Hello and welcome to my site. I am known Sense Egbert Hofstede—which is pronounced [ˈsɛn.sə ˈɛɣ.bərt ˈɦɔf.steː.də]. For my whole life I have lived in the province of Friesland, but I was born in the academic hospital of the city Groningen, one of a twin.
I read Computer Science at the University of Groningen. From January 2006 until January 2011 I was very active in the Ubuntu community. After developing the new organisational structure of Ubuntu Nederland, I was Chair of the Dutch local Ubuntu community for a few months. At the moment all that is left is my position of Translation Coordinator for the Frisian language at the GNOME project.
I have used several nicknames in my childhood, starting with—in rapid succession— seh10, Elektron, Ytrecq and Ertial. Around my thirteenth birthday, I finally chose qense and stuck with that until 15 July 2010 when I moved to use my first name (sense) where possible, otherwise opting for sehof and sensehofstede.
In 2008 I was diagnosed with a mild version of both Asperger’s Syndrome and ADD. Although I am very much aware of the down-sides of this condition, I most certainly do not feel handicapped or disabled. Through continuous reasoning and introspection I try to improve myself.
Education, work and skills
My native language is Dutch and I like to think of myself that I also speak some elementary Frisian. I am able to fully understand it. My English is fluent; I acquired the Certificate of Proficiency in English of the University of Cambridge’s ESOL programme in 2010, scoring an A.
My primary school was C.B.S. De Frissel in the village of Feanwâlden. After eight and a half year there, I went to Christelijk Gymnasium Beyers Naudé in the Frisian capital Leeuwarden. At school I was one of the maintainers of the website, of the signage system and of the iMac lab. In May 2011 I passed my final Dutch VWO exams, reading biology, chemistry, Dutch, economics, English, geography, Latin, mathematics B, history and physics.
In the holiday between secondary school and university I worked at a the Poiesz supermarket in nearby Kollum, stocking shelves. Apart from that, I also gained working experience while doing a few small web design jobs for family and acquaintances.
Currently I am in my first year at the University of Groningen, where I read Computer Science.
IT history
My first encounter with a computer was at the home of my mother’s parents, where my grandfather had a PC running MS-DOS. A while later our family got its first own MS-DOS PC. I mostly remember it from a small detective game we played on it together and from sitting behind it on my own, desperately trying to get it to do something interesting.
Our first computer of any real use was a Compaq running Windows 95. The dial-up connection was limiting the possibilities, but it was an exciting toy for sure! However, it was not until we got our first computer running Windows XP and took a cable internet subscription, that I really became interested in computers. A tutorial about HTML in a children’s magazine introduced me to website building and quickly thereafter I learned my first PHP while playing with phpBB.
My skills increased significantly when I got my first own computer. An uncle and I assembled from spare parts in the summer holiday between primary and secondary school. It was a fun and instructive experience to get this PC running.
It didn’t take long, however, for me to become frustrated by the snail’s pace of Windows XP and I started to look around for alternatives. My first encounter with Linux was when I tried to install a graphical shell in Debian and failed. After reading on Tweakers.net about this relatively new distribution that was handing out CDs, I ordered a free Ubuntu 5.10 disc. It was up and running in no time! In January 2006 I joined the Ubuntu community. From that point until 30 January 2011, I was increasingly active in the Ubuntu community, contributing to Ubuntu Bug Control, the Ayatana project, small patches, tuition and I was sponsored by Canonical Ltd. to attend two Ubuntu Developer Summits in 2010, in Brussels and in Orlando.
At 30 October 2010 I became LoCo Contact for Ubuntu Nederland, after having slowly increased my involvement in the Dutch Ubuntu community during the previous months. After having presided over the much needed reorganisation of Ubuntu Nederland, I was elected the first Chair of the local community in April 2011.
30 January 2011 I stopped my activities for the international Ubuntu community due to declined motivation and because I wanted to spend more time on the preparations for my final exams in May 2011. In June the Council of Ubuntu Nederland removed me from my position of Chair due to inactivity.
In September 2011 I became active again. I rejoined Ubuntu Bug Control and was elected as a councillor for Ubuntu Nederland.