Hero Open Source Developers 2015-2016
One of the goals in Sony’s open device projects is to replace as many pre-built binaries as possible with features and functionalities that can be built from AOSP source code. In this on-going work, we have received important contributions from many of you open source community developers. To recognise your work, we will acknowledge a selected Hero Open Source Developer at the end of every second month in 2015.
The Hero Open Source Developer will be the person who has submitted most accepted commits to some of our projects on the SonyXperiaDev GitHub, during the two preceding months. The Hero Open Source Developer will be presented on Developer World, and will receive a device from Sony as a reward.
To take part and potentially become a Hero Open Source Developer, simply submit your commits to our Open Device projects on the SonyXperiaDev GitHub. Only commits to the following gits count toward the total number of submissions:
SonyXperiaDev kernel project SonyXperiaDev Yukon device project SonyXperiaDev Rhine device project SonyXperiaDev Shinano device project
Anyone submitting to our open source projects can be selected as Hero Open Source Developer, except for Sony Mobile partners, or employees working with Developer World.
List of Hero Open Source Developers
David Viteri
Awarded 1st November (for the period September-October 2016)
David Viteri, of Milan, Italy, is a three time Hero Open Source Developer. He was previously selected due to the large number of commits to our kernel and device projects. This time, David made extensive contributions across all platforms and spent countless hours debugging. He feels the program is important and hopes he can continue to contribute for many years to come.
Adrian Dubuc-Caldirac
Awarded 1st September 2016 (for the period July–August 2016)
Adrian is a 23-year-old student from France who is currently studying his fifth year of engineering in Electronics and Embedded Systems. He was awarded the title as Hero Developer for contributing a way to access recovery mode on Sony AOSP devices. Adrian spends a lot of time on CyanogenMod development and is currently working on several Sony devices as well as AOSP 7.0. He enjoys the collaboration opportunities within the AOSP community and says that the recognition as Hero Developer is both appreciated and unexpected.
Shane Francis
Awarded 1st August 2016 (for the period May–June 2016)
Shane is a 25 year old, self-employed software developer from Norfolk, England who recently became a father for the first time. Shane was named a hero developer thanks to his large contribution of code enabling the AOSP Xperia Z5 phone series to make use of their fingerprint sensors. He enjoys working with friendly and talented people on the Open devices project and looks forward to contributing more in the future.
Florent Revest
Awarded 1st May 2016 (for the period March-April 2016)
Florent is a 19 year old student living in Toulouse, France. He made a large contribution to Sony’s open source community by bringing the support of Broadcom SoC into Sony’s unified kernel codebase, allowing the unified kernel to work on the Sony Smartwatch 3. Florent loves developing for smartwatches and spends most of his free time doing it. He was delighted to find out that he could collaborate with Sony’s open source community in his efforts. After receiving his title as a Hero Developer, Florent tells us: “I feel proud of having contributed to the Sony’s unified kernel. But I’m also grateful to Sony for this fantastic opportunity.”
Humberto Borba
Awarded January 2016 (for the period November-December 2015)
Humberto Borba from Brazil was previously recognised by submitting 46 commits to our kernel and device projects. This time, Humberto submitted 61 commits, earning him the title and an Xperia device.
“I am very happy to get recognised once again,” Humberto said about getting the top spot. “The title is just driving me to spend more time on Sony projects, and it gives me more respect as developer on Open Sources projects.”
David Viteri
Awarded 1st November 2015 (for the period September–Oct 2015)
When David Viteri earned top honours as the March-April Hero Open Source Developer, he contributed 79 accepted commits to our kernel and device projects. This time, David contributed 121 accepted commits to our Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z3 AOSP projects. David says he’s very pleased once again to win this special recognition from Sony, and he is very excited with the progress of the Lollipop project and looks forward to making similar contributions to Marshmallow’s progress.
Erik Castricum
Awarded 1st September 2015 (for the period July–August 2015)
Erik is a 43-year-old second-line service desk supervisor at KPN, one of the largest telecom providers in the Netherlands. He is married and has two young kids, aged 2 and 3. Erik describes himself as always busy. When not working or spending time with his family, there is always time for open source Android development. Erik says that being selected as the Hero Open Source Developer motivates him to keep on contributing.
Humberto Borba
Awarded 1st July 2015 (for the period May–June 2015)
Humberto is 39-year-old developer and lives in Brasilia, Brazil. He’s a senior analyst for a technology company and has an educational background in Computer Information Systems. He’s also a member of Android development teams including CyanogenMod and OmniROM. His hobbies include fitness (walking and swimming), cooking for his family, music (he is a drummer), and Android development. Humberto’s main challenge is splitting his time between all his activities. Humberto says, “When I’m not spending time with my wife and three pretty daughters, I’m always looking for opportunities to work on Android projects!”
David Viteri
Awarded 1st May 2015 (for the period March–April 2015)
David is 23 years old and lives in Milan, Italy. He is originally from Ecuador and is a student working towards a degree in Web Design. He has been developing custom ROMs for several years, but started developing for AOSP when he received a Sony Xperia Z1. David loves working on the Sony AOSP project and loves all things Open Source in the Android world. He hopes to continue developing here and eventually get AOSP fully working, and credits Sony and FreeXperia team with helping to make good progress on Xperia AOSP project devices (yukon, rhine and shinano targets).
Marin Spajić
Awarded 1st May 2015 (for the period March–April 2015)
Marin is a 16-year-old high-school student, and his interest in phone modding started with a few Java-based Sony Ericsson phones, where he was mostly having fun with theming apps and UI. Marin’s awareness of Android began in 2008 with Google’s first Android phone, the G1. Two years later, he began developing with a Google OEM device, where he learned Android basics, structure, and source-building. Last year, he came back to Sony, primarily for the AOSP project and its good developer communication. Marin says, “I feel honoured to be recognised and thank Sony for providing this opportunity to support open source initiatives.”
Abhinav Jhanwar
Awarded 1st March 2015 (for the period January–February 2015)
Abhinav is a 17 year old student living in Raipur, India. His interest for Android development began at the age of 15 and he’s a fast learner who’s interested in custom aftermarket Android firmware. Abhinav likes to help other developers with their device trees, kernel sources and pretty much anything where he can share his knowledge.
Abhinav’s interest in open source development was awakened when he got his first Android mobile, an Xperia Mini Pro. His interest grew and soon he developed his first custom ROM for Xperia P. Now he is a frequent contributor to our Open Device projects, working among other things with kernel cleanup, and Xperia T2 Ultra.