Résumé of Davis Remmel
Please browse my my portfolio or click the links below to see work examples. I may be contacted by email. Download this document as a typeset PDF.
Profile
- Experienced free/libre and open source software specialist with over 10 years in industry and non-profit sectors.
- Proficient at system administration and programming (GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, Bash, Python, HTML, CSS, JavaScript (ES6), SQL, and more). Knowledgeable in every level of the stack, from transistors to transpiling.
- Acclaimed software designer with strong skills in IP networking, technical documentation, and customer support. History of building REST APIs, data ETL processes, and web scrapers.
Skills
- High code quality: detailed commit histories, documentation, with reasoned designs
- Unix system administration, automation
- Install, configure, maintain
- Boot process
- Kernel hacking
- File system management
- Service management
- VM cluster and "cloud" management
- System housekeeping
- Computer networking; familiarity with telecommunications
- Abstract, multi-dimensional problem-solving
- Public speaking and demonstration
- Machining, fabrication, and CAD modeling
- 100+ WPM typing speed
Languages
- Shell, Bash
- Python
- SQL
- PHP
- HTML, SVG, XML/XSLT
- CSS, Less, Sass
- JavaScript (ES6)
- Rust
- R
- C
- LaTeX
- Objective-C
Software
- GNU/Linux
- FreeBSD
- pfSense
- ZFS
- Proxmox
- QEMU
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- TimescaleDB
- Wireshark
- BIND
- OpenVPN
- OpenVAS
- GitLab
- DokuWiki
- Request Tracker
- Grafana
- D3.js
- Flask
- SQLAlchemy
- Node.js
- Selenium
- Bootstrap
- ffmpeg
- GNUPlot
- ImageMagick
- GIMP
- Inkscape
- Blender
- Autodesk Inventor
- office suites
Experience
Independent Free Software Author
December 2019–Present (Madison, WI)
- Support over 6,600 users with timely and effective responses through email and Reddit. Wrote comprehensive manuals and technical documentation to minimize support requests.
- Automate operations, payment processing, and communications with Bash, SQLite, and Gnuplot.
- Maintain a cross-platform desktop application (Python/Qt 5/AGPLv3+) earning over $2,000/month.
- Read and understood the Adobe PDF specification to write a raw PDF object renderer for the reMarkable file format, supporting features beyond the manufacturer's capabilities.
- Ported Debian and Parabola GNU/Linux-libre to the reMarkable tablet, creating the first fully-free e-reader, recognized by FSF Executive Director John Sullivan in a keynote address.
Operations Assistant at Free Software Foundation
November 2021–December 2022 (Boston, MA)
- Provided front-line support, answered phones and online queries, and managed office supplies. Greeted visitors with a warm welcome and gave tours.
- Managed GNU Press shop operations, including stock management, product design, and order fulfillment. Wrote scripts to estimate stock run-outs, reorder dates, and needed quantities.
- Processed $10,000+ in monthly donations and maintained accurate CiviCRM donor records.
- Coordinated monthly membership mailings (100 pc.), yearly fundraising mailing (10,000 pc.), and volunteer efforts for LibrePlanet conference. Interfaced with USPS bulk mailing unit and applied for necessary permits.
Vice President Engineering at Stack41
July 2017–December 2019 (Milwaukee, WI)
- Oversaw bare metal infrastructure using Proxmox/QEMU+KVM, supporting over 100 virtual machines for enterprise clients. Developed tooling for reproducible disk images, switch configurations, data center rack schematics, and real-time monitoring.
- Eliminated $15,000/year in software license fees by designing a self-hosted data acquisition/reporting platform (IoT) entirely from libre software (pfSense, BIND, OpenVPN, PostgreSQL, Grafana, configured redundantly).
- Reduced form submission time by 90% in a 500,000-line PHP program, dropping database load by 50%, saving our client over 250 employee hours weekly. Maintained hazardous legacy programming.
- Authored detailed procedures and documentation for retail cloud infrastructure. Integrated SNMP and Syslog into a unified database with internal wiki-embedded dashboards and a public web portal for client access.
Software Developer at Misix
January 2015–July 2017 (Milwaukee, WI)
- Managed a dataset of millions of items and buyers used with 12 internal projects. Scripted ETL operations (Rust, Node.js, MySQL) targeting SOAP/XML endpoints.
- Developed a recommender system generating four-billion recommendations daily.
- Created a dataflow processor/visualization web app and wrote its public REST API (D3.js, Node.js).
- Codified spreadsheets into reliable programs supporting a team of economists in price forecasting. Wrote web scrapers to poll metal prices.
- Migrated legacy servers to Docker containers and maintained over 20 WordPress sites with custom themes, templates, and functions.
- Instituted a companty-wide data governance policy with automated vulnerability reports (OpenVAS).
Forensics Coach at Hartford Union High School
December 2013–April 2015 (Hartford, WI)
- Coached students after school, sometimes in groups, based on standard criteria for their selected category of speech
- Accompanied the team to meets; judge participants from other schools
- Produced media showcasing the team's victories
Owner of DR Bow Tie Company
December 2012–November 2014 (Milwaukee, WI)
- Created minimum-viable product to carve niche in custom bow tie market and capitalize upon popular resurgence
- Coded a website with a PayPal/Google Docs ordering system; illustrated graphic assets
- Identified markets on Facebook and served advertisements to quickly create a brand
Volunteering
Volunteer at LibrePlanet 2020, 2024
March, 2020 & May, 2024 (Boston, MA)
- Moderated online chat rooms for FSF's LibrePlanet 2020 and 2024 conventions, ensuring discussion remained constructive and respectful.
Canvasser in Bernie Sanders' Presidential Campaign
January, 2020 (Dubuque, IA)
- Knocked on 180 doors before Iowa Caucus and convinced voters to caucus for Bernie by speaking about policy
Associations
- Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Free Software Foundation
- Internet Archive
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Linux Weekly News
Hobbies
- Computer, CNC programming
- 3D modeling
- Circuit design
- Film photography
- Nature walks
- Going on trips and taking perspective
- Electric vehicles
- UFOs