Meet the Guru: Interview with Ultimate Linux Guru Matthew Fillpot

Last week the Linux Foundation announced the winners of its Ultimate Linux Guru contest. The winner? One of the top five gurus from last year, Matthew Fillpot. How’d he wrest the title from the other hopefuls? I’ll let him answer that one.

Fillpot is one of many volunteers who help keep the Linux.com forums going, and help other users find information about using Linux and solving problems they may have on Linux. I thought it’d be interesting to find out what makes him tick, so to speak, and how he got involved with Linux.

Linux.com: How are you using Linux personally and/or professionally?

Matthew Fillpot: I use Linux based systems at home for testing and educational purposes, mostly testing various software relating to networking and security. I do not use Linux based systems professionally, but my knowledge from home has helped me to better understand the underlying code and functions of the software that I use professionally which has made me more valuable to my company.

Linux.com: How long have you been using Linux, and which distro did you start with? What are you using now?

Matthew Fillpot: I started using Linux based systems in 2000 with RedHat, but once I found slackware in 2004 I started using it Linux and Slackware exclusively. Currently I use Slackware for all personal uses, but install various distros in virtual machines to test functions and help others with their problems.

Linux.com You were named Ultimate Linux Guru this year — what kind of work were you doing on Linux.com to earn the title?

Matthew Fillpot: During the past year I have been writing various blog posts, assisting others in the forum and answers section and trying to organize and form the community to add value to the site for the existing members.

Linux.com: Advice for other people who want to join in working on the site?

Matthew Fillpot: My advice is to be willing to make mistakes and ask stupid questions. The supposedly stupid questions allow you to learn more that you can share with the community. Contribute where and when you can, after a while you will find that you have learned far more than anticipated which you can then write about in the tutorial/blogs and share with others in the forum.

Linux.com: What are your plans for the laptop?

Matthew Fillpot: I plan to use the laptop for security and network scenarios in virtual machines and to work on re-learning true programming languages so I can contribute to some open source projects.

Thanks much to Matthew for taking the time to answer our questions, and for the work on Linux.com over the last year!