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 and research to hobbies.

My current stack is:

• Daily driver: base model 2020 M1 MacBook Air
• Operating system: macOS
• Browser: Firefox on macOS
  • Occasionally I’ll use eww for docs
• Text editor: emacs (see emacs configuration)
  • I compile emacs locally with dependencies installed using Homebrew.
• Email: mostly macOS’s Mail but sometimes mbsync + mu4e (see mbsync configuration)
• Quality of Life apps (TODO describe my config of these…):
  • Karabiner-Elements
  • AltTab - Windows alt-tab on macOS
  • AlDente - AppHouseKitchen
  • 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

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

• Whenever I need a linux system I either use
  • My server: Old HP EliteDesk Mini 705 G4 with guix
  • guix system on the macos virtualization framework
  • Also see guix configuration

This is just a list of the tools I use. For some insights into how I use them, see my current workflows.

Still need to describe as much as I can remember of previous stacks and perhaps attempt to disentangle the dotfile graveyard.

• Operating system: macOS with guix system running inside qemu
  • qemu installed using homebrew via the homebrew-qemu-virgl tap which I maintain
  • See Guix system on qemu on macos for how I set this up
  • Also see guix configuration.
• Inside guix my stack is:
  • Window manager: sway (see sway configuration)
  • Text editor: emacs (see emacs configuration)
  • Email: mbsync + mu4e (see mbsync configuration)

• my current workflows