my current stack and how it’s configured

I’ve gone through a fair bit of iteration to arrive at my current “technology stack”, by which I mean the set of hardware and software I use to do everything from academics to hobbies. This is mainly just a list of the tools I use. For some insights into how I use them, see my current workflows.

My current stack is:

minimal yet reliable hardware:
- laptop: base model 2020 M1 MacBook Air (MBA)
- monitor: Dell 27 4K USB-C Hub Monitor - P2723QE
  - I quite like this given it feels just big enough and once going HiDPI it’s hard to go back.
- Apple Magic Keyboard & Trackpad
software:
- operating system: macOS
  - with some key macOS setting changes:
```
sudo scutil --set HostName 'aMac'
# need log out and back in for key repeat to take effect
defaults write -g InitialKeyRepeat -int 10 # normal minimum is 15 (225 ms)
defaults write -g KeyRepeat -int 1 # normal minimum is 2 (30 ms)
defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false
```
    - How to increase keyboard key repeat rate on OS X? - Ask Different
    - high sierra - macOS: Disable popup showing accented characters when holding down a key - Ask Different
- text-editor-that-I-wish-was-my-operating-system: emacs (see emacs configuration)
  - I compile emacs locally with dependencies installed using Homebrew.
- browser: Firefox on macOS
  - Occasionally I’ll use eww for docs
- email: mostly macOS’s Mail but sometimes mbsync + mu4e (see mbsync configuration)
- document creation: LaTeX (often via org-mode)
  - installed BasicTeX
  - To get dvisvgm to work, I had to install ghostscript via homebrew and add export LIBGS=/opt/homebrew/lib/libgs.dylib to my .profile
- Quality of Life apps:
  - Karabiner-Elements for remapping the keyboard:
    - caps_lock -> escape
    - left_command -> left_control
    - left_control -> left_command
  - AltTab - Windows alt-tab on macOS
    - I use command-tab to switch application windows since I find that easier than macOS’s default of switching apps while command-` switches windows within an app.
  - AlDente - AppHouseKitchen
    - Allows me to hopefully save my battery a bit by preventing it from always charging when I plug into my office monitor.
Linux system: (when needed):
- Old HP EliteDesk Mini 705 G4 with guix
- guix system on the macos virtualization framework
- Also see guix configuration

For links to older iterations of my stack see the stack graveyard.

backlinks

My current workflows