Belated Introduction

[Michael Melhem <mi...@apache.org>]

Dear Cocoon Community,

Apparently its traditional for new committers to give an introduction
mail, so here is mine.

Firstly, I must say that Im delighted to have been voted
Cocoon committer.

Its an honour to be recognized by your peers and
to be part of the Cocoon cummunity. Despite occasional bickering,
there is a *real* sense of community here, which is probably
Cocoons most valuable asset.

Regular face to face meeting help to nurture this spirit of community. I
can say from personal experience that in general Cocooners are great
bunch of people.

A brief history (of me?):

I was always interested in computers ever since I can remember. Like
a lot of people my age (29 already!), my first computer was the
Commodore 64!! I dont know what part those early 80's flicks such
as Tron, and "War Games" had in influencing what path my professional
life would take, but they certianly featured.

Fastforward a few years...and im studying Pure Mathemetics and Computer
Science at the Universtiy of Sydney. I also did post grad
computer science by doing an extra honours year (and did consider doing a
Phd). This is where I developed my strong interest in Java and was
introduced to Linux..

Hit that fastforward button again..

In late 1999, for reasons that now totally escape me, I gave up
Sydney and its beautiful sunny beaches to come live and work in Frankfurt
Germany (am I crazy?)..  but perhpas that was a good thing because I got
to work with (and help introduce) Open Source technologies into
large corporations here.

Actually, I think that it was the history
and rich cultures of europe which drew me here. I have always had an
interest in such things. Ironically, when living away from home, not only
does one learn about ones adpoted land, but one also learn about ones own
country by finally having something to contrast it with....ok enough self
indulgent waffle.

Im a total Cocoon fan, I believe that Cocoon
potentially has a very bright future in front of it, especially now
that it incorporates flow control thanks to Ovidiu Predescu and others.

I hope I can contribute to the success of Cocoon even in my own small way.

Best Regards,
Michael Melhem

(Ps Actually I think my greatest contribution to Cocoon to date had been
the idea for a MEN OF COCOON calendar..hmmm ;)



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