My name is Joe Brockmeier, though most of my friends and colleagues call me Zonker. I’m a Linux geek, and have been using Linux since 1996 when I discovered Slackware Linux, and have been working with Linux and writing about it since about 1999.

I’ve written for Linux Magazine, Sys Admin, IBM developerWorks, Linux Weekly News, Enterprise Linux Magazine, NewsFactor, ComputorEdge, Corante, ZDNet, Unix Review, NewsForge.com, Linux.com, and a few other publications that slip my mind at the moment. I’ve also written and contributed to books about Slackware Linux, DocBook, Linux Networking, and other open source topics.

After covering Linux and open source for nine years as a tech journalist, I was pleased to have the opportunity to join Novell as openSUSE Community Manager. My job here will be to serve as an advocate for the openSUSE community to Novell, to make sure the openSUSE community has the tools it needs to function and grow, to put the word out about openSUSE and what’s going on within the project, and to promote openSUSE.