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

My current stack is:

• Daily driver: base model 2020 M1 MacBook Air
  • At my office I have a Dell 27 4K USB-C Hub Monitor - P2723QE which I rather like given it feels like just big enough (TODO put a picture of my office desk?).
• 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 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 batter a bit by preventing it from always charging when I plug into my office monitor.
• Document creation: LaTeX (often via org-mode)
  • Installed BasicTeX
  • For dvisvgm to work, I had to install ghostscript via homebrew and add export LIBGS=/opt/homebrew/lib/libgs.dylib to my .profile

In addition I have changed some key macOS settings:

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
• 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

I still need to describe as much as I can remember of previous stacks and perhaps someday 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)
• vim
• macos.org

• my current workflows