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diff --git a/programs.html b/programs.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..81e885d --- /dev/null +++ b/programs.html @@ -0,0 +1,113 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML> +<html lang="en"> +<head> +<title>Programs and Equipment</title> +<link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='style.css'> +<meta charset="utf-8"/> +</head> + +<body> +<h1>Programs and Equipment I Use</h1> + +<h2>Software I Use</h2> + +<h3>Priorities</h3> + +<p>I'm about getting things done quickly and having as little space between my thoughts and actions on the computer.</p> + +<p>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 cringey 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 modern web (I admit this unfortunate fact with much consternation) or looking at maps. +</p> + +<dl> +<dt>Terminal</dt> +<dd>I use <a href="https://st.suckless.org/" target="_blank">st</a> (simple terminal) by <a target="_blank" href="https://suckless.org">suckless.org</a>, which is one of the most minimal, yet easily customizable terminal emulators out there. +I have my config read a <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/dylanaraps/pywal">pywal</a> cached file which gives st its colors. +<dd> + +<dt>Window Manager/Desktop Environment</dt> +<dd> +Primarily using <a href="https://github.com/baskerville/bspwm" target="_blank">bspwm</a>. What I like is that its config file is just plain ol' Bash! No complaints with it. If you want to know why my computer looks the way it does, this is what to check out. +Occassionally I get irrationally anxious about my memory footprint, so I switch to DWM (again, from the <a target="_blank" href="https://suckless.org">suckless.org</a> folks) only to switch back in a few weeks. +</dd> + +<dt>Fonts</dt> +<dd>My monospace font is typically Inconsolata, my serif font in Linux Libertine and my sans font is Linux Biolinum. I have ttf-emojione for emojis as well and noto-fonts and noto-fonts-cjk to give me non-European scripts.</dd> + +<dt>Status bar</dt> +<dd><a href="https://github.com/polybar/polybar" target="_blank">polybar</a>, but I eventually come to realize that it's mostly useless, so it stays hidden.</dd> + +<dt>Text editing and programming</dt> +<dd><a href="https://www.vim.org/" target="_blank">vim</a>. Less of a text editor and more of a lifestyle. No, I'm not going to ever switch to emacs. I use the pywal plugin for colors.</dd> + +<dt>Web browser</dt> +<dd>The web is bloat so they are all kinda terrible. I have tried, chrome, qutebrowser in the past. Right now I use <a href="https://vivaldi.com/" target="_blank">Vivaldi</a> with the add-on Vimium to get customizable vim-like keybindings. +</dd> + +<dt>File manager</dt> +<dd><a href="_blank" target="https://github.com/jarun/nnn">nnn</a>. Yes, I have used ranger.</dd> + +<dt>Mail client</dt> +<dd>mutt. Technically <a href="https://neomutt.org/" target="_blank">neo-mutt</a>. I keep all my mail offline with offlineIMAP, gpg keys to store passwords.</dd> + +<dt>Messaging</dt> +<dd><a href="https://tox.chat/index.html" target="_blank">tox</a> is what I recommend, but since it does not have an iOS client just yet, <a href="https://signal.org" target="_blank">Signal</a> will do. If you want to know why, see the section below about "Proprietary software".</dd> + +<dt>Music/audio player</dt> +<dd><a href="https://www.musicpd.org/" target="_blank">mpd</a> with <a href="https://rybczak.net/ncmpcpp/" target="_blank">ncmpcpp</a> for a library.</dd> + +<dt>Video player</dt> +<dd><a href="https://mpv.io/" target="_blank">mpv</a>. Don't bother with any other video player.</dd> + +<dt>Writing documents</dt> +<dd>I used to write documents in <a href="https://www.latex-project.org/" target="_blank">LaTeX</a> and compile them into pdf documents. Recently I've been experimenting with groff/troff to much success and recommend it as a much more minimal and elegant typesetting system, scarcely lacking anything you might need, although lacking documentation, so it'll probably be a jungle at first.</dd> + +<dt>PDF viewer</dt> +<dd><a href="https://pwmt.org/projects/zathura/" target="_blank">zathura</a>. I used mupdf, which is good too.</dd> + +<dt>Image Viewer</dt> +<dd><a href="https://github.com/muennich/sxiv" target="_blank">sxiv</a> (from suckless). Handles images, animated gifs, has additional thumbnail and slideshow modes and allows you to run custom scripts and read/write to standard input/output. Okay. This is epic.</dd> + +<dt>Image modification</dt> +<dd><a href="https://www.gimp.org/" target="_blank">gimp</a> for big things, but imagemagick commands for most little modifications, filter changes, trims, etc.</dd> +</dl> + +<h2>Where can I find good software options?</h2> + +<p>The program of your dreams is probably listed below:</p> + +<ul> + <li><a target="_blank" href="https://suckless.org/rocks/">The suckless website's list of programs that "rock"</a> – Generally minimalist programs</li> + <li><a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/mayfrost/guides/blob/master/ALTERNATIVES.md">A more comprehensive (and gradient) list of minimalist software</a></li> + <li><a target="_blank" href="https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Main_Page">The FSF's Free Software Directory</a> – Emphasis on libre software (although most software in the links above will have free licenses as well)</li> + <li><a target="_blank" href="https://wiki.installgentoo.com/index.php/List_of_recommended_GNU/Linux_software">Install Gentoo wiki recommendations</a> – A good mix of programs for novices and advanced users</li> + +</ul> + +<h2>Hardware I Use</h2> + +<dl> +<dt>Laptop</dt> +<dd>The main laptop I use is a Thinkpad T420s, released in 2011. Old ThinkPads are designed for long term corporate use, and last forever and are made to be easy to repair and improve. They have many simple perks, like their uniquely tactile keyboards, their trackpoints and their ThinkLight (a more commonsense solution to lighting your keyboard at night). Newer ThinkPads are not as good, lacking the classical keyboards and generally being more Mac-like (unrepairable, breakable, and generally bad for an enormous price). +</dd> +<dt>Hard drives</dt> +<dd> SSDs are the only thing I recommend using a good bit of money on in your computer build. They make your computer hugely snappier and apparently use less power.</dd> +</dl> + +<h2>What I don't use</h2> + +<dl> + +<dt>Proprietary software</dt> +<dd> 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, or Discord. +One of the many potential take-aways you should get from me is that the use of libre/free software, by its nature, is more constructive and extensible—that's the point. There are philosophical reasons for this you'll run across in time, but for now, suffice it to say I will not endose the usage of proprietary software. +</dd> +</dl> + +</br> +<big> +<img src="pix/kumarsmall.gif" alt="Kumar pix"> +<a href="index.html">Return to main page</a></big> + +</body> +</html> + |