[Ksummit-discuss] TAB nomination

Kees Cook
2018-11-08T05:14:12Z

Hi,

I'm volunteering to stand for election to the TAB.

My primary concern for the kernel is security. I've been a member of
the security@kernel.org response team for 5 years, and I've been
herding cats with the Kernel Self-Protection Project for 3 years. I
have frequently worked kernel-wide across many subsystems, or many
architectures, when helping landing various security defenses. This
cross-maintainer work is a unique social and technical challenge, and
the topic of "security" is a similarly wide and unique challenge. I'd
like to represent both of these concerns on the TAB.

In addition to being an active kernel developer and maintainer, I also
bring several "downstream" perspectives on how the kernel is consumed.
I understand the concerns of a general purpose distro, having worked
on Ubuntu for 5 years. More recently, I know the demands of special
purpose device vendors, having worked on Chrome OS, Brillo, and
Android over the last 7 years.

I was a reluctant supporter of the Code of Conflict (it did not go far
enough), but I was even more unhappy with the sudden Code of Conduct
(due to lack of decision transparency and potential for very
counter-intuitive interpretations). I am, however, a fan of the base
intent and the recent clarifications: I've not enjoyed the times I've
been yelled at by Linus, and I have not liked seeing other toxic
interactions in the community. I'd like to help make sure the TAB
continues to support a positive social dynamic for contributors to the
kernel, stays up front about these kinds of changes going forward, and
that it is not unduly influenced by external forces.

Thanks for your consideration,

-Kees

--
Kees Cook