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stintel/README.md

Hi, I'm Stijn

I'm a Belgian Linux systems engineer living in a Bulgarian village. I have worked with Linux professionally since 2004.

My operating model is simple: I use things, find bugs, and fix them when I can. That has taken me through Linux kernels, embedded systems, networking stacks, Wi-Fi drivers, firewalls, self-hosted infrastructure, and rather a lot of upstream patch submission.

Open source I work on

HeyWillow/willow
An open-source, local and self-hosted voice assistant. I took over stewardship following its founder's passing.
C · ★ 3,084 · 124 forks
stintel/vallumd
Centralised or distributed IP blacklisting using MQTT and kernel sets.
C · ★ 131 · 19 forks
stintel/ddns-mux
TSIG-signed RFC 2136 DNS UPDATE multiplexer and proxy for multi-target fanout.
Rust · ★ 0 · 0 forks
tokarix/forge-mcp
Policy-enforcing MCP server that lets AI coding agents safely read repos, apply patches, and open pull requests across Forgejo, Gitea, and GitLab.
Rust · ★ 0 · 0 forks
tokarix/memory-server
Persistent semantic memory service and MCP adapter for AI agents, powered by PostgreSQL and local Ollama models.
Rust · ★ 1 · 0 forks

Projects I've contributed to

openwrt/openwrt
The main OpenWrt source tree, mirrored on GitHub.
404 commits · 7 merged PRs · C · ★ 27,762 · 12,696 forks
openwrt/packages
Community packages for OpenWrt.
284 commits · 86 merged PRs · Makefile · ★ 4,564 · 3,931 forks
esphome/esphome
ESPHome is a system to control your ESP32, ESP8266, BK72xx, RP2040 by simple yet powerful configuration files and control them remotely through Home Automation systems.
15 commits · 14 merged PRs · C++ · ★ 11,452 · 5,497 forks
koverstreet/bcachefs-tools
Userspace tools and libraries for bcachefs.
14 commits · 6 merged PRs · C · ★ 193 · 144 forks
Nosmoht/ansible-module-foreman
Ansible modules for managing Foreman.
8 commits · 7 merged PRs · Python · ★ 49 · 28 forks
torvalds/linux
The Linux kernel source tree, mirrored on GitHub.
7 commits · 0 merged PRs · C · ★ 240,979 · 63,577 forks
tjardoo/openai-client
OpenAI Dive is an unofficial async Rust library that allows you to interact with the OpenAI API.
6 commits · 6 merged PRs · Rust · ★ 82 · 35 forks
openwrt/routing
Routing packages for OpenWrt.
6 commits · 5 merged PRs · Shell · ★ 394 · 453 forks
Mictronics/readsb-protobuf
Readsb is a Mode-S/ADSB/TIS decoder for RTLSDR, BladeRF, Modes-Beast and GNS5894 devices. Future development version with protocol buffer storage.
5 commits · 3 merged PRs · C · ★ 114 · 26 forks
Nosmoht/python-foreman
A Python client library for Foreman.
5 commits · 3 merged PRs · Python · ★ 18 · 10 forks
Telecominfraproject/wlan-cloud-ucentralgw
The uCentral cloud gateway from the Telecom Infra Project.
3 commits · 3 merged PRs · C++ · ★ 35 · 55 forks

Ranked by commits, with merged pull requests as the tie-breaker. Both are shown because commits better represent projects whose development predates or lives outside GitHub, while pull requests still capture work that was squash-merged. The numbers overlap and are not added together. Neither metric captures older mailing-list and maintainer-applied work such as my madwifi contributions, or work living on other forges.

GitHub stats

5,806
contributions since joining GitHub
141
stars on public source repositories
63
public repositories
85
followers

Snapshot updated 29 July 2026 · Contributions counted from 2011 through 2026

The snapshot above is generated locally with a Rust xtask, reviewed as a normal diff, and committed by hand. There is no scheduled workflow updating this repository.

How it started

In 1999, after visiting Media Planet in Mechelen with my uncle, we stopped at a computer shop and he bought me a boxed copy of SuSE Linux 6.2—a pile of discs and several manuals. That was the start of the rabbit hole.

Year Down the rabbit hole
1999 Installed SuSE Linux 6.2 and started taking computers apart figuratively as well as literally.
2001 Ran my own mail server on a free nickname.yi.org subdomain.
2002 Connected through an IPv6 tunnel and registered linux-ipv6.be, inspired by linux-ipv6.org and the USAGI project. I've been on IPv6 ever since.
2004 Started working with Linux professionally.
2005 Started testing and debugging the ipw2200 and madwifi wireless drivers, and helping users in #madwifi and #ipw2100 on Freenode.
2007 Started using OpenWrt; my first upstream OpenWrt contribution followed in 2010.

Somewhere in there were IRC servers, eggdrop bots, and days skipped from school to write an iptables firewall script. Linux led to networking; networking led to embedded systems; using all of it led to finding bugs. The loop is still running.

Work, contact, and sponsorship

I'm available for freelance work—from quick fixes and one-off projects to longer engineering engagements. If you have an interesting problem, ask; work is contracted through Adlevio.

For open-source conversation: stintel on Libera.Chat and OFTC, or @stijn:tintel.eu on Matrix.

If my upstream work saves you time or keeps your infrastructure running, you can sponsor it on GitHub. Sponsorship buys me more time for open-source work that would otherwise compete with paid projects.

Pinned Loading

  1. vallumd vallumd Public

    Centralize or distribute IPset blacklists

    C 131 19

  2. gentoo-overlay gentoo-overlay Public

    Shell 1 1

  3. HeyWillow/willow HeyWillow/willow Public

    Open source, local, and self-hosted Amazon Echo/Google Home competitive Voice Assistant alternative

    C 3.1k 124