(This entry is a sticky introduction. See the latest posts in the menu on the left.)

My name is Chris Walden. For nearly twenty years now I have been living an open-source lifestyle to one degree or another. I discovered Linux shortly after it was released and began my journey into finding and using open-source alternatives to commercial software. Even though I work for a major technology corporation I do much of my work using open tools. I find them to be an outstanding source for learning about technology and techniques, but I find that most of them just get the job done.

My goal with this site is to document what I feel are useful tools and help others who may be struggling to find affordable software alternatives or to have more flexible options in software.

I will admit that I’m not a heavy-duty developer. My background is more in system administration and desktop support. As a result, I am more in the business of making software work together rather than writing in from scratch. As a result I’m pretty sympathetic to people who don’t want to go into the weeds of how the software works but just want to use it to get things done. I do most of my work in Linux, but I also work with folks in Windows and Mac environments. All my favorite open-source projects run in all of those environments.

My goal is to help make it easier for others to take advantage of open-source and to promote the software and standards in their own sphere of influence. I think some of this will be particularly useful for people in non-profit organizations, small businesses, or home users who want to do something but cannot afford the expensive commercial software required.

Interaction is welcome, though I’m not really here to fight and debate. There are plenty of other places for that. To get the ball rolling, I’ve imported a post I wrote some years ago for an IBM developerWorks blog that I maintained. It’s remained fairly popular. It’s called Start your learning with open source.