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Marcel Bootsman

About Marcel Bootsman

Hi! 👋

This is my personal site on which I share some of my thoughts and experiences about my work, private life and everything in between. You might find some technical content here about Open Source, Web development, WordPress and Static Site Generators (Statamic is powering this website since August 22nd, 2023).

Professional biography

The journey of my professional life started in 2000, when I worked for IBM and was involved in developing a web version of a legacy terminal-based equipment ordering system. After about 9 years, and a diverse number of roles within IBM, the challenge of running my own company became so strong that I could not ignore it anymore.

In 2009 I started nostromo.nl. I started building websites with WordPress and became familiar with developing themes and custom plugins. Within a year of running my own company, I joined the WordPress community by volunteering. Organizing WordCamps (WordPress centric events) and helping out with translations in Dutch were, and are still, some tasks I really like to do.

Again after about 10 years (do you see the trend here?) I got to think about the status of my company during a walk from my hometown to Berlin for WordCamp Europe 2019. Soon after that event, I made the decision to stop my work at nostromo.nl, and work as Marketing Manager Dutch Market for Kinsta since April 2019. 🚀

Latest blogs

Image of a keyboard, the left half, on a yellow-ish background
How to install and use Espanso, a text expander, on Ubuntu November 6th, 2023 Learn how to install and use Espanso to streamline your workflow and save time on Ubuntu. No more repetitive typing with this open-source text expansion tool.
Some newspapers, folded and viewed from above
Why I use FreshRSS to stay informed October 30th, 2023 RSS is not dead. It's a great way to consume news without having to visit all kinds of websites and click though cookie warnings. Here's why I picked FreshRSS.
A stairwell with concrete stairs with iron rail and some sunshine shining in.
Stepping down as organizer for WordCamp The Netherlands October 13th, 2023 Read about my decision to step down as organizer for WordCamp The Netherlands and my motivations to do so.
A deer with an antler in the tall grass
Optimize Statamic script loading with the use of Antlers stacks October 12th, 2023 I discovered an ingenious way to selectively load scripts using Antlers stacks for certain posts while using picture galleries. Read how I did it.
Reddish pink black hole with a beam
Securing my home network: Why I use Pi-hole October 11th, 2023 Pi-hole is a network-wide ad blocker that functions as a Domain Name System (DNS) sinkhole. Let me tell you why I use it.
Throwing Stones - One of the official Ubuntu 9.10 wallpapers. Showing a few stones in the air on a blurry background.
How Ubuntu Linux transformed my digital life since 2009 October 10th, 2023 Ubuntu has been a reliable companion since 2009 and it has improved my digital life. In this article I will show ways in which Ubuntu Linux made my life better.

Take a look at the archive with more posts

Latest notes

Network cables and switches
Prevent Ubuntu to mount offline NFS mounts at startup October 21st, 2023 This note explains how to prevent NFS mounts from attempting to mount while your system is offline and disable retry attempts in Ubuntu
A close up of a power button
How to disable the Ubuntu shutdown confirmation October 15th, 2023 I’ll show you how to disable the logout prompt in Ubuntu in two different ways, with gsettings or with the dconf Editor.
A bookcase with colorful books in it
Statamic SSG: Include category taxonomy archive page October 9th, 2023 Adding a category archive page with Statamic SSG can be a challenge. Here's how I solved it.
Some switches with patch cables
10 questions for your next hoster February 9th, 2023 Selecting a good hoster for your project is often experienced as difficult. What are the important questions that you should ask?
Screenshot of Big Buck Bunny playing in VLC Player
Fix VLC Player deinterlacing not working January 27th, 2023 Are you experiencing deinterlacing not working in VLC player, while it is enabled in the settings? Read this note to find a possible solution.
An audiomixer seen from the front
Batch convert mkv audio to AC3 with ffmpeg January 18th, 2023 Some devices cannot process certain audioformats in video files. Here’s a quick command to batch convert these files with ffmpeg.

More notes

Work

What do I do now?

Contributions to WordPress

  • GTE for nl_NL

  • WordPress NL Slack co-administrator

  • WordPress forum administrator for The Netherlands

Lead organizer

Co-organizer

Speaker

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