5 ms·

What do you use now?

city41 5y ago
Android phone and Ubuntu on my desktop PC and ThinkPads.
smoldesu 5y ago
I speak only for myself, but after Catalina I started transitioning to Linux and couldn't be happier. Being able to set up my entire computer with a single Github repo is a godsend for productivity, all it takes are a few keystrokes and I've got a fully configured desktop with all my dotfiles, keybinds and applications.
- beebeepka 5y ago
  Care to explain what you are talking about?
- threeseed 5y ago
  This isn't exclusive to Linux. With homebrew you can install most applications through the command line as well.
- gizdan 5y ago
  I've been a Linux user for some 10 years, but have also had to use a Macbook Pro for a while due to work. There's nothing stopping you from fully configuring macOS through a single repository similar to how you do Linux. For a while my dot files were aimed at Linux (primarily), macOS, and Windows as I anticipated to have to use both macOS and Windows down the line, though I've since removed much of the multiplatform code.
  - freedomben 5y ago
    Things may be different now as I haven't used a mac since about 2015, but depending on what tools you needed you couldn't escape the GUI completely (for a fully automated setup). At this point I don't remember all that was wrong, but one of the biggest required installing xcode or something like that before I could get git to work.
    - threeseed 5y ago
      Things have been different for many years. a) You can install XCode CLI with xcode-select --install. b) Many applications can be installed with homebrew casks. e.g. brew install --cask docker google-drive intellij-idea microsoft-office
      - novok 5y ago
        You don't even need --cask anymore. You can also use `brew bundle dump` to synchronize what you've installed via brew, and it also can sync mac app store installs too. It's a bit annoying getting macOS system preferences synced still although.
- stjohnswarts 5y ago
  How are you managing the desktop (gnome) files? I swear every time I try to move them to a new system or account all I get is grief; weird bugs, application crashes, dbus weirdness. I would love to see your recipe :) . All I can usually do is bring over app config files like emacs/vim/etc/personal scripts.
  - smoldesu 5y ago
    I don't use GNOME on any of my systems anymore (the 40 update destroyed all hope I had for the desktop going forwards), but I'm convinced you can get some settings transferred by poking around in your ~/.local directory. Having written a few GTK applications in the past, it seems like the rationale for this is because of GNOME's settings API, and how they define compliance with the GNOME spec. I find it to be a total clusterfuck, and if I had any confidence in the desktop's current management team I'd probably open a few pull requests/RFCs to try and fix it. I might sound a little heavy-handed here, but the "my way or the highway" rhetoric that GNOME's developers are pushing right now makes it really hard for me to take their desktop seriously, or blame anything but the developers themselves for their lack of features. In any case, I can assure you that behavior is perfectly "normal" to them, unfortunately.
    - stjohnswarts 5y ago
      All good points. I haven't really tried with kde. Thanks!
  - gizdan 5y ago
    Recently I discovered Extension Sync[0] for GNOME, I never really used it, but it may be useful to you. [0] https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1486/extensions-sync/ https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1486/extensions-sync/
    - stjohnswarts 5y ago
      Thanks, I'll check it out.
- innomatics 5y ago
  That sounds really neat is it some thing you can share? I recently setup a new machine which didn't take very long, but I have run into a few things I forget so would like to set up something similar.
  - smoldesu 5y ago
    I basically just run an install script which does a few different things. I start by updating the repos and regenerating my mirrors so I get the fastest downloads possible. After that, I install shell utilities (my editor, shell of choice, base-devel, etc.) and then I enable the AUR so I can grab the rest of my desired apps. The rest of it is decidedly basic, it just copies my tracked config files to ~/.config/ and moves my wallpaper to /usr/share/wallpapers. I run a few rain dances automatically too, like `sudo chmod a+wr /opt/spotify` (which lets me automate my Spotify theming process) and installing/unzipping a Steam theme. To install, I run `git clone https:github.com/username/repo && ./repo/install.sh`, and I'm off to the races. I really reccommend writing one for yourself, as it's a great way to learn shell scripts.
    - innomatics 5y ago
      Thanks for that. For me there's a trade-off, depending on how often I setup a new machine. Value of automating with a procedural script vs taking the opportunity to try a leaner (or more modern) toolchain. Currently upgrade about every 2-3 years, so I do tend not to need a bunch of things each iteration, and might upgrade OS. But I'd like a backup in case e.g. hardware failure, laptop lost or stolen. Some declarative workstation config like terraform or Ansible would be interesting.
- yumraj 5y ago
  > Being able to set up my entire computer with a single Github repo is a godsend for productivity, Not sure I understand, could you elaborate what you mean.

Android phone and Ubuntu on my desktop PC and ThinkPads.

I speak only for myself, but after Catalina I started transitioning to Linux and couldn't be happier. Being able to set up my entire computer with a single Github repo is a godsend for productivity, all it takes are a few keystrokes and I've got a fully configured desktop with all my dotfiles, keybinds and applications.

beebeepka 5y ago
Care to explain what you are talking about?
threeseed 5y ago
This isn't exclusive to Linux. With homebrew you can install most applications through the command line as well.
gizdan 5y ago
I've been a Linux user for some 10 years, but have also had to use a Macbook Pro for a while due to work. There's nothing stopping you from fully configuring macOS through a single repository similar to how you do Linux. For a while my dot files were aimed at Linux (primarily), macOS, and Windows as I anticipated to have to use both macOS and Windows down the line, though I've since removed much of the multiplatform code.
- freedomben 5y ago
  Things may be different now as I haven't used a mac since about 2015, but depending on what tools you needed you couldn't escape the GUI completely (for a fully automated setup). At this point I don't remember all that was wrong, but one of the biggest required installing xcode or something like that before I could get git to work.
  - threeseed 5y ago
    Things have been different for many years. a) You can install XCode CLI with xcode-select --install. b) Many applications can be installed with homebrew casks. e.g. brew install --cask docker google-drive intellij-idea microsoft-office
    - novok 5y ago
      You don't even need --cask anymore. You can also use `brew bundle dump` to synchronize what you've installed via brew, and it also can sync mac app store installs too. It's a bit annoying getting macOS system preferences synced still although.
stjohnswarts 5y ago
How are you managing the desktop (gnome) files? I swear every time I try to move them to a new system or account all I get is grief; weird bugs, application crashes, dbus weirdness. I would love to see your recipe :) . All I can usually do is bring over app config files like emacs/vim/etc/personal scripts.
- smoldesu 5y ago
  I don't use GNOME on any of my systems anymore (the 40 update destroyed all hope I had for the desktop going forwards), but I'm convinced you can get some settings transferred by poking around in your ~/.local directory. Having written a few GTK applications in the past, it seems like the rationale for this is because of GNOME's settings API, and how they define compliance with the GNOME spec. I find it to be a total clusterfuck, and if I had any confidence in the desktop's current management team I'd probably open a few pull requests/RFCs to try and fix it. I might sound a little heavy-handed here, but the "my way or the highway" rhetoric that GNOME's developers are pushing right now makes it really hard for me to take their desktop seriously, or blame anything but the developers themselves for their lack of features. In any case, I can assure you that behavior is perfectly "normal" to them, unfortunately.
  - stjohnswarts 5y ago
    All good points. I haven't really tried with kde. Thanks!
- gizdan 5y ago
  Recently I discovered Extension Sync[0] for GNOME, I never really used it, but it may be useful to you. [0] https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1486/extensions-sync/ https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1486/extensions-sync/
  - stjohnswarts 5y ago
    Thanks, I'll check it out.
innomatics 5y ago
That sounds really neat is it some thing you can share? I recently setup a new machine which didn't take very long, but I have run into a few things I forget so would like to set up something similar.
- smoldesu 5y ago
  I basically just run an install script which does a few different things. I start by updating the repos and regenerating my mirrors so I get the fastest downloads possible. After that, I install shell utilities (my editor, shell of choice, base-devel, etc.) and then I enable the AUR so I can grab the rest of my desired apps. The rest of it is decidedly basic, it just copies my tracked config files to ~/.config/ and moves my wallpaper to /usr/share/wallpapers. I run a few rain dances automatically too, like `sudo chmod a+wr /opt/spotify` (which lets me automate my Spotify theming process) and installing/unzipping a Steam theme. To install, I run `git clone https:github.com/username/repo && ./repo/install.sh`, and I'm off to the races. I really reccommend writing one for yourself, as it's a great way to learn shell scripts.
  - innomatics 5y ago
    Thanks for that. For me there's a trade-off, depending on how often I setup a new machine. Value of automating with a procedural script vs taking the opportunity to try a leaner (or more modern) toolchain. Currently upgrade about every 2-3 years, so I do tend not to need a bunch of things each iteration, and might upgrade OS. But I'd like a backup in case e.g. hardware failure, laptop lost or stolen. Some declarative workstation config like terraform or Ansible would be interesting.
yumraj 5y ago
> Being able to set up my entire computer with a single Github repo is a godsend for productivity, Not sure I understand, could you elaborate what you mean.