Awakened in Vienna

I had the opportunity to attend Linux Plumbers in Vienna this year, and it was great to finally meet Stefan and Damien in person after two years since my internship project began. It reminded me of something I had long forgotten—the desire to learn and change. Ever since I started working full-time and settling into a new city, I’ve been busy finding a long-term apartment, getting through the probation period, applying for a residence card, and so on. During my free time, I would explore new places and enjoy the diverse cultural vibes. I found a sense of serenity in my everyday life by watching leaves fall or simply walking to the office. Now, it’s time to move forward.

During the conference, I was engulfed in numerous sessions and slides, with many questions arising both before and after. To be honest, I didn’t fully understand several topics, as they seemed quite distant from what I’ve been working on. But I know things will become clearer after gaining a few more years of experience.

I also take my first step towards overcoming my fear of public speaking. I gave a short talk about one of my past projects, but it derailed when my mind went blank halfway through. In the end, I had to read from the script I had prepared beforehand to continue the presentation. It’s okay to fail—I just need more practice. I was really touched that Stefan and Damien encouraged me afterward, just like they did when I first started working on open-source projects and felt lost about the direction of my career. My manager was also supportive and understanding. I’m starting to learn what leadership truly is—pulling people together.

It’s very dangerous to work on a project in an enclosed environment. That’s why communication and exchanging ideas are so important. Even though I’m an introvert, I find it fascinating how the gathering of opensource people shared all sorts of things, from work projects to conference experiences. It’s one of few times when I am not afraid of being in a group. When people asked about my current project, I struggled to deliver the right message. I found myself saying things like, “It serves as the transportation layer of Ceph” or “It distributes IOs to many servers.” While these statements are true, they lacked key details. After returning to work, I realized a more accurate description is: it’s a kernel module that distributes and replicates data over a block-based storage cluster. Besides, I need to look into more design ideas and similar projects so I can gain a better grasp of the overall architecture and possible scenarios of failures or bottlenecks.

Outside of the conference, it was pleasant to stroll through the city, soaking in the architecture and the vibrant atmosphere of everyday life.

The museums and galleries were well worth visiting, offering fresh perspectives on a variety of subjects. It was my first time seeing paintings by Monet, whose impressionist artwork I love. Though, I was a bit disappointed to find only two of his paintings at the Albertina.