Software
Operating systems
I have tried (or tried to try) various GNU- and GNU-less Linux distros as well as non-Linux OS (OpenBSD). Here are those that I have successfully daily-driven with quite pleasant experience:
- openSUSE Tumbleweed
- NixOS
- Void Linux
- Debian GNU/Linux
- Alpine Linux
- OpenBSD
Graphical stack
X
Here is my setup for an X11 graphical environment
- WM
- bspwm
- bar
- polybar
- terminal emulator
- alacritty
- urxvt
- xterm
Wayland
- WM
- sway
- bar
- waybar
- terminal emulator
- foot
Social and communication
I mostly left mainstream social networks, but still have to maintain my GMail account as it’s tied to several other accounts and I am not willing to update them all. Another issue is that some organisations seem to block lesser email providers. I also need a trash email address to give off to the government and dubious organisations who might sell off my data.
- Social networks: I use Mastodon and Pleroma (actually, Akkoma, a fork), both of which are part of the ActivityPub-fediverse, with mainly their official web client. I also use Tusky and Husky on Android to browse them, which are much more lightweight on phone.
- Email: I use aerc and neomutt as terminal clients and FairEmail on my phone.
- Chat: I use nheko on desktop and Element on phone. I used FluffyChat, but it is very slow, crashed once and can’t start up since.
Editing
I use vim and neovim, mostly. The reason is:
- quick start up
- responsive
- nice key binding
Emacs would probably be the same, but I’m not as used to its keybinding. “Vim mode”, or the bastardisation of vim keybinding in other editors, never appeals me. Besides these two, I’m OK with any graphical editors, though big, bloated IDEs, especially proprietary ones, are quite repulsive to me.
Hardware
Laptop
I use a Dell Inspiron 5570 as my laptop. Except for its hard drive, which was corrupted in a water accident, everything has been kept as is since five years ago. It runs surprisingly well with any Linux distros I’ve put thereon. Currently, it is running NixOS 22.05.
Desktop
This is my first custom built machine, and to be honest, I am not quite happy with it. I have flashed multiple different distros/OS thereon and most of them don’t work in one way or another. Some don’t have working graphics or audio, some can’t boot, and some can’t even boot into the installation media. Anyways, here is the setup:
- Motherboard
- ASUS RoG Strix B560-G Gaming Wifi
- CPU
- Intel Core i5 11400
- Memory
- PNY XLR8 Silver 8GB RGB
- Cooler
- Cooler Master 212 ARGB
- PSU
- SilverStone 500W ST50F-ES230 80 Plus
- Case
- XIGMATEK XA-20 (ATX)
- Storage
- PNY SSD CS1031 M.2 2280 NVMe 256GB
- HDD Seagate Barracuda 1TB
- Keyboard
- Akko 3108SP Black Blue Switch v2
- Mouse
- Logitech G102 LightSync Gaming Mouse
On a related note, I fail to understand why most custom-built PC are marketed only towards gamers who like shiny flashy RGB LEDs? I don’t appreciate that aesthestics.