Welcome to Ellipsix Programming!

Ellipsix Programming is a portal dedicated to the advancement of open-source software and cooperative data collection. The whole idea behind all Ellipsix products is that a whole lot of small contributions to a project by ordinary people can add up to quality output which rivals the best the commercial software model has to offer.

So that's not enough for you? All right then, here's the full background story.

Ellipsix Programming was created in its present form by me, David Zaslavsky, in January 2005, as a distribution center for my computer programs. I am currently a graduate student at Penn State University, studying physics, and — as you may guess — I've made programming into something of a hobby. My primary language is Java, which I've been working with since approximately 1999, and although I've recently been branching out into C, C++, Perl, PHP, Python, and other languages, I still favor the Java language for general use because it's easy to learn, it works on many different kinds of computers, and most importantly, it's freely available to everyone.

In the course of my experience with computers, I've continually been impressed at the quality work that comes out of the open-source software effort. Not only is open-source software often free, but it has an enviably high degree of responsibility to its users — after all, it is entirely the end user's satisfaction that drives the creation of this software. Ellipsix Programming was founded to adhere to and to promote those principles.

The current incarnation of Ellipsix grew out of a series of earlier personal sites that I had been using to distribute my software. Although some of the programs here had been available through those other websites since long before the beginning of this site, with the introduction of WordWeb it quickly became evident that the average free homepage service would not be enough. A complex system like this web application needed a capable server and a stylistically streamlined site with a dedicated domain name. Within a few weeks of work, Ellipsix was born, and it has slowly matured over the weeks, months, and years to develop into what you see today.

If you're an experienced web surfer, you'll probably notice that the Ellipsix website doesn't include fancy images, animations, or complicated styles. This is a matter of preference and prior experience: I find beauty in simplicity, and it's my belief that having a web page that doesn't place too much stress on either your eyes or your internet connection will work out to everyone's benefit. The real point of this site — of any site, in fact — is the content, and although no website can survive without careful attention to presentation, it's worth the effort not to overdo it. There's a fine line between enhancing and cluttering.