About Me | About RottenPumpkin.com Development
I began web development back in 2000 as a part-time hobby. I built websites for myself and friends while I learned the ins and outs of basic web design.
It wasn't long before I learned how limited plain old HTML could be. I spent the next few years teaching myself php, javascript, postgreSQL & MySQL.
During this time I discovered the Linux operating system. I was captivated by the idea of a free computer operating system with over 15,000 software titles—all of them free as well. But learning Linux turned out to be a complicated, long-term committment. After a year of part-time learning, I was still nowhere near competent with the inner workings of the OS.
In early 2005 I discovered PCLinuxOS, by accident when I had accidentally crashed my Linux system by messing with something I didn't properly understand (one of many such incidents). I put the LiveCD into my computer (a LiveCD is a CD or DVD that contains an entire operating system, and can be used to run a computer without using the hard disk). The rest, as they say, is history: PSLinuxOS has changed by life—at least, as much as an operating system can do.
The PCLinuxOS philosophy is to develop a version (or "flavor") of Linux the average Windows user would be comfortable using. And while I was an experienced Windows, Mac OS9, and OSX user, my wife and 3 year-old were not. But they both took to PCLinuxOS, and in no time they were using it like pros—my wife has even forgiven me from switching operating systems for the third time ("third's the charm, honey", I said, meaning it).
PCLinuxOS impressed me so much I decided to offer an installation service to help others get free of Microsoft Windows
In August of 2005 I lost my job. I had managed a small business for 10 years after University, but the business was sold and I had no interest in breaking in a new owner. Instead, I began web development and design full-time. I found a niche market—literally hundreds of people who wanted a simple website for family or a small-business idea. They were often turned off by web design companies demanding hundreds, or thousands to build them a website, and instead had to turn to design templates (yuck!), students, or inexperienced amatures to build them websites (I have rebuilt a few of these designs, and are there ever some awful ones out there!).
So that's it: I offer affordable, elegant website development & design for people who aren't looking to recreate Google, at a price anyone can afford.
