Masen Marshall, the Ultimate Linux Guru, has a special laptop


Masen Marshall, pictured above, is not your ordinary Linux user. No, he’s the Ultimate Linux Guru, a title bestowed upon him by his significant contributions to the Linux.com user community. He’s seen here holding a laptop signed by Linux creator Linus Torvalds. All of the stickers and bling you’ve added to your laptop are now decidedly second rate.

Linux Foundation Announces 2010 Linux.com Linux Gurus

Gurus recognized for contributions to the Linux.com community; Ultimate Guru gets laptop signed by Torvalds

SAN FRANCISCO, March 23, 2010 – The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux, today announced the Top Five 2010 Linux.com Linux Gurus, including the Ultimate Linux Guru who is the Linux.com member who accumulated the most contribution and participation points over the last year.

The 2010 Linux.com Linux Gurus are:

§ Ultimate Linux Guru Masen Marshall (MasenM). Marshall is a full-time systems administrator at a K-12 school district. He also runs a consulting business (http://www.sutoroot.com/) focused on helping small and medium business build Linux infrastructures. As the Ultimate Linux Guru, Marshall has received a fully loaded Linux laptop signed by Linux creator Linus Torvalds.

§ Linux Guru Kunal P.Bharati (kunal) works at Raw Engineering and teaches Unix to Computer Science students. He is also a moderator for the North Mumbai GNU/Linux Users Group mailing list.

§ Linux Guru Andrea Benini (ben) has been a systems administrator for nearly 20 years and today holds that title, along with product manager, at Pluriservice.

§ Linux Guru Matthew Fillpot (mfillpot) is a Reports and Training Specialist at AvisBudget Group and is a Linux.com moderator. Fillpot is also a member of the Tide Water Unix/Linux User Group in Norfolk, Va.

§ Dennis Wiesmann (Emperor) is a student based in Germany who uses Ubuntu Linux and Linux Mint.

The Linux.com Gurus are awarded their status based on points accumulated by contributing to a variety of activities on the site. By providing support and information to Linux users looking for answers, writing articles and blogs, moderating forums and groups, and collaborating with peers (among other activities), Linux.com members are thrust into the community spotlight and receive a unique and highly respected recognition that can advance their careers.

The Top Five Gurus will receive invitations to attend this year’s Linux Foundation’s Collaboration Summit where they will participate in the annual Linux.com Planning Meeting. The meeting will focus on ongoing improvements for the important community resource and will provide a forum in which the 2010 Linux.com Community Survey (http://www.linux.com/community/contests-and-polls/surveys/linuxdotcom-community-survey-2010) results can be reviewed. The Collaboration Summit is an invitation only, exclusive event and takes place April 14-16, 2010 in San Francisco.

Each of the Top Five Gurus will also receive digital Guru badges to further market their skills to potential employers and demonstrate their status among peers. The Top 50 Linux.com Linux Gurus are showcased here: http://www.linux.com/community/linux-gurus/top-gurus.

“In today’s culture of transparency, public contributions are the new resume,” said Amanda McPherson, vice president of marketing and developer programs, The Linux Foundation. “These five Gurus have helped Linux users around the globe by sharing their knowledge and being helpful moderators of a popular community-driven site, further increasing their profiles.”

The program totals points earned from February 16 through February 15 of each year. More information about the Linux.com Linux Guru program, including “Guru” point values, is available at http://www.linux.com/welcome-community.

Popular Linux.com resources include the recently announced Merchandise Store, the Jobs Board and daily tips and tutorials, among others. For more information, please visit http://www.linux.com.