+ Here's a list of stuff I use everyday. While I do like all the stuff I list here, keep in mind + I'm not trying to tell you that you should/have to use it as well. I just have a lot of love and + appreciation for the tools I use and the people who made them, so I wanted to share that here. +
+aperture)+ My main laptop! I bought the Intel version back in 2023 and still love using it. The internal + mic doesn't work and the keyboard is failing a bit but I will use this thing until it doesn't + turn on anymore. +
+black-mesa)+ Desktop of theseus I've had for a good while now. Currently has an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU and a AMD + Radeon RX 7800 XT GPU. I used it a lot for gaming but I haven't played much recently. Now it + acts as a server for silly projects like Bingus. +
+mann-co)+ Rpi I use mostly for testing stuff. I also sometimes plug it in and have it WOL my desktop + every minute in case my power goes out 💀. +
++ Phone I use for phone things. I've been trying to use it less and less. I'm hoping I can + install an alternative Android version like GrapheneOS soon-ish. Especially since Google is + trying to kill the only cool thing about Android. +
++ I started using NixOS when I started college and never looked back. Having a unified + abstraction for configuring my system is a dream come true. All of my configs are public and + available as a Git repository. +
+
+ I use an alternative implementation of Nix called
+ Nushell is my favorite shell. It is data-oriented and nice to use. It has a lot f nice stuff + for converting data formats and transforming data. It makes scripting easy. +
++ I use starship to generate my shell's prompt. I like how configurable it is and copy my config + to other platforms and shells to get a consistent experience. +
+
+ Zoxide is a nice utility that remembers directories I've cd'd into. When I cd again it uses that database to find a suitable directory without needing me to type in the whole
+ path. As an example, I can cd into my NixOS config by just typing cd ni.
+
+ tldr is a concise version of man, with a community maintained list of documentation that tells + you how to do common actions with a given command. +
+
+ I use a tldr implementation called
+ Bat is a pretty version of cat that gives syntax highlighting and auto-pages if needed. It + also has stuff for viewing manpages and diffs. +
++ Yazi is TUI file manager. I really like it for quick file operations. It also has a mount + plugin for udisks and can extract archives automatically. +
++ Daemon for playing music! It's nice that I can change players while still having the same + underlying system. It also can announce songs to Discord and MPRIS. +
+Command line controller for MPD, I really like how simple it is. And it supports Cava.
++ A refreshingly simple command runner that just works. I write recipes in a Justfile and + it runs the commands I specify. +
++ An alternative to Git. From the moment I started using it I loved it. It has very good UX and + makes my life so much easier. The underlying repository is still Git too! +
+
+ I like terminal editors, and
Both TUIs for managing Wifi/Bluetooth, very handy!
+ ++ Niri is a wayland window manager that lays out windows as an infinite strip of columns. I + really like this methodology and have started to like having my sites and apps as columns. I + have firefox set to open links in new windows now too since it's easier to manage that way. +
+In addition to Niri I use the following programs to build a graphical shell.
+The config I use for each of these are in my NixOS flake.
++ I've used Firefox for a while. It's my favorite to configure with Nix, and I can disable all + their annoying stuff (suggestions, new tab stories, AI stuff, telemetry) pretty easily. +
++ Catppuccin my beloved. I like the color scheme and the Nix integration is amazing. All must be + cat. +
+Video player I like to use, it's mostly for local files. For music I use MPD/rmpc.
++ Wezterm is a nice terminal emulator that is fast enough for me. However, I don't have a use + for a lot of its features, might switch to something else soon. +
++ Also it keeps freezing? Although this may be just my laptop so I'm not gonna blame it there. +
++ Connecting my phone to my computer. It syncs clipboard, media controls, and notifications! I + love using it. +
++ A nice password manager. I can't configure it with Nix that well but I live with it. I like + how it can manage SSH keys as well, putting them in my agent when the DB is unlocked. +
++ Not really graphical but putting it here anyway. Easy, reliable sync between my devices. + I use it to sync data between my laptop, desktop, and phone. I sync my entire photo and music library + (surprisingly fits fine on my phone) as well as my KeepassXC database. +
++ Nice looking monospace font for my editor! I like the ligatures and it has nerd fonts builtin. +
+Alternative frontend for Bluesky. A lot of neat features and a catppuccin theme!!!
++ Self hosting my PDS is scary and fun. Cocoon seemed simple so I went with it, and it works + great! I might try tranquil at some point too. +
++ I get to self host my own repositories while still getting social features. Tangled is such a + neat idea and I really want to see it succeed. +
++ They're a good registrar. I'm not gonna lie "AI generated domain search" seems so silly to me. + I really don't get the point. Either way it's a nice experience and their UI is easy to use. +
++ I don't just use it for my system! I like using Nix to develop my software. Setting up dev + environments is easy and distributing packages is nice. The language itself isn't perfect, but + the pros heavily outweigh the cons. +
++ Rust is a nice language. I struggled to find a "go-to" language for my projects but after + learning Rust I really like using it. It's my favorite language. +
++ Rust and web, my two favorite things! Tauri lets you write most application logic in Rust and + then use a WebView for the frontend. It uses the system webview (for better or for worse). It + might be a bit overkill but also nuh uh. +
++ Astro is really nice for SSG. I don't use it for SSR but it's probably good for that too. I + just really like having integrations with other frameworks and the content collections system + is so wonderful to use. Their docs also made me want to get into technical writing. It's + usually my go-to for making any static site since I know it well and it's versatile. This + website is made with Astro :) +
++ Vite is a nice build tool. Astro is built on top of it but when Astro is too much (like when + I'm using Tauri), Vite is a great choice. +
++ Modern Python tooling THANK GOD. uv is a great package manager with actually nice UX. Ruff is + a good lightweight formatter and linter. +
+Replacements for eslint and prettier. Both are a lot faster and not as bloated. Big fan.
++ I don't use it much anymore but I'd still die for it. It's so easy to use and the ORM is my + favorite +
++ I use Typst for any documents or slide shows I create. I love having a language to use instead + of having to do WYSIWYG editing. My Resume is made with Typst. +
+
+ Most of this stuff I did not discover on my own! I read a lot of sites like