About Erdikon

Erdikon is a name that has been with me for a long time.

It goes back to one of my first web projects, a digital lexicon about the Earth. That is also where the name comes from: Erde and Lexikon. The original project itself was very different from what Erdikon stands for today. But one thing was already there from the beginning: the interest in building something structured, useful, and accessible.

Even then, I was drawn to the idea of making information easier to organise and easier to work with. Over time, the original project faded into the background, but the name stayed with me. Erdikon always felt grounded, clear, and meaningful. When I later started thinking about a broader software vision, it turned out to be the right name again in a very different context.

Today, Erdikon is the name I use for an open source business software suite for small companies.

The reason is simple. I want to make it easier for small companies to use software that reflects the values I care about when I choose software myself. I believe business software should be simple and practical. It should help with everyday work instead of adding unnecessary complexity. It should be open source. It should give companies control over their data, independence from vendors, real ownership, and the ability to adapt software to their own needs.

That is the idea behind Erdikon.

Small companies often depend on software that was not really built for them. Some tools are too complex. Others are too rigid. Many create unnecessary dependency on a single vendor, with limited control over data, limited flexibility, and limited room to grow on your own terms.

For small companies, that can become a real problem over time.

I want to offer a different path.

Erdikon is built around the idea of digital sovereignty for small companies.

To me, that means being able to choose software more freely, understand how it works, keep control over your own data, and avoid being locked into systems that do not reflect your priorities. It also means using software that is practical enough for everyday work and simple enough to stay manageable.

Open source is an important part of that. Not because it is an ideology, but because it supports the kind of software I want to build. Open source makes transparency possible. It supports independence. It creates room for ownership and adjustment. And it gives small companies a stronger foundation than software they can only rent, but never really influence.

In that sense, the name still fits surprisingly well.

What began as a project about organising knowledge has evolved into a broader effort to build software that helps companies organise their digital world. The context has changed, but the core idea has stayed consistent: creating structure, reducing complexity, and making useful systems that are built to serve people rather than bind them.

That is what Erdikon stands for today.