My favorite software and hardware

I’m not a luddite. I love technology. Like any other tool, it can be used for good or evil.

I like Ubuntu LTS because it tends to Just Work so I can focus on productivity. When I want a more lightweight system, I use Alpine or Devuan.

Alpine Linux is the most flexible and suckless (least suckful?) distro I’ve tried, though unfortunately lacking Brave builds.
Devuan is a decently suckless option with the benefit of Brave APT repository support.
Then there’s PCLinuxOS, which has a remarkably friendly community, and seems like a good distro—though not the most flexible—with Brave and many other browsers provided in the package repos.

Emacs, Brave, and Zsh are my tools of choice. Emacs has a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, you really come to appreciate its extensibility model and immense wealth of functionality. Magit and Org-Mode are amazing, and so is M-x grep with its ability to operate on the output in far more useful ways than command-line grep.

I kinda like the GNOME desktop, but when I want something more minimal, I use dwm or Hyprland. I like the simple master/stack layout.

For music, I use Reaper, Pianoteq, Noire, Cinematic Studio Series, Spitfire stuff, Valhalla Room, and MuseScore. I have a Kawai ES920 and I want a CA901.

For video, Kdenlive suffices for simple tasks, but I do prefer DaVinci Resolve for more elaborate editing.

I enjoy the Colemak-DH layout, with the Wide mod for standard keyboards. My current favorite is my NiZ Plum Atom68: very pleasant typing experience. I also have an Epomaker Split65, which is a very good keyboard, currently featuring Holy Panda switches, which are on the heavy side, but I enjoy them in moderation. The stock Wisteria linears are okay, but I’m not a fan of linears; I want actuation feedback.

A few more keyboards I sometimes use: Leopold FC660C with 45g plate-mounted Topres; Ducky One SF with Cherry Browns; Aula F75 with Leobog Reapers; and High Plains Drifters V2 with Outemu Silent Toms.

I have a Thinkpad X200, which has the most enjoyable keyboard of any laptop I’ve ever used, plus it’s Librebooted. Ancient it may be; it still works well as a portable writing machine. I generally don’t like laptop keyboards, so I’m considering a tablet with Linux that I can use with external input devices.

For pointing, I use an MX Vertical, a Slimblade, a Ploopy Adept, and an Elecom Huge.