Who am I?
In Short
I’m a technophile with a love of all things geeky but not as much time to play as I would like. One of these days I will buy myself a Wii and a Mac Mini!
More Detail Please
I’m a Linux and Open Source Software enthusiast and technical specialist with over 10 years experience in the IT industry. I have worked in senior Systems Management positions in ISPs, Research Centres and Web Services companies, as well as doing my time in State Government and the travel sector.
Background
I got my break in a local ISP and internet cafe in Bristol, England, working as a phone monkey in first line tech support. From there I worked my way up to Sys Admin in fairly short order largely by virtue of those above me leaving and not being replaced, so most of my early knowledge was gained out of necessity rather than design. As a side note, we were one of the first companies in the UK to run an online games centre and I had the pleasure of setting up and maintaining our first Quake server. And they called that work!
Moving on
Since then I have worked for a few very interesting companies, and one downright unpleasant one. Let me know if you can guess who! I have led or been involved with a variety of high level projects including full scale Disaster Recovery exercises, and more recently I have been focused on IT Security and Systems Architecture. Currently I am a hired gun acting as a Technical Specialist and IT Project Manager.
In Conclusion?
I am a strong advocate of Open Source software, but am well aware that every solution has its place and am not averse to proprietary systems if the situation calls for them, as it often does in the corporate world.
At the end of the day: if I have access to a command line and have toys to play with I’m pretty sure to be happy in my work.