I got into open source the way most people do, I hit a bug, looked at the source, thought "I can probably fix this", and then spent three hours understanding why I was completely wrong about that. Eventually I did fix it. Now I can't stop.
I run Ubuntu.I do have opinions about build systems...
🖊️ LibreOffice · libreoffice.org
One of the largest open-source C++ codebases on the planet. Office suite, document rendering, platform compatibility, the works. The codebase is old enough to have layers of history baked into it. Contributing here means reading a lot of code you didn't write and being genuinely careful about what you touch.
💬 Gemini CLI · github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli
CLI tooling for Gemini models. This is where I get to think about developer UX — what makes a command-line tool feel good to use, how to handle edge cases gracefully, how to write output that's actually readable. Fast-moving project, which keeps things interesting.
🐘 PostgreSQL · postgresql.org
Written in C. Standards are extremely high. Code review is not gentle. Contributing to Postgres means learning to think about correctness, memory, and performance all at once — you don't get to pick two. It's humbling in the best way.
$ cat ~/.toolboxlanguages → C, C++, Python, SQL, Bash
build → Make, CMake, Meson, autoconf
debug → GDB, Valgrind, strace, perf
editor → Neovim (yes, really)
OS → Ubuntu - and nothing else by choice
workflow → terminal-first, git cli
not a formal list - just the stuff I actually think about
- why some CLIs feel good to use and most don't
- how databases decide what order to do things in
- the archaeology of old codebases: why is this here, who wrote it, why did they make that call
- build systems (in a love/hate way)
- how open source projects handle contributor onboarding at scale
- editor internals - rendering, syntax trees, language servers
I'm easy to reach and I like talking about this stuff. If you're working on something in the systems/tooling/open-source space, or you just want to swap notes on navigating a codebase you don't understand yet - reach out.