About hmw-consulting

hmw-consulting is a Berlin (Germany) based Information Technology Consulting Business, offering consulting, development and training in

Founded by Free Software enthusiast Harald Welte, hmw-consulting strongly believes in the Free Software (sometimes referred to as open source) model.

hmw-consulting was founded 1997 in Nuernberg, Germany. In the first couple of years, hmw-consulting tried to encourage corporate users to use free and open source software. Linux and other Free Software was mistakenly not considered a viable option for professional use at that time. Among the first projects were design and implementation of a hybrid digital and microfilm document archieval and retrieval system.

Two years later, professional users started requesting Linux consulting and training.

In 2001, Conectiva Inc., a Brazil-based Linux Distributor contracted hmw-consulting. Among the projects for Conectiva were diverse tasks like porting the distribution from the x86 to PowerPC arhitecture, and evaluating the different commercially available SNA stacks for integration of Linux with the IBM S/390.

In 2002, Astaro AG contracted hmw-consulting as their major Free and Open Source contact. Among the projects for Astaro were the implementation of a state synchronization protocol for building highly available Linux-based firewalls.

In November 2002, hmw-consulting moved to Berlin, Germany.

In 2003, hmw-consulting was hired to develop a data acquisition and statistical process control system (gspc) for Neumeyer-Fliesspressen GmbH in Nuernberg, Germany.

In 2005, hmw-consulting started the OpenMTRD project, developing a 100% Free Software RFID Software Stack implementation, as well as Free Software for accessing data stored on ICAO MRTD compliant electronic Passports.

In 2006, hmw-consulting was contracted by FIC, Inc. to play a key role in the development of the hardware and system level software architecture of its upcoming 100% Open Source mobile communications platoform, OpenMoko.

hmw-consulting is managed by Mr. Harald Welte, who is a long-term supporter and active member of the Free Software community. His expertise in Linux Kernel development and networking security made him Chairman of the netfilter coreteam. He's one of the principal authors of the Linux 2.4+Kernel Packetfilter, securing virtually every linux installation.

As an expert in this subject, Mr. Welte has presented numerous papers at technical Linux conferences all over the world. His skills in Unix Networking made him a technical advisor (MVP) to Brainbench, Inc.