Application for PPU right to Google's agent set for @kajiya

Community Ubuntu Developer Membership
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I, Chloé Smith, am applying for upload rights to the following packages:

Name Chloé E.M. Smith
Launchpad Page https://https://launchpad.net/~kajiya
(Old) Wiki Application Page kajiya/PPU-application - Ubuntu Wiki

I am applying because:

  • I’d like to eliminate delays in getting my work sponsored ✓
  • I’d like to reduce the burden on my sponsors ✓
  • I want to contribute to Ubuntu even more by helping to unblock other potential uploaders ✓ :smile:

Who I am

Hello! My name’s Chloé/Chlo/kajiya/Smithy (I really don’t mind) and I currently work in the Public Cloud images team, specifically in the GCP (Google Compute Platform) squad. Big shout out to CPC! My job has a healthy mix of BASH, Python, Go and general Ubuntu hackery and development. I’m not just saying this - I love this job and it’s easily the best one I’ve ever had :smile: My previous background was mostly in secure-coding :female_detective: and C/C++ development (with a sprinkle of cloud to boot).

My Ubuntu story

I actually discovered Linux by accident - my high school wasn’t huge on IT so it completely passed me by until I got to University. I’d heard of Ubuntu, Debian, etc. from my gaming adventures but never actually used any of them. I was studying Physics, and all the lab computers were running Ubuntu (I want to say it was Precise Pangolin?) Anyways, from then on I was always curious, and I eventually started using Ubuntu as my daily driver. It’s been my daily driver for about 10 years now and it’s never let me down :smile:

My involvement

Examples of my work / Things I’m proud of

All bugs (SRUs and package updates)

Areas of work

Being a part of CPC gives me a lot of exposure to other great teams in Ubuntu; namely Server, Kernel and Foundations. I feel like I (and the whole of CPC of course) have a very good working relationship with these teams. We try to be mindful all the while of the sheer amount of work everybody typically has, and therefore only bother them when we really need help.

With the four guest agents we package for Google, we now have a set schedule where Google will release an upstream code cut to us every ~3 months. As (currently) the sole developer who packages these and shepherds them through to SRU, there’s rarely a time nowadays where I’m not working on something packaging related. Whether that be testing from -proposed, wrestling with golang vendoring or asking nicely in IRC/Matrix for sponsorship :smile:

Things I could do better

There’s probably a metric tonne of things I could do better - but these come to mind straight away:

  • Spending more time on the backlog of bugs we have in ~cloud-images
  • I also want to review more code - I feel that that is a particular skill of mine I could offer more widely

Plans for the future

General

There are lots of things I’d like to happen (or at the very least keep working towards), but here’s a few:

  • Unblock Ubuntu contributors by:
    • Sponsoring their uploads (assuming I get the rights :smile:)
    • Reviewing their code where necessary
    • Being present in IRC Matrix to help people quickly with any questions

I do have a (somewhat pipe) dream to eventually become a core-dev one day, and if that happens I’d definitely be up for joining the SRU team (to help take some of the load off!)

What I like least in Ubuntu

It’s actually not Ubuntu’s fault at all, but there’s only one thing and one thing alone I dislike about Ubuntu (and Linux in general):

  • Drivers.

Let’s just say I’m happy I’m more of a console gamer :video_game:

Comments (copied from my wiki application)

I worked with Chlo for a number of years on the CPC GCP Squad and greatly value the care and attention to detail Chlo shows in proposing changes, specifically around testing and verification of GCP related changes like the Google Guest Agent. A functioning Google Guest Agent is critical to a functioning Ubuntu VM on GCP.

During my time working with Chlo, she led the project to improve the GCP image testing, specifically around the verification of Google Guest Agent functionality so she probably has the most context of all at Ubuntu to be able to confidently state whether a Google Guest Agent change is ready for upload.

Chlo has proven time and time again worthy of the trust needed for upload rights. I do not have PPU for google-guest-agent so I can not list myself as a proper endorsement but I do have PPU for livecd-rootfs which I hope adds some weight to my comments.

– philroche 2025-06-13 12:45:29

Endorsements

:building_construction:

5 Likes
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Chlo is one of the most amazing people I get to collaborate inside Canonical and outside the Ubuntu Security Team. Always friendly, always eager to learn and to get things done, and more importantly always open to feedback.

I get to help Chlo whenever there’s a need for updating those google agent packages in a ESM release. Chlo always produce quality work and her updates went like a breeze.

Giving Chlo PPU for google’s agent will allow her to continue doing great work and I’m sure Chlo will continue to count on all of the uploaders, for whenever she has a doubt or needs help.

4 Likes
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Hi everyone,

I want to support Chloé Smith’s application for PPU rights on the Google Cloud agent packages.

While I am not involved in the packaging workflow myself, I work alongside Chloé in the CPC team and rely on the stability of these components. I want to highlight her strength as a problem solver beyond just the packaging context. Whether it is debugging complex runtime behaviors in the cloud or coordinating with upstream engineering, she consistently investigates root causes thoroughly rather than just applying quick fixes.

She acts with a high level of technical responsibility across our team’s broader engineering duties, and I fully trust her judgment and ownership of these packages.

+1 from me.

4 Likes
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I’d like to add a note of support for Chlo getting PPU rights. Chlo’s knowledge, skill, and expertise are essential to the successful maintenance of the relationship with GCP. She’s the senior engineer in this relationship, and, from a somewhat adjacent perspective, by all accounts knows the details of this relationship inside and out. Giving her PPU rights according to this application will greatly benefit our organization and Ubuntu generally. Slam dunk.

4 Likes
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Despite not working in the GCP squad directly with Chlo, as a CPC team member I have gotten the chance to see Chlo’s dedication, passion, and contributions to the delivery of images to Google and it is a pleasure to learn from her. I want to point out specifically how impressed I am by the knowledge she possesses on all the tooling (a LOT of tools) we as a team use to build, test, and publish images, familiarity with the processes around new image offerings and recurring tasks that the CPC team has to deal with - opening, closing, release of a suite.

Chlo is definitely one of the people I am always confident will have an answer to my question even if it does not directly relate to her work; she is never hesitant to provide assistance or code reviews even when she is less familiar with the respective codebase. To me this speaks to her ability of understanding and owning complex codebases - which I am strongly confident is a great skill to have for her PPU rights.

1 Like
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I will join the meeting live, and I endorse this application.

My role has been both as a sponsor for Chloé’s packages, and as an SRU reviewer.

My sponsorships: https://udd.debian.org/cgi-bin/ubuntu-sponsorships.cgi?render=html&sponsor=*senack*&sponsor_search=name&sponsoree=*kajiya*&sponsoree_search=name

Chloé really understands these packages, and the amount of testing the puts on these updates is immense. In the few cases where I had to ask for fixes, these were done and subsequent uploads, for other version updates, didn’t repeat them.

One of the challenges here is to review upstream changes, because these packages integrate tightly with Ubuntu on the Google cloud, specifically in the boot process. A problem in this area has big implications, but on that front, the amount of testing CPC, and google, and Chloé, do, helps to detect any sort of bad impact this could have before an update.

Therefore I endorse Chloé’s application for PPU for this set of packages.

1 Like
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I would like to endorse Chlo Smith for Ubuntu package upload rights for the 4 Google Guest Agent packages.

I have known and worked with Chlo for about 4 years, including directly as a colleague during my time in the CPC team. In that period, I have seen her consistently demonstrate strong engineering skills, excellent judgement, and meaningful growth in her understanding of Ubuntu’s distro and packaging process & workflow.

Chlo has taken ownership of the 4 Google Guest Agent packages end-to-end – handling new upstream releases, performing all required packaging updates, carrying out the necessary verification steps, building and validating images, and coordinating the final delivery to the our partners. These packages are not straightforward; they involve several exceptional processes (like vendoring, upstream release backport), and non-standard packaging paths (the whole Golang system in earlier releases like Bionic and Focal is a mess and needs quite a lot of patches to build). Chloe understands these complexities thoroughly and navigates them with confidence and care. And when it doubt, she doesn’t hesitate in reaching out.

I am confident that Chloe is fully prepared to take on upload rights for these 4 packages, and I strongly support her application.

1 Like