While completing this years company return I happened to notice that the date of incorporation for Wave2 Limited was exactly 10 years ago last month, has it really been that long I thought to myself?

Well, no, it’s actually a lot longer than 10 years as the name Wave2 came to life for a particular reason…(insert time machine here)

A name born out of necessity

Rewind 14 years and you’d have found me soaking up every page of the TechNet library while developing ActiveX components with Visual Basic and Delphi. Those were the days eh!

Back then if you wanted to embed an ActiveX control in a webpage without the hassle of scary looking popups, you had to sign your OCX/DLL using a technology called Authenticode. The most reputable (if not only) company that offered code signing certificates was VeriSign, however the service was originally targeted at businesses not individuals and cost around £300, a lot of money for a part time coder!

Being the security conscious developer that I am, I did not want my end users getting into the habit of accepting self signed certificates. I was also aware that people were more likely to trust an application published by XYZ Limited than Joe Bloggs bedroom coder (how naive). First things first, I needed a name.

During the run up to Y2K there was much talk of a second wave of the Internet, one built upon distinct services that communicate using COM and CORBA (a bit like the web 2.0 hype today). As an early adopter of new technology, I was, and still am a big believer in making your mistakes with the first release and fixing them in the second release, the second wave (aka build one to throw away). Can see where I’m going with this?

With all that in mind I somehow managed to piece together a name that would survive the test of time, Wave2 was born.

It was 4 years later in 2000 while reading After the Gold Rush that I was persuaded to take the plunge and form the company Wave2 Limited. The book covered every aspect of software engineering and inspired me to start taking my code seriously, in fact it had such an impact on me that I felt obliged to donate it (along with a few other classics) to the local library in the hope that it might inspire others the same way it did me. I wonder if it’s still there…

Open Source Solutions

It was about the time Wave2 was born that I became hooked on Open Source Software. Linux had been making waves (hehe) in the news for quite some time, and as I followed the trail to it’s roots I stumbled across FreeBSD – I was hooked.

After years of working with closed source/shrink wrapped software it was like discovering TechNet all over again, only this time there were no limits. The complete stack, OS to application could be taken apart and it’s inner workings explored, admired and built upon with no fear of financial recompense. There really are no boundaries with Open Source, so the only thing that stood in the way of my next solution was often simply my imagination, or lack of as my parents used to say.

It wasn’t long before Open Source began to have an impact on my day to day employment, from the Python/GTK/MySQL application developed in-house, to the enterprise-grade issue tracker downloaded from Best Practical. As I watched organisations benefit from the solutions I developed/implemented, I realised that small businesses could gain a distinct advantage over mid to large businesses through the use of free software. This had to be the future for Wave2.

To infinity and beyond!

Since Wave2 was born I have been fortunate enough to enjoy the security of full-time employment, nevertheless the companies that I worked for were happy to embrace Open Source and encourage innovation, allowing me to keep this site alive with new ideas and insight.

The concept and meaning behind the name Wave2 is still the same as it was all those years ago, to be the second wave, a creative, innovative and yet progressively stable wave, built upon lessons learned and knowledge gained. I once thought that after Wave2 comes Wave3, Wave4 etc but I realise now that they are all just continuations of the same theme, more second waves.

I can only hope that the code shared on this site and many others provide the same inspiration I managed to gain throughout the last 10 years working in the Open Source space, I still enjoy every minute, and look forward to making waves for many years to come.

A massive thank you to all who have helped me out over the years! Here’s to another decade of innovation, knowledge sharing and above all – Fun!