Elizabeth K. Joseph

I lead the Open Source Program Office for IBM Z (mainframes) at IBM.

❤️ Linux, open source, mainframes, typewriters, and trains, rights for all people 🏳️‍🌈

Wrote books on Ubuntu & OpenStack.

"Shy, and remains a somewhat odd person."

She/her. KN6QGG.

San Francisco ✈️ Philadelphia

Opinions mine.

Blog: https://princessleia.com/journal
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/people/pleia2/

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Last Notes

2026-06-11 16:34:20 GMT

My house is perpetually a mess. Clean. But a mess. Art projects, shoes and coats everywhere, toys, Lego, "science experiments" and just a lot of STUFF. We like stuff.
But I don't feel great about the constant chaos.
Today we had a new cleaner start and she had really kind words about all the kiddo art and chaos of a lived-in house 🥹 I'm going to try and take it to heart.

2026-06-04 21:54:30 GMT

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Almost done!
All the pieces are in place and everything seems to mechanically work as expected.
Now I just need to get the type arm typing the correct characters, correctly (something is off with my alignment, and the relationship to the index).
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/116/694/056/685/778/854/original/1988cfc8d82d2d2b.jpg

2026-05-06 03:00:41 GMT

How is it only Tuesday? It's been like a month since Saturday.

2026-04-23 04:08:39 GMT

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I made a lot of progress! I'm happy to say the carriage is now seated on the base, moves ok, and I'm on to part 3 of 3 in this assembly.
Alas, the evening concluded with failing to properly put on the alignment wheel, which is now missing a tooth because I put too much pressure on it.
The fit should be tight, but not THIS tight. Will print a new one and try again another evening. #typewriter #3dprinting
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/116/452/042/542/922/798/original/546b9e31be349599.jpg

2026-04-23 04:04:06 GMT

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Back to it! AMS clog was sorted and all my parts are now printed, I think.
Tonight's puzzle was figuring out where the wire goes in these pieces, aha! There's a hole for it spanning the whole 25.7cm piece.
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/116/452/029/360/555/920/original/e7d3e8f122f0e7b5.jpg

2026-04-05 19:17:35 GMT

Wow, Easter Sunday is a super chill day for air travel ✈️

2026-03-11 00:01:01 GMT

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Continuing to make progress on the 3d-printed Index #typewriter! I have completed most of the baseplate assembly and I've made progress on the carriage.
My current impasse might take some time to overcome though, since we have a few more parts to print, but there's a clogged component in our AMS that needs to be looked at 😱
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/116/207/594/938/980/716/original/5e5b04d54deceefe.jpg

2026-03-08 19:28:56 GMT

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This slide is a nice illustration
(though I'd swap punchcards for wiring, since punchcards do still transmit a programming language, and I tend to break it down a little further, C programmers can be quite snobby about Python)
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/116/195/188/809/956/908/original/911e419476886930.jpg

2026-03-08 19:22:12 GMT

I hate AI slop code as much as the rest of you. Really.
But I also say this a lot: With every evolution of interacting with computers, the last generation will say "that's not real programming"
Brendan O'Leary at SCALE wrote a whole talk about it! And how to approach AI assisted development ⭐
Slides from the talk are here: https://brendan.fyi/cobol

2026-02-25 23:17:21 GMT

Live demos are good for discovering what your brain will selectively fail to retrieve under pressure.
Like command flags that you've been using for a decade+

2026-02-24 15:45:59 GMT

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The plan is to send these to the winners of the 20th anniversary wallpaper contest for the 26.04 release the @npub1r3f…t0h7 team is running now, but I'll have to see how they turn out 🤞
https://xubuntu.org/news/releases/26.04/2026-02-18-xubuntu-anniversary-wallpaper-contests/

2026-02-24 15:44:22 GMT

So, I'm thinking of 3D printing a coin for the 20th anniversary of #Xubuntu :xubuntu:
But my CAD skills aren't where they need to be yet, I've tried!
Thinking the icon.svg on the front (via https://github.com/Xubuntu/xubuntu-marketing/tree/master/logo)
And on the back, the words:
"Xubuntu
20
Years"
The mouse and words should be raised and I'll be printing them in one color, the rest of the coin is another color. My printed does multicolor prints.
Anyone want to have a go? You'll get credit!

2026-02-22 17:58:54 GMT

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It's starting to look like an index typewriter!
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/116/115/577/742/196/378/original/dd7a91930fefa6e6.jpg

2026-02-21 19:33:37 GMT

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Had a bit of trouble printing the Paper Guide, even when we used glue on the plate, so MJ went with a big ole brim. That did it.
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/116/110/285/108/806/233/original/fef4f4246e8599e5.jpg

2026-02-21 04:52:09 GMT

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This evening's dilemma: "Hey yeah, I wedged these in real good... But are they supposed to be free-moving?"
Yes.
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/116/106/820/916/984/784/original/840985ac1b77ac07.jpg

2026-02-20 04:09:51 GMT

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There's a reason we don't make screws from plastic (PLA+) 😅
I appreciate the effort to make as much of this index #typewriter 3d printed as possible, but the mix of 3d printed hex screws and 3d printed holes? More than a couple stripped screws. Had to get out the pliers.

2026-02-20 02:42:54 GMT

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Some of my helpers on this 3d printed #typewriter project are more helpful than others.
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/116/100/648/811/025/944/original/60fc022e5c0d3f83.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/116/100/648/965/434/515/original/b5ced9f0e37c9e18.jpg

2026-02-19 04:01:44 GMT

I've begun assembly of my 3D printed index typewriter, but I have to go back to work tomorrow so this is going to take a while 😅
Ref: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7257020
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/116/095/290/114/920/728/original/35e956954a7e7617.jpg

2026-01-21 01:05:36 GMT

It's time to learn some CAD software so I can make the things I want to print on our 3D printer. Like a ribbon cover for one of my typewriters.
Needs to be open source and stable on Linux.
I know the learning curve will be steep, so I don't want to start climbing it with the wrong software.
What should I use?

2025-12-30 00:46:50 GMT

Some day I'll get used to seeing emojis in code.

2025-12-24 16:48:35 GMT

Fellow technical, geeky types who have found themselves in a position of leadership:
What books/courses actually helped you support a technical team?
I have a hard time taking corporate literature about team leadership skills seriously because I'm a cynical, technical IC. But I know it's not ALL junk.

2025-12-09 17:56:10 GMT

Fun fact: ThinkPads are call ThinkPads because there used to be actual IBM Think pads. Made out of paper.
(I found mine on eBay, they pop up from time to time)
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/115/690/890/732/324/763/original/289fb2035e873194.jpg

2025-11-17 19:14:21 GMT

There was a compromise of torrent downloads on Xubuntu.org last month 😱
It was identified and Downloads page disabled quickly, but here's the response a few of us on the @npub1r3f…t0h7 team put together over the weekend based on what we heard back from Canonical: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/xubuntu-users/2025-November/012210.html

2025-08-21 14:29:05 GMT

Our four year old sings:
"Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life's a spider dream"
Wait, what? Then again, I kind of like it better this way 🤔 🕷️

2025-06-22 13:37:49 GMT

I don't want the world to end, I have stuff I want to do.

2025-06-12 15:08:34 GMT

We recently learned that the Western Pacific Railroad Museum has a Run-A-Locomotive program where you actually get to operate a steam locomotive, and I think about that a lot. Like, A LOT.
https://museum.wplives.org/ral/

2025-06-10 21:52:03 GMT

I recently saw a highly accomplished woman I know demonstrating a new AI product that, of course, has a female name.
When the product launch was shared on LinkedIn, the C-level men didn't share the name of the woman doing the demo, in spite of her being in all the photos, just the name of the AI.
I'm still mad.

2025-05-27 16:07:26 GMT

I'm not quite old or domesticated enough to have a place where spare buttons are kept, but I'm getting close.

2025-04-09 18:44:32 GMT

Our six year old loves Knight Rider[0], so sometimes when we go out he has me put the theme song on repeat.
I have no complaints, actually.
[0] He found a KITT toy in my home office, and the rest is history.

2025-03-14 17:34:24 GMT

Feeling very festive with my Hamentashen earrings for Purim and dress for Pi day 😁
https://cdn.masto.host/floss/media_attachments/files/114/161/981/971/463/350/original/c5650565aacb97d7.jpg

2025-01-18 04:24:07 GMT

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My gallbladder scars took YEARS to fade, and I'm sure these bright pink new ones will be no different 😅
And I owe you an email, but I had appendicitis last month and I'm still catching up 😉

2025-01-17 20:34:08 GMT

6 weeks appendectomy post-op and I'm happy to say I'm fully recovered. I can lift things (and small people) again!
The 4-6 week recovery was no exaggeration for me though. The first 2 weeks were rough, and week 3 was no picnic either. At 4 weeks I was well enough to travel home from Philly with minimal discomfort, but the pain was definitely still there. It was only a few days ago that it finally disappeared for good.

2025-01-06 15:53:36 GMT

6 years ago I became a mother.
Happy Birthday to my first kiddo 🥳 who is a ton of fun, and I love the clever, kind person he's growing up to be 💕💕

2024-12-24 14:21:47 GMT

Team egg nog as coffee creamer 😋

2024-11-11 19:37:13 GMT

I won't buy the partially-working IBM Selectric II #typewriter on Facebook Marketplace because:
0. I don't have room for it
1. I already have a Selectric II
2. I don't have room for it
3. It cost me $400 to get my current one fixed (thanks again Berkeley Typewriter ❤️)
4. I don't have room for it
But the blue is so pretty 🥹

2024-09-24 04:01:29 GMT

I've been thinking a lot lately about why I like trains so much, and the cliché related to neurodiversity, and for me I've come up with:
1. I don't like driving
2. Trains are predictable (mostly, there's a schedule!)
3. I get to read, or daydream, or listen to podcasts, then I arrive, it's like time travel!
4. The rumble feels nice
5. I am on for a while, so I get curious about them, and that's fun for me
6. It can be solitary
Why do you like trains?

2024-08-14 16:13:06 GMT

Dear #OpenSource pals,
I need a metaphor or something to explain how diverse, distributed, and with various governance and contributor models, and release platforms, open source software communities are.
In my little OSPO for IBM Z I get questions from folks that seem to believe "the open source community" is one place/thing that we can ask questions to and get metrics from. And I think I'm so close to it that I'm failing to explain it well.

2024-06-11 15:53:19 GMT

I learned today via a mainframe group I'm part of that Lynn Conway has passed away at age 86.
She was an absolute legend in computing, and led an inspiring, authentic life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Conway