From Meccano to GitHub

2026-08-06

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved building things.

As a young boy, I spent countless hours constructing Meccano cranes, bridges, and machines. LEGO bricks became entire worlds of imagination, while my chemistry set taught me that every reaction had a reason. I wasn’t simply playing—I was learning how the world worked.

That curiosity followed me into adulthood.

My engineering journey eventually led me to the South African railways, where I worked on traction motors, pantographs, and heavy electrical equipment. Every challenge demanded precision, patience, and a willingness to solve problems one step at a time.

Years later, the workshop changed.

Instead of steel, copper, and spanners, I found myself working with Linux, open-source software, documentation, and GitHub. The principles, however, remained exactly the same: build something useful, improve it, fix what is broken, and share what you’ve learned so that others can benefit.

Looking back, I realise that Meccano wasn’t just a childhood toy—it was the beginning of a lifelong passion for creating, engineering, and solving problems.

The tools have changed.

The builder has not.