# Szymon Wilczek > Personal website of Szymon Wilczek, a software engineer from Poland working on low-level systems: Linux kernel patches, C tools for Linux, GNU Emacs. It holds his essays, open-source projects, CV, photographs, books, and a few interactive pages, all drawn in a hand-inked Japanese garden style. Szymon studies Computer Science (B.Sc. Eng.) at the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice and works as a software architect. He sends filesystem fixes to the Linux kernel and writes Linux utilities in C, such as LOTA and alloyctl. Essays are written in Org mode; every essay is also served as its raw .org file. - Website: https://szymon-wilczek.me/ - GitHub: https://github.com/szymonwilczek - E-mail: swilczek.lx@gmail.com (GPG key at https://szymon-wilczek.me/szymon-wilczek.asc) ## Pages - [About](https://szymon-wilczek.me/about/): Biography, background, editors, and upstream contributions. - [The years so far](https://szymon-wilczek.me/path/): CV as a timeline: studies, work, certificates, kernel patches; CV as a PDF. - [Projects](https://szymon-wilczek.me/projects/): Every open-source project with its language and repository. - [Writings](https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/): All essays, newest first, filterable by tag. - [Photographs](https://szymon-wilczek.me/photos/): Photo albums from trips, each with EXIF data and SHA-256 sums. - [Bookshelf](https://szymon-wilczek.me/books/): Books read, one shelf per year, and what is being read now. - [Uses](https://szymon-wilczek.me/uses/): Hardware, software and tools used day to day. - [Links](https://szymon-wilczek.me/links/): The author's other sites and the small sites recommended here. - [Files](https://szymon-wilczek.me/files/): Downloadable utilities and archives, each with its SHA-256. - [Verify a file](https://szymon-wilczek.me/files/verify/): In-browser SHA-256 check of a downloaded file. - [Contact](https://szymon-wilczek.me/contact/): E-mail and the GPG public key with its fingerprint. ## Writings - [Screenshots of au-themes for GNU Emacs](https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/au-themes-screenshots/): 2026-10-17, Emacs. Every au-theme in Emacs Lisp, C, Magit, Dired and Org, as it looks in my own Emacs. Tags: emacs, themes, accessibility. Org source: https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/au-themes-screenshots.org - [Rules of Joker: Silesian Remik](https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/joker-rules/): 2026-10-03, Games. The complete, dated rulebook of Joker - the Silesian variant of rummy - as played at our table, written down once so the arguments can finally stop :) Tags: cards, joker, remik, rules, silesia. Org source: https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/joker-rules.org - [The Cycle of New Software: On Operative Simulacra](https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/the-cycle-of-new-software/): 2026-09-02, Philosophy. On the operative simulacra of generative code, the breakdown of Brooks' essential complexity, the illusion of historical mastery, and the displacement of human cognitive centrality in computing. Tags: philosophy, epistemology, ontology, ai, software-engineering. Org source: https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/the-cycle-of-new-software.org - [Architecture of Inevitable Hypocrisy](https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/the-architecture-of-inevitable-hypocrisy/): 2026-09-01, Philosophy. On the illusion of ideological purity, the doomed romanticism of rebellion, the AI enclosure of the digital commons, and the inescapable hypocrisy of modern digital life. Tags: philosophy, privacy, sovereignty, open-source. Org source: https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/the-architecture-of-inevitable-hypocrisy.org - [8-Pixel Obsession: Crafting Typus Mono](https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/the-8-pixel-obsession-typus-mono/): 2026-08-31, Typography. On the madness of condensing JetBrains Mono by 8%, and wrestling 10,000 Nerd Font glyphs into mathematical submission. Tags: typography, emacs, fonts, ghostty, linux. Org source: https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/the-8-pixel-obsession-typus-mono.org - [The Sins of Low-Level Bootstrapping](https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/code-silence-and-boot-sectors/): 2026-08-30, YouTube. On starting a no-talking programming channel and building an 8-part Linux bootloader in complete silence. Tags: assembly, linux, youtube. Org source: https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/code-silence-and-boot-sectors.org - [Building a Modular Sanctuary: An Engineer's Dualism](https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/building-a-modular-sovereign-emacs/): 2026-08-27, Emacs. On the eternal ping-pong between Neovim and Emacs and building a modular setup that stops pretending to be something it is not. Tags: emacs, neovim. Org source: https://szymon-wilczek.me/writings/building-a-modular-sovereign-emacs.org ## Projects - [LOTA](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/lota): Transparent system integrity framework for Linux. C, since 2026-02. - [alloyctl](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/alloyctl): Control utility & interactive TUI for SteelSeries mice on Linux. C, since 2026-07. - [Talos 7](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/talos-7): Hardware and software ecosystem for custom programmable keyboard. C, since 2025-12. - [Skrecior](https://skrecior-bot.vercel.app/): Personal DJ for Discord servers serving as free friend for 1M+ users. Java, since 2021-09. - [Asmodeus](https://github.com/asmod-lang/asmodeus): Programming language in Rust: bytecode VM, assembler, debugger, LSP. Rust, since 2025-07. - [Eikon](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/2026_tab_5_wilczek): Self-hosted photo library with AI tagging and private sharing. Java, since 2026-04. - [This Portfolio](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/szymon-wilczek.me): The site you're on right now: spilled ink, a tea house and a kiln. Meta, isn't it? TypeScript, since 2026-08. - [Hati](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/hati): Cursor highlighter for GNOME that defies Wayland isolation. Powered by GLSL shaders. JavaScript, since 2026-01. - [Carmenta](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/carmenta): Emoji picker in Rust that actually works on Wayland. Rust, since 2026-01. - [SLAB](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/slab): Tiling window manager for GNOME: actor-first, zero latency. TypeScript, since 2026-01. - [Prometheus](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/prometheus-canvas): 3D physical oil paint simulator running on the client. C, since 2026-07. - [Palaemon](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/palaemon): RS-232 and Modbus ASCII communication project. C, since 2026-04. - [arete.nvim](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/arete.nvim): Neovim plugin that ports Protesilaos GNU Emacs themes. Lua, since 2026-05. - [Maturator](https://github.com/wolfie-university/maturator): Educational platform for the Polish Matura Exam. Infinite, unique mathematical problems. TypeScript, since 2025-12. - [Instant Book Exchange](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/instant-book-exchange): Social platform for book enthusiasts enabling seamless book swaps. TypeScript, since 2025-11. - [Vim Be Better](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/vim-be-better): Neovim plugin that trains Vim grammar, registers and macros as a game. Lua, since 2025-06. - [Wavelength](https://github.com/szymonwilczek/wavelength): Desktop messenger in C++ and Qt 5: text, voice messages, walkie-talkie. C++, since 2023-06. ## Feeds - [Full text of all essays](https://szymon-wilczek.me/llms-full.txt): every essay in one plain-text file. - [RSS](https://szymon-wilczek.me/rss.xml): new essays. - [Sitemap](https://szymon-wilczek.me/sitemap-index.xml): every indexable URL with its last change. ## Optional - [Map](https://szymon-wilczek.me/map/): An illustrated map linking every page of the site. - [Seeds](https://szymon-wilczek.me/seeds/): Essays planned but not yet written, with their stage. - [Changelog](https://szymon-wilczek.me/changelog/): The site's history: commits per week since the first one. - [Roji](https://szymon-wilczek.me/roji/): Interactive tea garden: visitors shape pottery; approved pieces join a shelf. - [Engawa](https://szymon-wilczek.me/engawa/): A focus timer (incense), a record player and a lo-fi radio. - [Seal book](https://szymon-wilczek.me/seals/): Collectible seals earned by exploring the site. - [Credits](https://szymon-wilczek.me/credits/): Fonts, music and open-source acknowledgements. - [Montenegro](https://szymon-wilczek.me/photos/montenegro-102026/): 29 photographs, October 2026. - [Gibraltar](https://szymon-wilczek.me/photos/gibraltar-022026/): 5 photographs, February 2026. - [Nerja](https://szymon-wilczek.me/photos/nerja-022026/): 4 photographs, February 2026. - [Caminito del Rey](https://szymon-wilczek.me/photos/caminito_del_rey-022026/): 14 photographs, February 2026. - [Málaga](https://szymon-wilczek.me/photos/malaga-092025/): 13 photographs, September 2025. Not for indexing: /vault/ holds encrypted private documents.