rn-130: include interview with Lucas Seiki Oshiro

Author: sivaraam

rev_news/drafts/edition-130.md

@@ -29,9 +29,180 @@ This edition covers what happened during the months of November and December 202
 ### Support
 -->
 
-<!---
-## Developer Spotlight:
--->
+## Developer Spotlight: Lucas Seiki Oshiro
+
+* **Who are you and what do you do?**
+
+  My name is Lucas Oshiro, I'm [one of the three](https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/programs/2025/projects/fGgMYHwl)
+  GSoC '25 participants working on Git. I'm from São Paulo, Brazil
+  and I'm a bachelor and master in Computer Science from the
+  [University of São Paulo](https://www5.usp.br/#english). I don't
+  have only one specific interest in programming topics, I enjoy
+  several different topics, like: lower-lever C code (like we do for Git),
+  FP languages (especially Haskell), play with network simulators, data
+  analysis, operating systems, databases and so on.
+
+* **How did you initially become interested in contributing to Git,
+  and what motivated you to choose it as your GSoC project?**
+
+  Well, it's a long story... I think that it dates back to 2017, in a
+  Computer Networks assignment at my university. My partner in that
+  assignment was [Matheus Tavares](https://matheustavares.gitlab.io/posts/gsoc-final-report),
+  who participated in [GSoC '19 on Git](https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/archive/2019/projects/4787791739748352).
+  At the time, we needed to study a vulnerability and how it was fixed.
+  We chose [CVE-2017-1000117](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/cve-2017-1000117),
+  which was vulnerability in Git. That was my first time reading Git
+  source code.
+
+  Two years later, I was a member of [group focused on contributing to Free/Open-Source software](https://flusp.ime.usp.br)
+  at my University. I sent a patch to Git at the time, but I needed to
+  focus on other stuff and I couldn't finish it.
+
+  After that, I started to work as a back-end software engineer and I
+  witnessed several Git-related problems. My two previous experiences with
+  Git's source code made me want to understand what was happening and
+  delving into its internals, so I could help other developers from my
+  company when something unexpected happened with Git.
+
+  This way, Git always felt like the right choice.
+
+* **How do you feel your contribution has impacted the Git community
+  or the broader open source ecosystem?**
+
+  My GSoC project was to create the new command [`git repo info`](https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/archive/2025/projects/fGgMYHwl)).
+  It was released in Git 2.52.0 and, like many other new Git features, I
+  expect it will take some time to be widely adopted, since it's only
+  available in bleeding-edge repositories. But I expect that it will be
+  useful for forges, CIs, local tools, scripts, and other tools that
+  depend on Git.
+
+* **Is there any aspect of Git that you now see differently after
+  having contributed to it?**
+
+  I can't think of anything that I see differently after GSoC, but my
+  previous contacts with Git's source code made me realize the importance
+  of having a good commit history with good commit messages. It also made
+  me understand how powerful Git is as a debugging and searching tool.
+
+* **How do you balance your contributions with other responsibilities
+  like work or school?**
+
+  This year, I was more focused on finishing my master's research and I
+  didn't have too many conflicts with GSoC, so I could focus on my
+  master's when my patches were under review. However, I must admit that
+  one of the reasons that I didn't apply to GSoC before was that, here
+  in Brazil, we typically have final exams in June, which makes it hard
+  to balance them with something else.
+
+* **Can you share how GSoC helped enhance your technical and
+  non-technical skills (like communication, project management,
+  etc.)?
+
+  I see Git as a product created by developers, for developers, and I
+  think that here we sometimes need to do the work that in other contexts
+  would be done by product owners and designers. I felt that especially
+  during code reviews, which were often more focused on product and design
+  decisions rather than the code itself. I had to learn how to discuss
+  these kinds of decisions, always aiming to do what is best for Git
+  and its users.
+
+* **What was the biggest challenge you faced during your contributions
+  to Git, and how did you overcome it?**
+
+  I think that the biggest challenge was the complete redesigns of
+  `git repo info` during the GSoC period, which made me re-write it from
+  scratch several times. I think this was a consequence of my previous
+  answer and that this challenge was solved itself.
+
+* **Have you thought about mentoring new GSoC / Outreachy students?**
+
+  Yes, it would be very nice!
+
+* **If you could get a team of expert developers to work full time on
+  something in Git for a full year, what would it be?**
+
+  Git is amazing and I think we all agree that it makes the programmers'
+  lives easier. It would be great if we had a GUI wrapping Git but
+  targeting non-technical users.
+
+* **If you could remove something from Git without worrying about
+  backwards compatibility, what would it be?**
+
+  Perhaps commands that accumulate responsibilities, like `git checkout`,
+  `git reset` and `git rev-parse`. They make sense from the Git
+  perspective, but I think they are confusing from the users
+  perspective.
+
+* **What upcoming features or changes in Git are you particularly
+  excited about?**
+
+  Some that come to my mind are:
+
+  - Patrick Steinhardt's new [`git history`](https://lore.kernel.org/git/20250819-b4-pks-history-builtin-v1-0-9b77c32688fe@pks.im/)
+    command: rewriting history is essential to keep the repository sane
+    and useful as a data storage, if done correctly. Currently we do that
+    through interactive rebase but I think it can be intimidating for less
+    experienced users. Jujutsu proposes a more straightforward way to do
+    that and it's nice to see Patrick bringing it to Git.
+
+  - Justin Tobler's [new `git repo structure` command](https://public-inbox.org/git/20251217175404.37963-1-jltobler@gmail.com/):
+    of course I'm interested in this subcommand since it is the sibling of
+    my GSoC project.  But it's not only because of that: a Git repository is
+    a very rich source of information and `git repo structure` will be a
+    powerful tool to retrieve it.
+
+  - Julia Evans's [contributions to documentation](https://public-inbox.org/git/?q=f%3A%22Julia+Evans%22&r=):
+    Julia has been producing high-quality content about several programming
+    topics for years. I'm happy to see Git being documented by someone so
+    committed to spreading knowledge and who knows how to explain advanced
+    concepts using a simple language.
+
+* **What is your favorite Git-related tool/library, outside of Git
+  itself?**
+
+  I use [delta](https://github.com/dandavison/delta) a lot, I like the way
+  it highlights diffs. Other tools that I find interesting are [Jujutsu](https://docs.jj-vcs.dev/latest/)
+  and [Magit](https://magit.vc/), but I don't use them too much.
+
+* **What is your toolbox for interacting with the mailing list and for
+  development of Git?**
+
+  I like desktop mail clients, but I don't have a strong preference. On
+  Linux, I use Thunderbird. On Mac, I use Apple Mail. I also have some
+  GMail filters for classifying the messages (patches, What's Cooking and
+  Rev News announcements).
+
+  However, those mail clients don't have code syntax highlighting and it's
+  hard to read the patches inside them. For that purpose, I use
+  [patch-hub](https://github.com/kworkflow/patch-hub), a TUI for reviewing
+  patches from kernel mailing lists (including Git).
+
+* **How do you envision your own involvement with Git or other open
+  source projects in the future?**
+
+  There are some things I want to finish in `git repo info` and I
+  still send patches for it. I enjoyed contributing to Git and I
+  don't want to stop here.
+
+  Outside Git development, I'll give an advanced course on Git next
+  month. It will be a great opportunity to share what I've learned here
+  with other people.
+
+* **What is your advice for people who want to start Git development?
+  Where and how should they start?**
+
+  Read the [Git Internals chapter from Pro Git](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Plumbing-and-Porcelain),
+  follow everything described in [Hacking Git](https://git.github.io/Hacking-Git/),
+  and work on a [microproject](https://git.github.io/SoC-2025-Microprojects/).
+
+* **Would you recommend other students or contributors to participate
+  in the GSoC, Outreachy or other mentoring programs, working on Git?
+  Why? Do you have advice for them?**
+
+  Yes. I mean, I've already recommended some people from my university to
+  apply to GSoC or Outreachy on Git and gave some tips to them. Some of
+  them have already sent patches that were accepted.
+
 
 ## Other News