About me

I am a long-time Unix-like systems administrator, hobbyist developer, and professional tinkerer with over 20 years of experience breaking, fixing, rebuilding, and occasionally improving complex systems.

I deliberately avoid calling myself a software engineer.
Not because I can’t write software — but because I do it mostly for fun, curiosity, and mild obsession. Titles are boring. Systems are not.

My fascination with Unix-like systems, unusual operating systems, and “why does this even exist?” software led me to create Free Unix Shells — a project that gives people around the world free access to Unix environments they might otherwise never touch. Think of it as a public playground for shell addicts and curious minds.

Programming (a.k.a. “I Swear This Is Just a Hobby”)

Programming is not my job title — it’s what happens when I want something to exist and it doesn’t yet.

Over the years, I’ve written:

  • Native desktop applications
  • System utilities
  • Networking and monitoring tools
  • RTSP and multimedia software
  • Automation scripts that started small and somehow became infrastructure

I’ve worked with Go, C, C#, Qt, scripting languages, and low-level OS APIs, and yes — some of the things I’ve built ended up being enterprise-grade, clustered, redundant, and running quietly for years without anyone noticing.
That’s usually a good sign.

Most of my projects start as “this should be simpler” and end up on GitHub once they escape my lab.

Smart Home, Microcontrollers & “Why Not Build It Myself?”

I spend a lot of time playing with ESP8266 and ESP32 microcontrollers, mostly because buying off-the-shelf solutions is less fun than building something yourself and fixing it at 2 AM.

Things I’ve built include:

  • Pellet-level monitoring for solid-fuel boilers
  • Environmental sensors (CO₂, VOC, temperature, humidity, water leaks)
  • Relays, motion sensors, ultrasonic distance sensors
  • A growing Zigbee-based smart home, because Wi-Fi alone wasn’t complicated enough

I also use the same hardware to build toys and educational gadgets for my kids, which is a great excuse to justify even more electronics on the table.

Vintage Computers: Because Old Tech Still Deserves Love

Modern technology is great, but old technology has character.

I collect and maintain vintage computers, and I enjoy connecting them to the modern world in ways they were never designed for. Examples include:

  • IrDA Box — giving old devices infrared file transfer and internet access via Wi-Fi
  • Wi-Fi over Serial — because Ethernet is overrated and serial ports deserve better

To support fellow retro enthusiasts, I run vintage2000.org — a place for old machines, strange ideas, and people who think a 30-year-old computer is still perfectly usable (because it is).

Home Lab: My Personal Chaos Generator

My home lab spans multiple locations and exists primarily to answer questions like:

  • “What happens if I do this?”
  • “Can this fail over automatically?”
  • “How many tunnels is too many tunnels?”

I regularly experiment with:

  • Virtualization
  • Custom Docker images
  • Clustering and failover
  • ISP switching, routing tricks, and questionable networking ideas

Some of these experiments accidentally turn into production-grade solutions. Others become lessons.

3D Printing & Hardware Prototyping

When electronics need a body, I use 3D printers.

I wouldn’t call myself a designer, but I can model enough to create functional, practical enclosures that survive real-world use. Rapid prototyping is addictive, and once you have printers around, everything starts looking like it could be printed.

Life Outside the Terminal

Despite appearances, I do occasionally leave the terminal.

My family and I dream of building a more sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle, ideally somewhere closer to nature and farther from notification sounds. Before kids, we traveled a lot — and we plan to do so again once the small humans become more portable.

Until then, I continue doing what I enjoy:

  • learning,
  • experimenting,
  • building tools,
  • and occasionally questioning why modern software needs so much RAM.

I don’t build software because I have to.
I build it because it’s fun, useful, and someone has to keep things sane.

Created on: January 11, 2026

Last modified: January 11, 2026, 2:30 am