👋 Who I Am
I'm Daniel, a 38-year-old independent developer from Rimini, Italy. I have a cat named Chanel and a vision for a better ecosystem—both digital and natural.
For years, I worked on many projects, but I always felt something was missing: a project that truly mattered. Not just code, but meaning.
In early 2026, I started building MyZubster.
🌍 What Is MyZubster?
MyZubster is an ecosystem built around three pillars:
🌿 1. A Global Plant Map
A participatory, verified map of plants around the world—starting from cities, reaching everywhere. A collective heritage to study, protect, and repopulate urban green spaces.
🔒 2. Monero Payments for Everyone
No banks, no controls. Monero is the currency of privacy and micro-transactions. I want to make it accessible to everyone, integrated into a real and functional marketplace.
🤖 3. Human Control over AI
I don't delegate my intelligence to any machine. I use AI as a tool, not as a master. And I want everyone to be able to do the same.
It's a system where ecology, privacy, and decentralized technology meet.
🧱 The Tech Stack
Gateway: Node.js + Express + MongoDB + Monero integration
Marketplace: Node.js + SQLite
PaymentMonitor: Scans Monero transactions every 30 seconds
Deploy: PM2 on Aruba VPS
Tracking: GitHub Project & Issues
🚧 The Challenge: Everything Was Broken
When I first started MyZubster, the ecosystem was... empty. The code existed, but:
The Gateway was crashing (port conflict: 3000 was occupied)
The Marketplace was offline
The PaymentMonitor wasn't running
No PM2, no persistence, no community
The GitHub Project didn't exist
In short: a functional but abandoned project.
🛠️ How We Fixed It
I documented every step of the resurrection:
Issue Solution
Port 3000 was busy Changed Gateway to port 3002 in .env
Marketplace offline Started it on port 4000 with PM2
Marketplace pointed to wrong Gateway URL Fixed it from 3001 → 3002
No process persistence Added PM2 with save and startup
No visibility Created GitHub Project & personal README
The entire system was restored in a single weekend.
🤝 Open Source & Community
In July 2026, I received my first external contribution.
@louiss72 submitted PR #53 to fix the chat_template crash—a subtle bug where assistant messages (like tool calls) omitted the content key.
I reviewed the PR, asked for a change (USDC → XMR payout), tested the fix, merged it, and sent the bounty in Monero.
What I learned:
Reviewing code is as important as writing it
Clear guidelines attract better contributions
Payments in privacy coins build trust
📚 What I'm Still Learning
How to write better issue descriptions
How to automate testing and deployment
How to build a real community
How to balance code, life, and Chanel 🐱
🌱 My Writing Tips for Dev.to
After reading inspiring posts from other developers, I realized:
writing about your project is part of building it.
Here's what worked for me:
Write about the struggle—not just the success
Share real logs, errors, and fixes
Tell your story—who you are matters
Invite contributions—make it easy for others to join
Don't wait for perfect—publish, iterate, improve
🔗 Where You Can Find Me
GitHub: DanielIoni-creator
MyZubster Gateway: GitHub Repo
MyZubster Marketplace: GitHub Repo
GitHub Project: Roadmap
🤲 How You Can Help
MyZubster is open source, and every contribution matters:
💻 Code: Backend, frontend, mobile apps, AI integration
🧪 Test: Use the platform and report bugs
🌿 Data: Report plants, verify submissions, improve the map
🗣️ Share: Write about it, talk about it, spread the vision
💰 Donate: Monero address available on the repo
🌟 A Final Thought
"I don't want to operate with banks and similar projects anymore. I want to finish developing my platform and start repopulating what we already have in MyZubster, which is now empty."
This is my promise. And if you also believe a better world is possible,
welcome aboard. 🌱
Daniel Ioni – Rimini, 2026
With Chanel watching me write code
Top comments (0)