Zane Ashby

Web and Software Developer, IT generalist

About

I've been building software and websites as a full stack developer for the last two decades, using a range of languages and platforms. I am driven by free software ideals and my specialty is in architecting and building software and automation using Open Source components with an eye towards long-term stability.

My commercial experience is foremost in web development. On top of this, work on mobile apps (native iOS and Android), back-office software and automation, as well as a multitude of side-projects and prototypes (with mostly older work released on GitHub). I'm proficient in many compiled languages (e.g. C, C++, Go, Rust); along with many scripting languages (e.g. PHP, Python, Scheme) offering the ability to pick and choose the right tool for each job.

I love learning about new domains, and I keep an eye on emerging and trending technology. Like many others I am using AI and machine learning to expand software abilities primarily using local models, and have experience running these on Linux (both in ROCM and CUDA environments) and using these in practical applications (such as RAG and other variants).

I'm also very passionate about all things creative, and dabble in design, real-time graphics, 3D, and VFX projects when the opportunity arises.

Skills and Technologies

(Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, but is a representation of skills and technologies that I have used in production)

• General
• Open Source
• Strong written language
• Operating Systems
• Linux
• Debian
• Ubuntu
• NixOS
• Windows
• Microsoft
• Win32 API
• .NET
• C#
• T-SQL
• Cloud
• Amazon Web Services
• DigitalOcean
• Linode
• Development Methodology
• Git
• CI/CD
• Agile
• Kanban
• Scrum
• GitLab
• JIRA
• Redmine
• Languages
• C
• C++
• Go
• Rust
• PHP
• JavaScript
• Python
• Common Lisp
• Emacs Lisp
• Chicken Scheme
• Infrastructure as Code
• Ansible
• Docker
• Nix
• Vagrant
• Terraform
• Web Servers
• Apache
• Caddy
• Nginx
• Databases
• SQLite
• MySQL
• PostgreSQL
• Redis
• RabbitMQ
• Neo4j
• Web Development
• PHP
• JavaScript
• HTML
• CSS
• SCSS
• Jekyll
• Tailwind CSS
• Silverstripe
• Symfony
• Mobile Applications
• Android
• iOS
• Objective-C
• Java
• Real-time Graphics / Creative
• OpenGL
• OpenGL ES
• Blender
• ML / Generative AI
• Stable Diffusion
• ComfyUI
• OpenAI Whisper
• Ollama

Formal Education

• Tairāwhiti Polytechnic (now Eastern Institute of Technology)

  National Diploma in ICT Level 5, Computing

  2009 – 2011

Notable Projects

• HashTWM

  The first automatic tiling window manager for the Windows operating system, as well as being one of my first (and poorly written) C projects. Uses the classic Win32 API to manipulate window frames and efficiently lay them out on screen. Inspired by some well-known tiling window managers on Linux such as dwm and Xmonad. Several hundred "stars" on GitHub and some large users. I previously had plans to rewrite this into a small core that handles layout logic, while allowing for platform "drivers", including a dummy driver, making HashTWM testable in the future. Available on Github.

  • C
  • Win32 API
• 

  TRMUD

  A MUD-style text environment for world-building and experimenting with LLM based NPCs. Also used as a "mind palace". Written in Common Lisp, and is used via CLI or IRC interfaces (with an optional custom web client). The world exists as a Lisp structure and is self-modifying, with Dijkstra shortest-path-finding and other methods of walking the world structure. Supports timers, various hooks (room enter/exit, etc), a built-in web server for serving non-text assets, a Graphviz based world map, and an API for objects to use (some of this located in the world itself).

  • Common Lisp
  • IRC
  • Ollama
  • Graphviz
  • Parenscript
  • Websockets
• 

  TableUI

  A tablet focused workspace, based on interactive "paper" like modules and multitouch. Features an embedded fantasy CPU, with a small assembly like language. The entire workspace can be serialised and deserialised on demand.

  • C
  • SDL
  • OpenAL
  • OpenGL
• 

  Unnamed Game

  A PS1-inspired-and-styled bullet hell, featuring multiple vehicles and modes of transport. Gameplay modifiers as pickups. Randomisation via seeded RNG.

  • C++
  • SDL
  • OpenAL
  • OpenGL
  • ODE Physics
  • Entity Component System
  • Blender

• Peer-to-peer VR Experiments

  A self-hostable VR platform for networked worlds. A distributed scene-graph where bots are a feature, not a bug :)

  • C
  • C++
  • Sockets
  • SDL
  • OpenAL
  • OpenGL
  • OpenVR
  • ODE Physics
  • SQLite
  • OSC
  • Leap Motion
  • Nuklear UI
  • Blender