Forty-plus years in IT, from mainframes and COBOL through to Kubernetes and container orchestration. Most of that time has been spent on the operational side — Linux, databases, infrastructure — for organisations where things quietly have to work, not just look like they work.
djc.org.uk exists for the small amount of work taken on outside that, on the same terms it would be done for an employer, just at a smaller scale.
A few working principles
- If it doesn't add value, don't do it. Complexity should earn its place. A simpler system that's understood beats a clever one that isn't.
- Security first, always. Not bolted on at the end — considered from the first decision onward.
- If it's not written down, it doesn't exist. Documentation isn't optional, and it isn't for me — it's for whoever has to pick this up next.
- Built to be handed over. Any system worth building is worth someone else being able to run without you in the room.
- Say no when the answer is no. Not everything needs building. Sometimes the right advice is to leave something alone.
These aren't slogans — they're the rules a few decades of operational IT tend to teach you, whether you meant to learn them or not.