First tools

Age eight: view source.

HTML first, because it was the language the whole world’s doors were written in. Then the rest of the toolbox, one obsession at a time. Everything on this rack still gets used — including on the site you’re standing in, which was built by hand. Old habits.

HTML

first · age 8

The gateway. Learned it to build; never stopped.

Python

then

For thinking out loud in code.

Java

then

For building things with load-bearing walls.

Lua

then

For scripting worlds — game servers ran on it.

C++

then

For when the machine deserves respect.

What got built

Before I ever stood behind a desk, I ran game servers and the communities inside them — worlds where strangers showed up at all hours and their good time was my responsibility. My first hotels, if you think about it. Uptime was hospitality. Moderation was hospitality. The welcome message was hospitality.

I’ve been running establishments since before I could drive. The desks just kept getting nicer.

Later: a startup founded from scratch, and a seat at another that went on to raise real funding in the medical space. The lesson from both is the same one the servers taught — build the room, keep the lights on, take care of whoever walks in.

Still plugged in

The workshop machine.

It still listens. Type help if you’re rusty.

guest@daltonkern — /rooms/203

DK/OS 1.0 — est. age eight. Type help to begin.

guest@dk:~$