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| Darrin Lythgoe - TNG stand at Rootstech |
The developer, Darrin Lythgoe, tried to help with me the upgrade remotely but I gave up when I knew that Darrin was to have a stall at the Rootstech Conference that I would be attending. I caught up with Darrin at Rootstech where he logged into my web server and upgraded the software for me. What wonderful service when the upgrade only cost me around $14 Aussie dollars!
While at the conference I took the opportunity to have an informal interview with Darrin, a lovely, unassuming young man.
Darrin told me that, although his software has over 11,000 users (and he gives the most amazing and responsive support to them) the development of TNG is his second job - he actually has a day job working for another software company.. I wonder if this young man ever sleeps.
Darrin ,who grew up in Massachusetts, now resides with his family in Utah. He studied Computer Science and Journalism in College. It was by accident that Darrin got involved in the development of TNG. He won a prize at the Comdex Show which led him to realise that there was a need for a program to post genealogy on the internet. He borrowed some books on PHP from the public library and developed his application. In his first year he sold just one copy online.
Now with 11,000 users, this software with a user friendly, clean interface, has an active online forum and mailing list that Darrin constantly monitors. He monitors, and when the tech experts among the user group cannot help other users, Darrin jumps in with advice. Darrin is continuing to develop his product that he also uses to publish his and his wife's genealogy research. In the pipeline is a project with another company's desktop application that will enable users of that product to post their trees to the web using TNG.
When he is not working Darrin enjoys hiking around the mountains near his home in Utah.
