. New git forge, better CI, a more modern and flexible build system, more workflow automation… and I’ll convince you all to switch from mailing lists to Discourse, eventually! ↩︎

  2. Actually, that’s a lie. The first thing I’m going to do is sleep for a month. But, after that. ↩︎

  3. Often, both at once. ↩︎

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Thank you for all you’ve done Matthew. It has been an utter joy to know and work with you, enjoy your monthlong nap.

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Matt,

I always thought you were an excellent manager for Fedora. I particularly enjoyed the chance to meet and talk with you at the Nest with Fedora in Rochester NY. You have my best wishes for an enjoyable and successful term in your new job.

Have a Great Day!

Pat (tablepc)

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You’ve been an awesome FPL, Matt. Thank you so much! With a supporter like you, the next FPL will surely succeed in being awesome, as well. That rest is well-deserved. Take care and see you around!

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Thank you for all of your hard work over the years! Enjoy your nap sir!!

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Thank you for all your contributions over this long period! Im looking forward to still see you around :classic_smiley:

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I’m glad I overcame my shyness and joined this innovative communication channel while you were still leading the Fedora Project. You are a very inspiring person and I have learned a lot in this short time. This entire community has left a deep mark [1] on my life. Thank you! I’m sure you’ll be great at your new job.

I think Discourse is so good that it won’t take much convincing. People will want to come on their own.

  1. In a very positive way. ↩︎

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Congratulations and thank you for your hard work.

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Now we need a new Fedora dad! Or a Fedora mom?

No kidding, I am sure you have done a great job and can help a new person reinvent the role!

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Thanks Matt for all your hard work and effort to help the community! You have done an amazing job!

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Thank you for everything you have done so far—for Fedora Project and the wider FOSS galaxy.

Here’s hoping[1][2] you can get some well-deserved downtime and seeing you during FOSDEM.

  1. Of course, knowing you - you would be all set to make the path as smooth as possible for the next FPL and that would require some work but hey - a dude can keep his fingers crossed :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: ↩︎

  2. Also, cheers to the “Mentor Matthew” that we will see in some time from now - I am sure that the next FPL will be super lucky to have you guide them through the interesting times ahead :see_no_evil: ↩︎

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My son Ben and I got to meet you (and a host of other truly amazing people) at our first Flock this year. We both wish you the very best in your new role and thank you so much for all of the energy you have given Fedora (and the world) over the years!

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Thanks for the great and hard work!

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I wasn’t sure on how to respond to this. I start working with the Fedora Project as an Ambassador at 2014, I met Robin the year before, so I’ve been here more or less the same time as you as FPL.

First of all, thanks. Even when this is a job for you, you have done so much for the Fedora that it feels a little bit like a loss.

Also, thanks for all the times you took a minute to call me, or to write me personally, sometimes to just ask “how are you?”, that’s the things that makes you different and a great leader.

I hope your new duties can make our roads to cross again, and my best wishes for you and for your family.

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Thank you all!

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Can I request this message to not be deleted? It has historic context for the future

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Hey,

You’ve done an outstanding job, shepherding the Fedora project. We’ve only talked a few times in relation to Fedora Magazine, but I’m glad with that collaboration, as small as it was.

Best wishes to you,

Kevin

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It won’t, don’t worry! (And thank you!)

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I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your incredible leadership and dedication to the Fedora Project over the years.

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Thank you Matthew for all you have done for Fedora. Being the FPL is really not easy and you have set the bar really high for the next FPL.

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