Today I’m very happy to interview Tsu Jan, a LXQt developer – a lightweight desktop environment derived from LXDE and written in Qt. Read on and you’ll find out how active a developer could become.
What is your name and where are you from?
My name is Pedram Pourang (the first “a” is as in fAther, the second as in cAt and “ou” as in rOOt), my native language is Persian (an old Indo-European language) and I’m from Iran.
“Tsu Jan” may be a result of my old interest in Zen Buddhism but I didn’t choose it deliberately.
“Tsu Jan” may be a result of my old interest in Zen Buddhism but I didn’t choose it deliberately.
That red hat on your avatar means something distro related?
It has no meaning. I made the avatar with an SVG program years ago (I don’t remember its name).
Can you tell your story on when/how you started using computers?
I neither liked computers nor had time for them, being busy with mathematics and theoretical physics. My friends tried to make me like
DOS but they didn’t succeed. Years later, I got a computer out of curiosity and installed Windows XP on it. Half of my “computer time” was
wasted on avoiding viruses, defragmenting the hard drive, cleaning the registry and keeping the OS clean but still, once in a while, I had to
re-install it. Not a good first impression…
DOS but they didn’t succeed. Years later, I got a computer out of curiosity and installed Windows XP on it. Half of my “computer time” was
wasted on avoiding viruses, defragmenting the hard drive, cleaning the registry and keeping the OS clean but still, once in a while, I had to
re-install it. Not a good first impression…
How open source entered your every day life?
Then, one day, I got angry and said to myself, “Can this crap be the best possible OS?” I googled for “Operating system Windows alternative”
and the first page of Google was full of one word: Linux. It was 2005. I got a CD with a weird name: Knoppix. It was claimed that it’s a complete
Linux OS that worked without installation. I didn’t believe that until I tried it and realized that I’d wasted my time with MS Windows. The next
day, I got 5 Fedora Core CDs, installed Fedore Core (“Core” was a part of its name in that time), said goodbye to Windows and became a Linux
user. In other words, I started to experience open-source. It was a very good experience from the beginning. After a year, I migrated to Ubuntu,
stayed with Ubuntu for 2 years and then migrated to its root, namely Debian. I was a Debian user for 8 years until I realized that Arch was a
better choice for me. But I chose Manjaro (Arch-based) and still have it.
and the first page of Google was full of one word: Linux. It was 2005. I got a CD with a weird name: Knoppix. It was claimed that it’s a complete
Linux OS that worked without installation. I didn’t believe that until I tried it and realized that I’d wasted my time with MS Windows. The next
day, I got 5 Fedora Core CDs, installed Fedore Core (“Core” was a part of its name in that time), said goodbye to Windows and became a Linux
user. In other words, I started to experience open-source. It was a very good experience from the beginning. After a year, I migrated to Ubuntu,
stayed with Ubuntu for 2 years and then migrated to its root, namely Debian. I was a Debian user for 8 years until I realized that Arch was a
better choice for me. But I chose Manjaro (Arch-based) and still have it.
Tell us about LXQt. Why you got interested in it? How is it organized and what do you do on it?
Since I started Linux, I had both Gnome and KDE but, practically, I was a Gnome user. When Gnome3 was released, I tolerated it up to version
3.4. With 3.6, enough was enough. So, I migrated to my beloved KDE4. But Plasma5 was full of regressions. I also disliked QML (I still do; it’s a
terrible choice with a desktop environment). I tried a few DEs but they weren’t for me. Until I discovered LXQt.
First LXQt impression? It wasn’t usable. They’d just started to make it. Two to three months later, I tried it again. It was much better and was compatible with KWin too but had bad bugs. A month later, it was better. I concluded that they were working on it very actively.
One day, I decided to take a look at the source of pcmanfm-qt to see whether I could fix its bugs. What I saw was a work of art! The code structure was so clean and robust. Its creator, PCMan, has a unique coding style that I admire. I fixed 4-5 bugs in one day and soon, became a member of LXQt team. I’m an LXQt user and developer since then.A long time has passed. Now, LXQt is a stable, lightweight and very modular desktop environment with a decent file manager, panel, terminal emulator and several utilities. It can be made elegant with Kvantum, which integrates well with it. It can be used with KWin, which is the best window manager, IMO. Like KDE, it’s based on Qt (my favorite toolkit) but, contrary to KDE, it isn’t bloated. And, with it, I can defend my right to remain free from QML 😉
3.4. With 3.6, enough was enough. So, I migrated to my beloved KDE4. But Plasma5 was full of regressions. I also disliked QML (I still do; it’s a
terrible choice with a desktop environment). I tried a few DEs but they weren’t for me. Until I discovered LXQt.
First LXQt impression? It wasn’t usable. They’d just started to make it. Two to three months later, I tried it again. It was much better and was compatible with KWin too but had bad bugs. A month later, it was better. I concluded that they were working on it very actively.
One day, I decided to take a look at the source of pcmanfm-qt to see whether I could fix its bugs. What I saw was a work of art! The code structure was so clean and robust. Its creator, PCMan, has a unique coding style that I admire. I fixed 4-5 bugs in one day and soon, became a member of LXQt team. I’m an LXQt user and developer since then.A long time has passed. Now, LXQt is a stable, lightweight and very modular desktop environment with a decent file manager, panel, terminal emulator and several utilities. It can be made elegant with Kvantum, which integrates well with it. It can be used with KWin, which is the best window manager, IMO. Like KDE, it’s based on Qt (my favorite toolkit) but, contrary to KDE, it isn’t bloated. And, with it, I can defend my right to remain free from QML 😉
Describe your open source working day. How many hours, what hardware, operating system, tools, sites, etc are used?
It depends on what I work on. There’s no predetermined schedule. A user requests a nice feature or finds a strange bug and I might work on it
until I realize that I haven’t slept last night. Sometimes, a job that seems huge is done in an hour and I close the laptop’s lid. Sometimes,
there are more important things and I don’t do coding. But I code whenever I can.
The hardware is Lenovo Ideapad Y700 for now. Previously, it was an Asus laptop. The operating system is always Linux. The tools are Qterminal +
FeatherPad and, of course, the Internet: Google finds everything I need.
until I realize that I haven’t slept last night. Sometimes, a job that seems huge is done in an hour and I close the laptop’s lid. Sometimes,
there are more important things and I don’t do coding. But I code whenever I can.
The hardware is Lenovo Ideapad Y700 for now. Previously, it was an Asus laptop. The operating system is always Linux. The tools are Qterminal +
FeatherPad and, of course, the Internet: Google finds everything I need.
Tell us about your other open source projects, if any.
Kvantum (a Qt widget style), FeatherPad (a Qt text/code editor), FeatherNotes (a Qt notes manager), Arqiver (a Qt front-end for
libarchive, gzip and 7z) and a few other things. I started to make Kvantum when I left Gnome/GTK because Qt’s look was terrible and no other widget style made it better. I’d started FeatherPad and FeatherNotes in GTK+-2 but rewrote them in Qt and C++ later.
libarchive, gzip and 7z) and a few other things. I started to make Kvantum when I left Gnome/GTK because Qt’s look was terrible and no other widget style made it better. I’d started FeatherPad and FeatherNotes in GTK+-2 but rewrote them in Qt and C++ later.
Does OSS pay your bills or is it just for fun?
It’s just fun. I wouldn’t write a single line of code if it wasn’t fun.
What offline activities do your enjoy?
Listening to classical music, seeing movies and science-fiction or detective shows, being with friends and family, playing with kittens, reading (mostly mathematics, physics and psychology), etc.
If you were to ask for help for your preferred OSS project, what kind of help and what project would it be?
Give me good bug reports and feature requests and I’ll do the rest.
Your github profile shows more than a thousand contributions last year! How can you keep that pace?
That’s a good question and I’m not sure I know the answer. I think the experience we have of time depends on how we waste it. We do waste it; I
did when I was younger, by having tens of thousands of irrational thoughts, feelings and emotions. Now, there should be only about a hundred of them, I think 😉
did when I was younger, by having tens of thousands of irrational thoughts, feelings and emotions. Now, there should be only about a hundred of them, I think 😉
