Who I Am

Officially, my name is Dmytro, but I think “Dimitri” sounds better and is easier for others to say. Dimitri is a French name that means “devoted to, dedicated to, or a follower of Demeter,” the Greek goddess of harvests and agriculture. It was really interesting to learn all this about my first name; I wonder if my grandfather, who gave me this name, thought about it the same way I do. My last name is Nesterenko, a Ukrainian name that means “son or daughter of Nester/Nestor.” Who is Nestor? In Greek mythology, this name comes from Nestor, the son of Neleus, king of Pylos, and Chloris. I’ve read quite a bit about this; even though I found it interesting to learn more about the origins of my last name – precisely because it pertains to me; usually, this sort of thing doesn’t really interest me. Oh, and I’m originally from Ukraine. Although I value my roots and appreciate them, I consider myself cosmopolitan.

I’m a computer science student, originally from Ukraine, now living in Rennes, France. I wanna master my craft, become a good engineer, build something meaningful, that can change lives of people in a positive/useful manner. Also, I don’t believe in limiting myself to a single label.

Technical Interests

I’m drawn to algorithms and low-level systems; the kind where you think deeply about what you do and why, 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, Rust 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 value deep human connections and find humans fascinating.

I’m an extreme minimalist (I own about <100 items). I like this way of living: it gives me freedom and forces to appriciate the mode of being, not having. I feel like I have more freedom living this way. It is also extremely cheap and practical!

I believe in lifelong learning and the need to take on challenges; doing hard things. Every day is an opportunity to grow. Human beings are human beings, not robots. There’s a place for emotions and laziness, being bored and doing nothing; this is important.

I hate the overly capitalist view, which society forces us to take, the focused on productivity misery, very toxic shit. Life is hard; it’s normal to want to rest and do something else. Productivity comes from loving and enjoying your craft, your life, and just knowing that you are doing something cool, something useful to someone – it doesn’t come from capitalistic, toxic aim to gain more profit and optimization of every minute of your life to achive ultimate productive misery. I’m speaking from my own experience here, since I had issues with this, which lead me to mental health issues, misery and burnout.

Human beings have this wonderful desire to grow and improve; every single one of us! And it’s by living in harmony with this drive that we attain true happiness and find meaning in our lives. That’s what I believe.

Stories & Knowledge

I love stories in all forms, but mostly, I dedicate my time to books, after comes manga. They offer knowledge and lessons about the world, human nature, and life itself. They have been a huge part of my life, of who I am in ways I still carry.

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. Here is my curated library of books, which contains the ones I consider worth sharing, that taught me something meaningful or just are amazing/fun reads. You can also check out my manga & anime library on AniList. Nowadays, I try to stick to reading as my main medium, in my opinion, the best one.

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.

Explore my blog or reach out if you’d like to connect.