LANdialler

LANdialler was my first "proper" open source project, and was released some time around the year 2000.

As I wrote on the project page on Sourceforge:

LANdialler allows workstations (Windows, Linux, etc.) on a LAN to control and share a modem attached to a Linux server. It is designed to be used with PPP and NAT on a Linux router to provide a home or small office with shared Internet access.

It was while writing LANdialler that I really started to get to grips with Python.

I'd been working as a Perl programmer for around five years, and while I enjoyed it, I really wanted to learn about object oriented programming. While Perl did support OO programming, the syntax felt a bit like it was bolted on, and it felt a bit like I'd be learning OO on hard mode. Python seemed to make a lot more sense, and I was keen to learn something new.

They do say that one of the best ways to learn a language well is to build something with it. And LANdialler certainly filled that role for me.

Even better, it was once included on the cover disk of Linux Format (my favourite Linux magazine)!