Neil McAllister is a technology writer and analyst based in San Francisco, California. His areas of focus include Linux and open source, middleware, application development, databases, high performance computing, business software, and IT for healthcare and the life sciences, among others.
Since 1998, Neil has written literally thousands of feature articles, news stories, opinion and analysis pieces, and product reviews.
From 2012-2015, he was a full-time reporter for The Register, the UK’s uniquely irreverent science and technology online news site, working out of the San Francisco office.
In 2007, his weekly opinion column on Linux and open source for business, “Open Enterprise,” won the Western Publications Association’s Maggie Award for “Best Regularly Featured Web Column.” More recently he wrote the Fatal Exception column for developers on InfoWorld.com.
From 1998-2002, he wrote a biweekly computing and technology column for SFGate.com, the online arm of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Neil’s unique insight into the computing industry stems from his own IT and software development background, in addition to his experience as a senior editor for such publications as InfoWorld, Web Techniques, and New Architect.
When he’s not writing about science and technology, Neil is an occasional illustrator, having completed odd jobs for magazines, comics, and concerts, including promotional materials for the seminal horror-punk band, The Misfits. His satirical comic strip, The Adventures of Action Item, escaped the laboratory to become a Web and water-cooler sensation.
A Bay Area native, Neil has lived in the city of San Francisco since 1995. He is a citizen of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
