Exactly twelve years ago, I was lying in bed, preparing to go to sleep, reading Hacker News on my iPad when I came across the announcement of Discourse on Jeff Atwood’s blog. I immediately got out of bed, visited Meta, and messaged @michaeld to tell him how awesome Discourse was.
At the time, I was a software engineer and interim manager of a data center. I had experience in software development, hosting and Linux, an MSc in computer science, and 20 years of IT experience (30 if you count my hobbyist years as a teenager). Though I was a seasoned programmer and an experienced sysadmin, my experience with Ruby, JavaScript and Postgres were mediocre at best.
Over the past 12 years, Discourse has allowed me to align my work even more with what I truly enjoy. I’ve grown to appreciate Ruby, Postgres, and Ember, met many amazing people, and I hope I’ve been able to give something back to this community as well. I can honestly say that Discourse has been one of the best things to cross my path in life.
I’ve seen firsthand how Discourse has transformed online communities, and I’m grateful to have been a witness to that evolution. It’s incredible how Discourse has grown to what it is today and I’m excited to see where Discourse goes next!
Thank you Discourse team, thank you Meta community 