People

The following is not always an exhaustive list. But don't worry, we aim to catch everybody, with photo so you can see we're all real people here! Our geographic distribution currently spans several continents and interesting timezones. Read or subscribe to our OQ people blog!

Photo of Arjen

Arjen Lentz (IRC: arjenAU) helped build MySQL AB (employee#25, 2001-2007) until just before its acquisition by Sun Microsystems. He also co-authored the 2nd edition of O'Reilly's High Performance MySQL book, and speaks regularly at user groups and conferences.

Originally Arjen is a C programmer, with coding experience going back to the early 80s. He now uses those skills again with his work on OurDelta - Builds for MySQL, and associated patch management and coding/fixing. He also has a keen interest in Open Source and sustainable business models. Outside work hours, Arjen likes to spend time with his daughter, cook, walk, camp, read, listen to music, and grow herbs/veggies.

Photo of Peter

Peter Lieverdink (IRC: cafuego) happens to speak Arjen's original mother tongue (Dutch) since he too originates from The Netherlands.
Peter is nifty with MySQL (of course), PHP, Javascript, bash, Drupal, Debian packaging, system administration, and other assorted foo.

Peter Lock's pic

Peter Lock (IRC: picnicpete) is a system administrator and PHP developer, based in Brisbane, Australia.

Peter loves getting out and about: cycling, canoeing, bushwalking.

Photo of Guillaume

Guillaume Lefranc (IRC: tanj) has been an Open Source enthusiast for the last 10 years, working as a system administrator for various French companies. A few years ago he decided to switch his interests to the LAMP stack and became a full-time MySQL DBA, working on database consulting projects such as online gaming, e-commerce and data analysis. When he's not in front of a terminal, Guillaume (who has settled now on the tropical island of Boracay, Philippines) can be found playing games, reading non-technical books or cooking spicy food.

Photo of Ray

Ray Cauchi (IRC: rayoq) is an experienced PHP web developer, and loves tuning MySQL. Ray has operated his own web development business since 1999, and has been a Teacher at TAFE NSW since 2000 - where he teaches both PHP and MySQL (amongst other things).

Ray has worked with a vast array of clientele, from small business operators through to Government, Educational and Corporate institutions. When not coding, Ray is a keen cyclist and bushwalker, and loves to drive long distances, fast.

Photo of Walter

Walter Heck (IRC: walterheck) has been working in IT since he came out of college in 2001. First as a Delphi-programmer, always working on database driven applications. He gained a lot of experience with different database backends like Oracle and MS SQL Server.

When he wanted to switch gears back in 2007 he decided that MySQL was going to be his new focal point. Ever since, he has been studying MySQL, while using it wherever possible. When Walter is not on his computer working, you might find him in your local neighbourhood store, as he is travelling around the world and loves to visit new, simple places to watch people live their lives and learn about their cultures.

Daniel's photo

Daniel Black (IRC: danblack) after completing an engineering/IT degree went into programming data processing systems in a government department. He then moved on to security auditing, writing information security policy, running a computer security forum, computer incident investigations and datamining.

For a while Daniel was a Gentoo maintainer and still regularly contributed various enhancements to open source projects. He has used MySQL and MariaDB in a number of production environments from web forum backends, to datamining tools, to mailservers.

To get away from all computers Daniel plays with his three cats and goes caving with his partner.