Protesilaos Stavrou

Coach/tutor on Emacs, Linux, and Life

One-on-one coaching at affordable prices

[ This page is also available in Chinese, German and Spanish, thanks to people who have volunteered to send me translations. ]

I provide private lessons or services on Emacs, Linux, and Life in general. My skills as a coach:

  • Patient
  • Compassionate
  • Thoughtful
  • Friendly
  • Disciplined
  • Adaptable

For more details on my competences, you can check the publications on my website, such as (i) my videos on philosophy, (ii) my Emacs tutorials, (iii) the numerous packages I have written and maintain for Emacs, (iv) my custom working environment on Linux, and (v) lots of other writings.

Private lessons via live video

Private lessons are always one-on-one. I will never ask you to be grouped together with another person nor involve a third party.

Lessons do not have a fixed format: we work on what you want to match your skill level. Some examples:

  • Work on Emacs Lisp basics to help you better configure your Emacs.
  • Set up custom code to implement something you want with Emacs.
  • Deep dive into advanced topics, such as to extend core functionality of built-in Emacs packages.

Other topics can cover anything from Linux-related configurations to philosophy. We can even mix those together!

Benefits of one-on-one coaching

  • You can ask questions live and get personalised feedback.
  • Even when we are working on a technical topic, we can still discuss intangible matters, such as workflow and methodology.
  • We practice English. We can even do it in Greek.
  • It is human interaction: we smile and have an easy time. No problem, no stress!

Frequency and duration of lessons

The standard is one hour per session. Lessons can be longer (two or more hours) if you need. Multiple courses can be spread out throughout the week or month, at your discretion.

Work hours

I am available every day of the week. I currently live in Cyprus. The time zone is that of Europe/Athens. Contact me and we will schedule a meeting that suits both parties.

Pricing

Lessons cost 20 EUR per hour.

Students are entitled to the discounted price of 15 EUR per hour. I will not ask for proof if you are a student or not: I trust you to be honest.

Payments

You are expected to pay after the private lesson is delivered. You never have to do it in advance, unless you want to.

The payment methods are as follows:

  1. GitHub Sponsors one-time donation. GitHub does not charge extra fees and you can make one-off payments of an arbitrary value even though the main method is for small recurring/monthly contributions: https://github.com/sponsors/protesilaos.

  2. Send a payment via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/protesilaos. PayPal takes a small percentage to process the transaction.

  3. Use a direct bank transfer via the International Bank Account Number (IBAN). My IBAN is CY23 0090 0520 0005 2010 0144 6252. Make sure you are specifying my full name, namely, Protesilaos Stavrou, and are using the Euro (EUR) currency. Though you most likely do not need this, the BIC SWIFT code of my bank’s branch is ABKLCY2N. Depending on your country, bank transfers may either be the cheapest option or the most expensive one, so please double-check.

Prospective students

I accept everyone regardless of their cultural background, sexual orientation, lifestyle choices, et cetera. Due to the nature of the topics I cover, I expect students to be adults. In principle, I can tutor younger people as well, provided I receive the express permission of their guardian.

Privacy policy

I will not share your details with anyone nor publicise any potentially personally identifying information. You are welcome to use a pseudonym. If/when we do a video call, you are free to not activate the camera.

Preference for libre software

I want us to rely on free software as much as possible. This includes freedom-respecting file formats like .txt, .md, .org, as well as video call software like Jitsi or Jami:

I understand that sometimes we have to make compromises. Please let me know about the specifics of your case and I will adapt accordingly.

Contact me

I look forward to you message: https://protesilaos.com/contact/. There is no need for formalities such as “Sir”. Call me by my name, “Protesilaos”, or nickname: “Prot”.