I am a senior software engineer who loves figuring out how big, complex distributed systems actually work - and making them work better. When something breaks, I am the one who dives in, untangles the mess, and gets things running again. When nothing's broken, I am still looking for weak spots before they cause trouble.

Right now, I am focused on building redundant metadata systems for cloud databases, using FoundationDB - making sure data stays safe, available, and consistent even when the unexpected happens.

I have worked across several stacks over the years, starting with Windows (C#), Java enterprise and ending up knee-deep in the cloud-native world. These days I am mostly writing Go, building gRPC APIs, and working with Linux-based infrastructure.

I have been into Linux and open source since 2003 - check out my projects and contributions at https://github.com/gdm85.

I'm an avid reader of science and technology, always curious about how things work under the hood.

What I am good at

Tracking down unforeseen consequences Logs, metrics, packet traces - you name it. If something's acting up, I will dig until I know exactly why.

Planning for the “what if” I like to think about all the ways a system could fail and then design it so it handles those situations gracefully.

Connecting the dots Whether it is microservices, APIs, or full-on distributed systems, I like building the parts that make everything talk to each other reliably.

My approach

I am all about delivering software without cutting corners: solid tests, smooth deployments, and systems you can trust. I write software for the people who will use it. I care about correctness, maintainability, and building systems that make sense to the next person who has to work with them (including future me).

Collaboration is a big deal for me - working with other teams, sharing ideas, and making the whole system better, not just my corner of it.

What's Next

I am looking for roles where I can mix deep technical work with mentoring and leading technical projects - whether that is as a tech lead, staff engineer, or in a developer advocacy role helping teams succeed.