A software engineer from Rosmalen, the Netherlands. I got introduced to open source software development in the early 2000s, when I was working on my thesis. I primarily worked on XMPP-related projects, that later evolved into commercial organization, where I was employed for a number of years.

We based the instant messaging platform that we produced on Openfire, an open source realtime collaboration project that I continued to support in my spare time after I left the company. After the original authors slowly but surely pulled out of the project, I became the de facto project lead. Although somewhat hard to combine with my daytime jobs at the time (which didn't have a remote connection to XMPP), I helped keep the project and the broader Ignite Realtime community afloat.

A couple of years ago, I leaped and/or plunged, quitting my job and starting a business of my own. Now that I'm self-employed, I find myself more and more involved in projects that relate to XMPP. As a result, the amount of time that I spend on XMPP-related activities has increased a lot. Being more active as ever, and having to owe part of my paycheck to XMPP, I thought it to be good and contribute back to the community, starting by volunteering in the XMPP Standards Foundation, and starting the Ignite Realtime Foundation. I currently serve in the board of directors for both foundations, helping out where I can.

I have thoroughly enjoyed, and never regretted my transition to a self-employed software engineer. Over the time, I've had various people approach me with questions on how to show a token of appreciation. The GitHub Sponsors program is something that I'd like to utilize for just that. If you've benefited from my work, feel the urge to show some kind of appreciation, and don't feel like naming one of your children after me: consider making a donation as a GitHub Sponsor!