People of Utopian #9 - @amosbastian

The Community Manager of the Development category on Utopian.io, @amosbastian, loves beer, football, gaming and (obviously) programming. With his vast experience, humble nature and expertise in Python, it’s hard to believe how young he is.

On Github: https://github.com/amosbastian

Who are you, @amosbastian?

I'm a 24 year old computer science student, half English (born there) and half Dutch (lived there the majority of my life), currently living in Lisbon. I'm really interested in programming (which is quite obvious), football (Glory Glory Man United!), gaming (1v1 me) and, if I can be bothered, lifting weights.

I don't think I have any special talents; I can't play any musical instruments and it's a wonder I can speak more than one language (English and Dutch). I guess I do have a lot of knowledge about beer, if that counts for anything.

One may say I'm a pretty open guy who enjoys meeting new people, talking to them and joking around. I've had people tell me that I am one of the most laid back people they have ever met (maybe it's just my laziness), which I tend to sort of agree with since it's pretty hard to phase me.

However, since I'm half Dutch (maybe it's just an excuse), I'm quite straight-forward or "blunt". I dislike people who beat around the bush without getting to a point. Also, despite my laid-back nature, if I disagree with something I will make sure to let you know, and can get quite passionate when that's the case (sorry!).

Walking to the remotest pub in the UK

How long have you been involved in Open Source projects?

I actually wasn't really involved in open source projects before joining Utopian. I was mainly busy with stuff on Reddit, though I have created some things for the post-match thread team on /r/leagueoflegends, and a bot for /r/fantasypl. They were all kept closed source - the main reason being my embarrassment at my admittedly shitty code. Looking back at it now I wish I was a bit more confident and had gotten involved in open source projects years ago. It's a great way to improve your programming skills while meeting cool people, so I would definitely urge people who feel the same as I did to just say "fuck it" and take that leap.

Do you own / manage one or more projects of your own?

Currently I have a few projects that I have been maintaining, as you can see on my GitHub profile, and have a few plans for projects I want to further improve or create over the next few months. I'm really excited about them, but will keep them under wraps for now.

What does your professional skill-set offer the Open Source community and what type of contributions do you normally make?

I actually started on Utopian.io by contributing mostly tutorials (collaborating with a friend on the account @steempytutorials). At the time, I was learning how to use steem-python, so I thought it would be a great way to help people solve the problems I was encountering myself.

I feel I was burnt out writing tutorials and also came to the conclusion that I really wanted to focus on myself more and get additional experience actually developing stuff. So nowadays I mostly submit contributions to the development category, but sometimes I also report bugs to the bug hunting category.

Which programming languages / platforms do you feel most at home with?

As you may have guessed, I am most comfortable programming with Python - I use it daily and it has pretty much become my bread and butter. I'm still far from satisfied with my skill level, so I will soon be buying a physical copy (I hate reading PDFs off a screen) of Fluent Python, as I've heard great things about it. I have also been busy with learning some more JavaScript and a bit of Vue.js, as I really want to be able to help out Utopian internally (and also some of my aforementioned planned projects require this as well).

How did you discover Utopian, and how do you think Utopian affects your relationships with the Open Source community and ecosystem?

I've always been interested in helping others by either showing them how to do or create something. When I saw that you could get rewarded for doing exactly that by contributing to Utopian I thought that was really cool. So I joined.

I am, without a doubt, more involved in the open source community than I was before I found Utopian, which makes me feel really grateful. It has really incentivised my thirst for learning new things. Previously, I used to spend a lot of my time playing League of Legends, but now I mostly spend it on actively learning about new things (by either reading, programming, discussing etc.), so I definitely don't feel like I'm wasting my time as much as I was before. Obviously this also feels very rewarding, especially when it makes me feel like my personal growth isn't stagnating and that my time is spent on more valuable things. So yeah, I would definitely say it has affected my relationship with the open source community in a very positive way: I'm more involved, learning a lot, which in turn means I can contribute more value - it's amazing!

Utopian.io also changed the way I see the impact of the open source movement. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't want to share my code when people asked, mostly because I was embarrassed at its quality. I also didn't really understand why they wanted me to share it. Now my mindset is completely different and I feel like I really do understand why code should be shared. This makes me feel very passionate about open source in general, but also regretful I didn't come to this conclusion sooner. Well, let's just say I'm more than happy I found Utopian.io and made it part of my life.

Watching Manchester United play for the first time

What made you decide to take on additional roles in the organization itself?

When I first started contributing I just had this overwhelming sense of excitement and inspiration. After everything sank in and I realised how great Utopian's vision actually, was I applied to be a moderator pretty much straight away, as I knew I needed to be a part of it.

I was initially rejected by @mkt because his team was full (😭), so after two weeks of bugging @jestemkioskiem I finally got my foot in the door and was allowed in as a tutorial moderator. I actually still vividly remember my first day moderating as back then contributions could be any language and a large part of tutorials were really below par. I spent most of my time busting plagiarists and rejecting low quality contributions. This became some kind of routine for me (also tag teaming contributions with @roj) and I guess I sort of built up a reputation as a "strict" moderator, as I took quality over quantity quite seriously.

During a weekly management meeting @elear mentioned that there might be a need for a new supervisor (as they were then called). Out of nowhere, @espoem suggested it should be me, which came as a very pleasant surprise. I was asked if I would be interested, and of course I answered yes - to me it seemed like a great opportunity to get myself in a position where I could have some more influence within Utopian and try to help guide it in the "right" direction, in my own way.

A few weeks passed and it wasn't really mentioned again until @mkt announced he was stepping down. After having a voice call with him (where we mostly talked about recreational activities :^)) I found myself in the position of development supervisor/community manager - a position I have latched onto ever since.

How do you see the future of Utopian? What would you want it to be, and where would you like to see yourself in it?

I really think the future of Utopian.io is bright, especially when I consider all the amazing people that are already involved in the organization. It would be really great if it could break through to a broader audience, though, as I'd love to see every open source contributor receiving some kind of support from us. There's definitely a long road ahead, but I'm sure we can do it. I'm bad at expressing my feelings properly (unless beer is involved) so bear with me - I'm trying my best to get across how excited I am about its potential!

Where I see myself in the future... at THE TOP after having ousted @elear! Just joking! As I mentioned earlier I want to work hard on improving my programming skills so I can help more on that front, but other than that I have no idea - I'll just go with the flow and see where this crazy ride takes me!

What is your favorite thing about Utopian?

This is a really difficult question as there are so many different things. I would say that it's really amazing that people can get rewarded for contributing to open source projects, which has some kind of benefit to at least someone - I think that's a great goal. Also, all the cool people involved! There are all kinds of people from different countries that all bring something unique, be it their personalities, skills or knowledge. I just love meeting new people and we definitely already have a great bunch. Huge shout-out to the development moderators in particular - you guys are the best!

Was it Steem first and Utopian second for you, or did you discover Utopian before steem?

Actually, the person (@juliank) who I collaborated with on @steempytutorials is also the person who brought me onto the Steem blockchain. We know each other from university and one day, out of nowhere, he asked me if I wanted to help him out with a project he had planned. During the call where he was explaining what the Steem blockchain actually is, he showed me some projects he thought were cool - including Utopian.io, of course.

I guess I "discovered" both sort of simultaneously, and so I started contributing to Utopian pretty soon after actually joining Steemit.

Are there any particular projects on Utopian you’re a fan of?

There are quite a few projects that I'm a fan of, actually. They are also made by some of my favourite developers on Utopian:

@miniature-tiger's Archipelago game has been improving with each contribution, and he's really a great example of someone who always submits quality contributions!

@sambillingham is also great. He is constantly churning out amazing projects, but if you only have time to check out one I would definitely recommend checking out his Finally Comments project!

Our very own @emrebeyler always has cool projects as well, and is definitely a source of inspiration for me!

@mkt's The Magic Frog (@the-magic-frog) is such a great idea and really a lot of fun - go participate if you haven't already!

There are so many more great projects on Utopian, so I can't mention all of them (sorry!). I really look forward to seeing what kind of projects the future holds for us all.

Steem is the home for many apps aside from Utopian. Which are your favorite and why?

Admittedly I don't really keep up with the Steem world outside of Utopian as much as I should, so I don't actually know. Steem Monsters seems like a pretty cool idea, but other than that I can't think of any.

What other Steem communities / initiatives are you part of? Any you would like to create?

I wouldn't say I'm really involved with other communities, but I'm mostly (outside of programming) interested in football, so I always participate in predictions and similar things to that. Especially fantasy football is something I'm very interested in! Actually, the first thing I did when I joined Steem was looking for something related to the Fantasy Premier League and found out that @acidyo was hosting a league - I even wrote some articles about it back then with hints and tips, which I might start doing again in the future... maybe.

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