The programs and equipment I use on a daily basis.
Programs and Equipment I Use
I’m about getting things done quickly and having as little latency between my thoughts and actions on the computer.
I like having vim-like bindings and prefer running programs in the terminal for simplicity’s sake. That said, I’m very much against the cringe meme that things in the terminal are “cooler” or “nerdier” XD. Terminals are good for most tasks, but useless for others, for example, browsing the web (I admit this unfortunate fact with much consternation) or looking at maps.
Software I Use
OS Distribution
NixOS. NixOS is an immutable OS where you are only allowed to modify the system via declarative config files.
I’ve distro-hopped between Manjaro, Void, Debian, and Fedora, but since NixOS this has largely stopped as I’m quite happy with my NixOS + Home Manager setup. I did like Debian, and Fedora as well.
You can find my configs here. There is a dedicated post about this.
Desktop Environment
I’ve settled on DWL after many years of hopping. Its clean, functional, and extremely light.
Prior to this, I’ve used Bsmpw + Sxhkd, i3, Gnome, KDE Plasma etc. I’m glad these exist and people get use out of it, but for now I do not miss it.
Text Editor
(neo)vim. Less of a text editor and more of a lifestyle. Check out my dotfiles for this. No, I’m not going to ever switch to emacs.
Web Browser
Firefox / Brave / Vivaldi. I have tried, Chromium, Qutebrowser in the past.
File Manager
ranger. Yes, I’ve tried nnn and others.
Yes I know its not the fastest, but something about Ranger makes me keep coming back to it 🤷.
Where can I find good software options?
The program of your dreams is probably listed below:
- The suckless website’s list of programs that “rock”. Generally minimalist programs.
- A more comprehensive list of minimalist software.
- FSF’s Free Software Directory. Emphasis on libre software (although most software in the links above will have free licenses as well).
- Gentoo Wiki Recommendations A good mix of programs for novices and advanced users.
Hardware I Use
Laptop
The main laptop I use is the Framework laptop.
I’m a huge fan of the whole upgradability concept coming from a few generations of ThinkPads.
I’ve since re-purposed this laptop to be something else.
What I don’t use
Proprietary software.
I’m not going to endorse proprietary services that have gone out of their way to spy on or politically suppress their users, just as Facebook, Discord etc. One of the many take-aways you should get from me is that the use of libre/free software, by its nature, is more constructive and extensible; and that’s the point.
There are philosophical reasons for this I talk about here.
