Protesilaos Stavrou

About me

Profile

I am a philosopher living in the mountains of Cyprus at a house I built myself which I affectionately call “the hut.” I spend my free time programming on GNU Emacs, writing essays on a wide range of life issues, and doing infrastructure work around my house. My background is diverse and reflects my intellectual curiosity as well as consistently high work ethic.

In my teens I was a semi-professional football (soccer) player. I had to quit that career path due to an untimely injury. I also worked as an assistant to a land surveyor and a motorcycle mechanic.

I left my hometown in Greece to go to Cyprus for university studies. I got a degree in European Politics, Economics, and Law. My family could not afford any of my expenses. I covered it all by working in parallel to studying. In practice, I did not have a “student life” because that was a luxury I could not afford. If I was not studying, I was working. To that end, I was employed as a bartender in the tourism sector, a receptionist, a waiter, and a construction worker.

After my studies in mid-2011 and up until ~2016 I got involved in politics-related fields, starting with the role of an accredited parliamentary assistant to a Member of the European Parliament. I was one of the people doing the technical, behind-the-scenes work that goes into law-making. I also worked as an independent researcher and external contractor. My specialisation was in the Economic and Monetary Union.

I decided to quit politics and relocate to the mountains of Cyprus. I did it to take control of my experience, prioritise my values, and remain honest. I thus continued to live by doing construction work and agriculture-related menial tasks, until I decided to provide one-on-one coaching services on Emacs, Linux, and general Life issues. This has been my job since early 2023. More details here: https://protesilaos.com/coach/.

Since the summer of 2023, I live at “the hut”, which I homesteaded on a piece of land that used to be a vineyard. The project is ongoing, as I continue to expand its infrastructure and further improve the living conditions it makes possible.

My diverse experiences combined with my philosophical thinking empower me to create connections between seemingly unrelated fields. The insights I develop are thus original and probably thought-provoking.

About protesilaos.com and all my publications

This website has been online since 2011. It contains more than 1500 in-depth entries on a wide range of topics, all of which are available under the appropriate copyleft terms that ensure end user freedom—see the license and resources page. I usually make several new publications per week which, if nothing else, shows my uninterrupted commitment to this project. Read, learn, think, and reach your own conclusions.

To the question of “where do I start from”, my answer is that it does not matter. Each article of mine either stands on its own or links to related entries. Pick any of the following subsections of my website:

  • Books and standalone entries :: This index includes items that are central to my work. It covers essays and video presentations. The content is philosophical.

  • Coding blog :: In this index I write and/or talk about free/libre software and related issues. It is my de facto blog for Emacs.

  • Comments on life :: Here I post comments about general life issues. These typically are in response to an email I receive. The focus is on practical philosophy.

  • Interpretations and critiques :: In this section I blend the artistic with the philosophical, as I provide my interpretation of cultural works. The lessons to be learnt are philosophical and thus not limited to the art they reference.

  • Keyboards and ergonomics :: In this section I write about keyboards, switches, caps, ergonomics, and related issues.

  • My poems :: My poetry is but an attempt to record feelings. All poems are written in one go. I do not tend to their aesthetic appeal, as that requires extra processing which detracts from my truth in the moment.

  • News and announcements :: This is about topics that relate to this website, or my life in general like what I do around the hut.

  • Politics blog :: Analyses on current affairs and/or political theory. Many entries concern the European Union.

  • All publications :: Unfiltered list with all entries posted on this website.

Emacs and programming

As I state in the description of my GitHub profile:

At what point does a tinkerer become a programmer, provided no formal background in the latter?

I am a self-taught programmer who enjoys learning by doing. I maintain more than 20 Emacs packages and continue to make contributions to the benefit of the Emacs community and free software at-large. Find all the relevant projects here: https://protesilaos.com/emacs.

Interviews and other media

Awards

On 2022-03-19 the Free Software Foundation awarded me the 2021 Award for Outstanding New Free Software Contributor. I received it in my mail in late August 2022. Here is the announcement, which also includes all links to the backstory, as well as a video of me showing the physical item: https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2022-09-01-emacs-fsf-award/ (pictures too!).

In May 2023 I received the Google Open Source Peer Bonus Program award for my Emacs modus-themes package: https://opensource.googleblog.com/2023/05/google-open-source-peer-bonus-program-announces-first-group-of-winners-2023.html. Relevant essay of mine on Accessibility and software freedom: https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2023-05-11-accessibility-software-freedom/.

Also on