Fit open source to the shop
The project exists. The defaults do not. We install, patch, integrate, and leave you something staff can run — with the upstream license intact.
Custom software
If the off-the-shelf tool is close — or nothing fits — we can modify it or build it.
Avery Parker will take an existing open-source system and make it fit the shop, or write a small tailored tool when buying another SaaS would be dishonest. Same person who already runs Linux, WordPress, and the products on the projects page. Quoted after a short discovery — not an open timesheet.
Two jobs we will actually take
This is not a pitch for an “app idea.” It is the work that shows up when a business already knows the gap.
Build a small internal tool
A tracker, a panel, a workflow, a box on the LAN. Scoped to one job. Written handoff. Hosting on your metal or ours.
Keep it running
Optional. Updates, the box, backups. That sits next to Linux / VPS or managed IT — not a surprise line item after launch.
Who actually calls
Not “we have an app idea.” People who already run a shop and can name the gap.
A shop with a workflow SaaS will not touch
The off-the-shelf tool is close, the last 20% is how you actually work, and you are tired of teaching staff a product that was built for someone else.
An MSP or in-house admin who stays the provider
You need a small panel, a tracker, or a box on the LAN. You keep the client. We build under your access and hand you the repo and the runbook. How that sits next to an MSP →
A plant, campus, or office that already owns the hardware
TVs on the wall, a Linux box in the closet, a process that still lives in a spreadsheet. The job is a tool that runs on what you have — not a new SaaS login.
Jobs we will quote (not case studies)
Examples of the shape. Your job is quoted as yours. We do not invent client names.
Fork and fit open source
Install, brand, patch, and wire an existing project to your login, your data, and your staff. Upstream license stays what it is.
A panel staff will actually open
One screen for the thing they currently hunt across three logins. Oldest-first queue, not a dashboard nobody checks. If that panel is the morning glance across several sites, that product is already Glance.
A box on the LAN
A small appliance or Pi that talks to screens, sensors, or a local process. Cloud optional. If the WAN dies, the job still runs.
A tracker with a written handoff
Ranks, tickets, inventory, the one number the owner asks for on Monday. Hosted on your metal or ours. You get the code we wrote for you.
How we price it
There is no honest menu. A plugin change on software you already run and a new internal system are different jobs. Publishing a “from $X” here would either scare off a small fix or underprice a real build.
- Twenty-minute discovery (calendar or phone). We will tell you if you do not need us.
- A written scope: what we will change or build, what we will not, and what you owe us to start.
- Work against that scope. If the job grows, we stop and re-quote — we do not quietly eat weeks on a timesheet.
Existing clients and nonprofits: ask. Courtesy off a quoted job is possible. Capacity is one principal; incidents still jump the queue.
What this is not
- A 12-developer bench or an offshore “sprint team”
- A rewrite of your ERP, EMR, or accounting system
- A mobile-app mill or a “we will replace Salesforce” pitch
- An AI lab. If the question is policy and Copilot vs. shadow ChatGPT, that is AI for the business — a different page.
Proof we ship software
We already run tools next to the consulting work: Dutywall, serpcheck, DefensibleScore, TerraScore, Review Wizard, and this site. Those are our products, not unnamed client case studies. Your job is quoted as yours. More on the projects page.
Questions we get
Do you write everything from scratch?
Not if an honest open-source project already does 80% of the job. We would rather fit that to your shop than invent a private clone. If nothing fits, we build a small tool and say so up front.
How do you charge if there is no menu price?
A free 20-minute discovery, then a written scope and a number before work starts. We do not run an open timesheet by default. A two-hour patch and a six-week internal system are not the same job — that is why there is no published “from $X.”
Who owns what you build?
Work we write for you is yours. Upstream open-source licenses stay what they are — we do not pretend a GPL project became a private product. Hosting can be yours or ours.
Can you take over a half-finished app?
Sometimes. We will look at the repo and tell you if it is a fit or a hole. We will not quote a rewrite as a “tweak.”
Is this a software factory?
No. One principal: Avery Parker. If he is already in a cleanup, the build waits or we decline. Companies that need a 12-person bench should hire a product shop.
Is this the same as a website or an AI project?
A public site that ranks is web and marketing. Copilot vs. shadow ChatGPT is AI for the business. Custom software is the tool staff use after they log in — or the open-source app that almost fits.
Tell us what the tool is supposed to do.
If open source is close, we will say so. If it needs to be built, you get a number first.