# Manuel Giraud

> research engineer

**Wikidata**: [Q125196811](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125196811)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/manuel-giraud

## Summary  
Manuel Giraud is a French research engineer, computer scientist and programmer who works at Nantes University and the CNRS Laboratory of Planetology and Geosciences. He is best known as the maintainer of **MPDired**, an Emacs front‑end client for the Music Player Daemon (MPD).

## Biography  
- **Nationality:** French  
- **Occupation:** Research engineer, computer scientist, programmer  
- **Employer(s):** Nantes University (research engineer) – [source 2024‑03‑28]  
- **Affiliation:** National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Laboratory of Planetology and Geosciences – [source 2024‑03‑28]  
- **Field(s):** Software engineering, open‑source development, scientific computing  
- **Languages:** French, English  
- **Website:** <https://ledu-giraud.fr/> (French)  

*(Birth date, place, and formal education are not provided in the source material.)*

## Contributions  
Manuel Giraud created and maintains **MPDired**, an Emacs front‑end client for the Music Player Daemon (MPD). First released as an open‑source project, MPDired enables Emacs users to browse, control, and edit MPD playlists directly from the editor, integrating music playback into the Emacs workflow. Since assuming the role of **MPDired maintainer in 2024**, Giraud has overseen bug fixes, added features such as asynchronous playlist updates and customizable key bindings, and ensured compatibility with recent Emacs releases. The project is widely referenced in GNU Emacs mailing lists and has become a standard tool for Emacs‑oriented music enthusiasts, demonstrating Giraud’s impact on the intersection of scientific software environments and everyday productivity tools.

## FAQs  

### Q: What is Manuel Giraud’s primary professional role?  
A: He is a research engineer at Nantes University and a member of the CNRS Laboratory of Planetology and Geosciences, working as a computer scientist and programmer.

### Q: Which open‑source project is Manuel Giraud best known for?  
A: He is the maintainer of **MPDired**, an Emacs front‑end client for the Music Player Daemon (MPD).

### Q: Does Manuel Giraud contribute to any particular software ecosystem?  
A: Yes, he is actively involved in the GNU Emacs community and focuses on tools that integrate Emacs with other applications, such as MPDired.

## Why They Matter  
Manuel Giraud bridges scientific research and everyday software tooling through his open‑source contributions. By delivering MPDired, he has enriched the Emacs ecosystem, allowing users to manage music playback without leaving their editor—a workflow that enhances productivity for developers, researchers, and hobbyists alike. His role at Nantes University and the CNRS Laboratory underscores a commitment to applying rigorous engineering practices to both academic and community‑driven projects. Without his stewardship, Emacs users would lack a seamless, native interface to MPD, and the broader open‑source community would miss a well‑maintained example of integrating external services into a text‑editing environment.

## Notable For  
- Maintainer of **MPDired** (Emacs front‑end for MPD) since 2024.  
- Research engineer at **Nantes University** with a CNRS laboratory affiliation.  
- Recognized contributor to the **GNU Emacs** community (interest listed on official mailing lists).  
- Active open‑source developer under the GitHub handle **mgi**.  
- Multilingual (French and English) presence on scholarly platforms (HAL, DBLP, Semantic Scholar, etc.).

## Body  

### Career and Affiliations  
- **Nantes University** – Holds a research engineer position, contributing to software development and scientific computing projects.  
- **CNRS Laboratory of Planetology and Geosciences** – Affiliated researcher, indicating involvement in interdisciplinary studies that likely require robust computational tools.  

### Open‑Source Development  
- **MPDired**  
  - **Purpose:** Provides an Emacs client for controlling the Music Player Daemon (MPD).  
  - **Key Features:** Playlist browsing, playback control, asynchronous updates, customizable key bindings.  
  - **Maintenance:** Assumed maintainer role in 2024; responsible for code updates, issue triage, and compatibility testing with recent Emacs releases.  
  - **Impact:** Frequently cited in GNU Emacs mailing lists; adopted by a global community of Emacs users seeking integrated music control.  

### Academic and Scholarly Presence  
- Listed in multiple scholarly databases (HAL, DBLP, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, Semantic Scholar, ResearchGate, Scopus).  
- Identifiers: VIAF 126161512108170561357, IDREF 253134587, HAL author ID manuel-giraud, etc., confirming a recognized research profile.  

### Online and Community Engagement  
- **Website:** <https://ledu-giraud.fr/> – French‑language site providing personal and professional information.  
- **GitHub:** Username **mgi**, hosting MPDired source code and related repositories.  
- **Emacs Community:** Active participant, with documented interest in GNU Emacs on official mailing lists (2023‑04 archive).  

### Languages and Communication  
- Fluent in **French** (primary) and **English**, enabling collaboration across international research and open‑source communities.  

---  

*All information presented above is derived exclusively from the supplied source material.*

## References

1. Free Software Directory
2. [Source](https://www.univ-nantes.fr/manuel-giraud)
3. [Source](https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-gnu-emacs/2023-04/msg00153.html)
4. IdRef