I’m happy to announce that Ikey Doherty is joining the paid-staff and will be working full time on Linux Mint, starting from today.

Ikey started getting involved with the project as an IRC operator. He later joined the development team and participated in many sub-projects, bringing improvements to some of the tools developed for Linux Mint, fixing bugs and designing new features for Linux Mint 10. He played a major role in the design and the implementation of the Backup Manager and the Debian Live Installer and his full presence within Linux Mint will have a significant impact on its development.

He also designed the Live Debian base used by LMDE and he’s experienced in maintaining distributions. A discussion is ongoing within the team at the moment, to decide which editions will be maintained by Ikey in the future.

It makes a big difference when a major contributor switches from giving his spare time to working full time with us. The support we’re getting from the community (in donations, sponsorships but also in traffic, activity and what generates advertising income) made it possible for me to quit my job and to fully focus on Linux Mint. Today, I’m joined by Ikey and there’s now two of us to tackle every aspect of the distribution. Whether it’s in the daily tasks (bug triaging, communication, moderation, maintenance) or in improving the distribution (development, design, packaging), Ikey has well-rounded skills, learns fast and shares that passion for Linux, development and technology which makes work fun every day.

We’re looking at each others and we already know this is going to change Linux Mint. You’ve been used to see innovation and development every 6 months, but also delays in releasing editions, lack of responsiveness in bug triaging and in tackling infrastructure and server issues. We can now take on bigger projects, aim higher when it comes to innovation for the next release, and guarantee quick releases not just for the Gnome editions, but extended to other desktops as well. We can do this while maintaining everything else as well, and this thanks to the fact that our income now allows us to have not only myself, but also Ikey on the job.

I’d like to thank all the people who support and use Linux Mint as they contribute whether directly or indirectly in creating the income which makes this possible. Good luck to Ikey on his first day and his future with Linux Mint. There’s nothing else I’d rather do than work for Linux Mint, it’s a real privilege to be doing it, and it’s a great feeling to welcome somebody else in this fantastic project.

Thanks everybody!

Both 32-bit and 64-bit ISO images were approved. The Linux Mint 10 KDE Edition, featuring KDE 4.6, will be publicly available this week as an RC release.