ZeStig's blog

About#

Welcome to ZeStig’s online lair!

Profile#

I am a hardworking student with an eye for up-and-coming technologies. I’ve had a keen interest in stargazing and Astrophysics from a young age, having voraciously read books on the subject. I’ve been an analyst and problem-solver for as long as I can remember.

Contact#

You can find me here:

Education#

Computer Science, Jun 2010 – Jul 2022#

National Public School, Gopalapuram, Chennai#
  • AISSCE (Grade 10): 96%
  • AISSCE (Grade 12): 90%

Bachelor of Technology, Computer Science, Jun 2022 – Jul 2026#

Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai#
  • CGPA: 7.88

Projects#

StratOS#

I am working on a GNU+Linux distribution called StratOS. My team and I have also developed several tools related to the project:

  • Rock (package manager)

    • It provides a unified interface for pulling packages from multiple sources.
    • Designed with new Linux users in mind, it aims to accustom the user to a slick interface from where they can install packages.
    • Supports apt, pacman and flatpak as well as AUR packages

  • StratOS

    • co-maintainer of the GNOME edition of StratOS - the flagship edition
    • ISOs are built via GitHub Actions
    • includes lightweight shell extensions to improve UI/UX.
    • Custom kernel support is on the roadmap

  • StratOS-Hyprland

    • sole maintainer of the Hyprland spin of StratOS.
    • Added a cheat-sheet for beginners
    • Designed to be aesthetic and user-friendly
    • Provides twice the looks at half the performance

  • StratOS-repo

    • package repository for StratOS
    • builds are automated via Docker
    • Packages are configured to release weekly

  • Grab

    • Smart system information script that caches redundant details

    • Very lightweight and fast (multiple times faster than competitors)

    • Memory-safe - Written in Rust

    • Very useful for diagnosing hardware issues

Skills#

Linux#

I’m a passionate FOSS user and a virtuoso who loves meddling around with the internals on my Arch Linux setup. I have an eye for software such as GNU Emacs and Window Managers.

Rust#

I’ve used Rust extensively for projects and have started embedded programming in Rust - on microcontrollers such as the Raspberry Pi and Arduino Uno.

Python#

I’ve used Python for data science and machine learning projects. I’ve built a simple meta-search engine in Python, designed primarily as a means for me to learn some backend development.

Interests#

  • Astrophysics
  • Linux
  • FOSS software
  • Python
  • C
  • C++
  • Rust
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Arduino

Clubs and Activities#

Coding Conundrums Community#

I’ve founded this community to tackle puzzles programmatically using data structure concepts. Inspired in part by https://github.com/TheAlgorithms, our community works on simple and effective solutions to Mensa-type puzzles using common data structures.

Technical Advisory, Linux User Group VITC#

My passion for Linux and FOSS led me to the Linux club. I harnessed my passion to the fullest, participating in and offering technical support for the various hackathons that the club conducted. Cyber-0-Day ‘23 was my first tryst with cybersecurity, experiencing new and intriguing technologies such as Metasploit and Kali NetHunter.

IEEE Photonics, VIT Chennai#

Contributed to IEEE Photonics team projects.