On this page I list (some) open source software projects I am respectively have been working on, as well as my role in each of them.
Current projects
I am currently actively involved in the following open source projects.
GAP
GAP is a system for computational discrete algebra, with particular emphasis on Computational Group Theory.
OSCAR
The OSCAR project develops a comprehensive Open Source Computer Algebra Research system for computations in algebra, geometry, and number theory. In particular, the emphasis is on supporting complex computations which require a high level of integration of tools from different mathematical areas.
Past projects
I used to work on the following stuff, but for one reason or another, I am not anymore.
Fink
Fink is a package management system for Mac OS X. It is based on the Debian tools, but is significantly different from Debian. Two of the primary distinguishing factors for this are its unique “.info” file format used to describe packages, and the fact that unlike Debian it doesn’t have full control over the system but rather has to coexist with the primary system provided by Apple.
I was the second project lead of Fink after the first one (the creator of Fink) retired. Since then the lead team has been expanded by several very dedicated and valuable people, allowing me to reduce my role in the project in favor for other tasks. But I still maintain many packages, and from time to time chime in with my opinions.
ScummVM
ScummVM let’s you play your favorite classic graphical adventure games, like Monkey Island, on modern hardware.
I joined the project in April 2002, and from 2003 to 2011 was one of the project leads.
TeXShop
TeXShop gives Mac users a neat and powerful interface to the TeX type setting system. I used it to write my Masters’ Thesis, and several papers. At some point I started looking at the source, added some bits… And somehow I ended up cleaning up and refactoring the code etc., and now it seems I am listed as one of the principal authors. Life can be strange.
Exult
Exult allows playing Origin’s Ultima VII on modern games. Yay. I originally joined the project to create a port to the classic MacOS (which was quite a daunting task at that time). Later I also made the initial Mac OS X ports. These days, there is little activity in the project (mostly because it successfully reached its goal. Nice.)
Pentagram
Pentagram is the younger sibling of Exult, allowing you to play Ultima VIII. It’s got a much nicer and more polished code based than Exult, but still is under (currently rather slow) development.
Jabbernaut
Jabbernaut was one of the first Jabber (today: XMPP) clients for the classic MacOS. I don’t even have a machine able to run it anymore, and I stopped developing it a long time ago. Still, it was a good time. And it also made for my first IT business experience, as a brazilian company licensed the code from me (in retrospect, I asked for far too little money, but I did learn a lot from the whole experience.)
JabberFoX
JabberFoX also was a Jabber client, this time for Mac OS X. It, too, has been discontinued, but I learned heaps about Cocoa while working on it. Compared to modern chat clients like Adium it’s pretty archaic, but it was my little baby for quite some time, and I still feel nostalgic about it.
Other activities
Like many open source developers, I contributed minor and not-so-minor patches to a big variety of other projects. Some examples where I contribued more than just a few single lines fixes (and hence got credited for it, at least at some point) include:
- Jabber (nowadays called XMPP)
- MacZoop
- SDL
- SourceForge.net
- Camino (back when it was still called “Chimera”)
- CocoaBrowser
- DNSUpdate
- evolution
- …
For more recent information on my contributions, look at these pages: