Who I Am

I’m Dimitri Nesterenko, a computer science student originally from Ukraine, now living in Rennes, France. I see my craft as a form of creative problem-solving, something I want to master – building meaningful solutions that help others. I don’t believe in limiting myself to a single label. Software engineering is a passion and a craft I’m constantly learning, but it’s one facet of who I am, not the whole picture.

Technical Interests

I’m drawn to algorithms and low-level systems; the kind where you think deeply about what you do and why. I value hard problems that require real thinking and understanding.

I value privacy and freedom, which naturally led me to Linux and the free and open source software movement. Understanding how Linux works at a low level fascinates me; that’s why I started with Arch Linux before discovering the functional paradigm and declarative bliss of NixOS. The languages that excite me are compiled, efficient ones like C, the greatest language ever created. Languages I’d like to explore deeply in the future include OCaml, Zig, Go and many more, but these three are the first ones on my list.

Neovim. Truly the best editor ever created, which lets you accomplish everything without touching a mouse. That’s why I don’t have one.

I use a ThinkPad running NixOS. You can explore more about what I use and my technical interests on my /uses page.

Philosophy & Growth

Beyond computer science, I’m drawn to philosophy and deliberate living. Nietzsche and Miyamoto Musashi have been particularly influential, along with certain Stoic ideas. I stay open and regularly expose myself to different philosophies. I learn from everything, aiming to become a better human – stronger, with deeper self-understanding and knowledge of the world. I’m a minimalist. I value deep human connections and find humans fascinating.

I believe in lifelong learning and doing hard things. Each day is an opportunity to grow.

Stories & Knowledge

I love stories in all forms, but books are the only medium I dedicate my time to. They offer knowledge and lessons about the world, human nature, and life itself. For a long time, manga and anime were a huge part of my life and shaped who I am in ways I still carry. But at some point, I stopped finding meaning in passive consumption of entertainment-oriented content and felt drawn toward something deeper: real ideas, complex thought, the real world.

Reading lets you engage seriously with ideas, train your mind to think abstractly, and genuinely change how you see things – making you a better thinker and engineer. Rather than listing everything that shaped me, you can explore my curated library of books, which contains only those I consider worth sharing and that taught me something meaningful. You can also check out my manga & anime library on AniList, which shaped me greatly. Nowadays, I try to stick to reading as my main medium, in my opinion, the best one. I still occasionally watch anime or read manga, but rarely, as I prefer reading.

The Purpose of This Website

This website serves as my connector to the world. I don’t use social media, but I’ve always wanted to express myself and connect with interesting, amazing and cool people, so this is my public journal, where I share thoughts and experiences that I hope will be useful or interesting to someone.

I’d like to write more here, but it’s impossible to cover everything, and it’s never enough. The goal isn’t to write a book about my personality – which is impossible in my opinion, or to tell everything about myself, which is also impossible. You can’t really understand someone completely, or even partially, just from reading incomplete and summarized information about them. We’re all complex creatures, and I find that beautiful. So let’s take our time and get to know one another the way I prefer – slowly, profoundly, and meaningfully.

Feel free to explore my blog or reach out if you’d like to connect.