I am frequently asked what exactly it is that I do. The short answer: I develop software and administrate systems, mainly those under FreeBSD. The longer answer is this post.
My occupation moves in between software development, infrastructure and system architecture. I help with constructing systems or stabilizing them in order for them to work long-term – technically sound, comprehensible and maintainable.
Software Development: Quality instead of quantity
In my blog articles about software development I wrote a lot about what goes wrong in companies: Unreadable code, missing architecture, technical debts that no one touches anymore, and the focus on processes instead of the product itself. This is no abstract critique, but things that I, over the course of many years in different companies, experienced up close and personal.
The result is what I offer: Clean, comprehensible and maintainable software. Code that can still be understood by someone in five years. I have acquired a lot of experience in different programming languages – from system-oriented programming up to complex GUI-Applications with Qt and wxWidgets. Databases (especially PostgreSQL) as well as client-server architecture and network programming are also included.
If you manage a project that went off the rails, which was developed by one singular person and that no one can make sense of now or if you are in the desperate need of a new architecture- then I am the right person to turn to.
FreeBSD-Administration: Stable, secure, thought-through
FreeBSD has been with me since Version 4, which means since over two decades. My own servers run on it, I have experience with ZFS with RAIDz, FreeBSD-Jails, Bhyve, pf, CARP, HAST and the common network services (DNS, DHCP, NTP, NFS, Samba, LDAP and others) because of daily practice – not only through documentation.
What I solve and what I offer: You need a stable, secure server or a scalable server infrastructure under FreeBSD? You want to isolate services in Jails? You manage a running system that is in need of care or extension, expansion or add-ons? Or you stand before a specific problem that seems without solution?
I am fairly acquainted with such situations – and in finding pragmatic solutions.
For companies
If you are reading this in the interest of a company: I merge software development with system administration. I am no specialist who tweaks only one screw but someone who understands systems as a whole. I have worked in companies were both were of importance and I know of the relevance of development and infrastructure fitting together to paint the whole picture.
I appreciate a corporate culture in which mistakes are understood as a learning opportunity, skills are used sensibly and where the product is the main focus – not the management of tickets. If you share these views, we should talk: thorsten@tgeppert.de.