From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Dec 14 02:41:41 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6743616A407; Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:41:41 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from dayton@brooklyn.cuny.edu) Received: from outbound.mailhop.org (outbound.mailhop.org [63.208.196.171]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 95B5843CA5; Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:40:06 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from dayton@brooklyn.cuny.edu) Received: from client17.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu ([146.245.249.227] helo=hurt.localhost) by outbound.mailhop.org with esmtpsa (TLSv1:AES256-SHA:256) (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1GugXR-000LP0-Ve; Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:41:38 -0500 Received: from hurt.localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by hurt.localhost (Postfix) with ESMTP id A800F171D8; Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:41:34 -0500 (EST) X-Mail-Handler: MailHop Outbound by DynDNS X-Originating-IP: 146.245.249.227 X-Report-Abuse-To: abuse@dyndns.com (see http://www.mailhop.org/outbound/abuse.html for abuse reporting information) X-MHO-User: theclones Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:41:34 -0500 Message-ID: From: dayton@brooklyn.cuny.edu To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Cc: freebsd-questions-request@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <20061213232259.2190816A621@hub.freebsd.org> References: <20061213232259.2190816A621@hub.freebsd.org> User-Agent: Wanderlust/2.10.1 (Watching The Wheels) SEMI/1.14.6 (Maruoka) FLIM/1.14.6 (Marutamachi) APEL/10.6 Emacs/21.3 (i386--freebsd) MULE/5.0 (SAKAKI) MIME-Version: 1.0 (generated by SEMI 1.14.6 - "Maruoka") Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Subject: Re: freebsd-questions Digest, Vol 158, Issue 10 X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:41:41 -0000 I am glad to recommend Roman. I have worked with Roman for more than 4 years as a student in class, on independent projects, and now as his Masters thesis advisor. I'll begin with a little background. Each Spring I teach a course called "System Administration". I lecture on operating systems, file systems, networks, and hardware. But most significantly we spend 3 or more hours per week in a laboratory with networked computers on which the students (1 or 2 per machine) perform various system and network administrative tasks. Most students find the experience refreshing because of the unfettered access they are given to the machines and the network in the labs. Typically, a few students each year approach me at the end of the term seeking additional projects or independent study in the lab. In the Spring of 2002, Roman took the course doing well and getting an A. As the term ended, Roman and another student, asked about possible projects. We decided on changing one of the major projects in the system administration course. This involved development of a tool for specifying installation parameteters for FreeBSD and then performing the installation. They worked hard on this project and ended with a working tool. At the end of the Spring 2003 term, Roman and another student, Aleks, asked about possible projects. They were particularly interested in the inner workings of the operating system. After some discussion we decided on that they would investigate the Unix Network File System (NFS) to see if it was appropriate for a project I've been thinking of for some time. They had no previous experience with programs at this level. They set to work, consulting with me as needed and by the the end of the summer were working deep within the NFS code. In the end, they demonstrated convincingly that NFS would not work as I had hoped. That that particular avenue was cut off, was disappointing to me, but does not, of course, reflect negatively on their work or effort. Their work was outstanding. Roman and Aleks worked worked very hard and productively together. This is why I must speak of both. I have found that in group projects, usually one student dominates the group both intellectually and in effort. This can sometimes make it difficult when it comes time to evaluate the individual contribution and effort. With Roman and Aleks, there is no such problem. Each of them worked extremely hard and contributed significantly to the project and they both deserve full marks for the outstanding work. I can say, though, that Roman has emerged as the leader in the group. In addition, Roman, is usually the first to understand new concepts and their significance. In the Fall of 2003, I received new computers and new networking equipment for the lab. Roman and Aleks, along with a third student, took on the task of setting up the new equipment. This is of great value to me and demonstrates their commitment and effort. Furthermore, they have solved a longstanding problem within the lab. Namely that I have always encouraged other faculty to make use of the lab for their classes, the nature of the system administration course presented a problem. Several times each term some students will inadvertently wipe out the disk on their system or get their system in such a state that starting from a clean disk is the best alternative. This, of course, does not make for a stable situation for other users of the lab. Further complicating matters is that we want to support three different operating systems on the machines. In addition to setting up the lab this last Fall, Roman and Aleks, developed a scheme to manage this. Basically, any of the operating systems can be restored on any of the computers within five to ten minutes. Thus, regardless of what one of my students might do to the software on a system, the computer can be made ready for a different class in short order. The motivation for this effort was mostly theirs and they spent many hours experimenting and struggling to develop it. It is an other outstanding effort. Over the last 3 months, Roman has been working on his Masters thesis with me. This project involves modifying the kernel of the FreeBSD operating system (FreeBSD is a version of Unix). Roman is making steady progress on this project. I have worked with Roman quite a bit over the these years. He has had remarkable development in his skills, knowledge, and confidence. He is personally pleasant. He has been very responsible in all regards. I find it hard to speak too highly of him. I have taught well over a thousand students both undergraduate and graduate. I have worked with several dozen on independent projects and theses. Of these, only a handful have really stood out. Roman is one of these, well within the top 5% of the students I've known. I have no doubt that he will do well in your company. Sincerely, Dayton Clark Dayton Clark CIS Department dayton@brooklyn.cuny.edu Brooklyn College/CUNY 718.951.5000 x2045 Brooklyn, New York 11210 718.951.4842 (fax) >>>>> "David" == David Grimsby writes: David> Hi, My name is David Grimsby and I'm looking to hire Roman David> Makogon, and was hoping you could provide a David> reference. Specifically could you answer some questions; David> What is your relationship to Roman? David> Can you rate his technical skills? David> If you had the chance to hire him would you? David> Anything else you can tell me about him would be great. David> Thanks for your time, David> Dave 650-569-7516