What os? What ide? What plug-ins?
Win 11, WSL Ubuntu, VSCode (into WSL), Git Graph, Rust stuff, typescript stuff
All dev is in WSL. Windows native for games and Firefox and chat apps
At work window 11 - powershell - coder - Debian - tmux - nvim
At home (nixos|arch) > tmux > nvim > most used aside of standard LSP and co, neogit, mini.files, trouble
NixOS, fish, tmux, Helix
Windows 10 with all dev work done in Ubuntu using WSL. Using vscode with the wsl extension.
Arch + i3wm/sway + Tmux + Neovim
Ditto, pretty much.
Linux
Distrobox container
Code OSS
-
clangd (always have to change compile commands path because $workspacefolder variable varies per machine even on the same project, it will just choose a subfolder sometimes)
-
nrfconnect suite (it has some extra checks for .dts files and a nice GUI)
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embedded flash plugins/programs like jlink, Stmcubeprogrammer, etc…
Serial Studio
Logic 2 / Sigrok pulseview
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I’m a:
- Gamer
- Full stack web dev
- Android/iOS/MacOS/Windows Dev
So I have a lot of machines
Machine 1
- Purpose: MacOS/iOS app builder/publisher
- Usage: 100% work
- Location: Work
- OS: Modified MacOS Sequoia
- Sequoia to avoid the glass interface disaster that Apple released
- Uses custom window manager built in hammerspoon because fuck macos’s window management
- Modified firmware so Caps + IJKJ = Arrows
- Shell: ZSH
- IDE: VSCode
Machine 2
- Purpose: Personal computer
- Usage: 90% games / 10% work
- Location: Home
- OS: Modified Windows 11
- All the ads and AI bloat is removed but it requires increasing maintenance to maintain
- Shell: ZSH through WSL Ubuntu
- IDE: VSCode
Machine 3:
- Purpose: do everything on the go
- Usage: 50% games / 50% work
- Location: Wherever
- OS: Modified Windows 11
- All the ads and AI bloat is removed but it requires increasing maintenance to maintain
- Shell: ZSH through WSL Ubuntu
- IDE: VSCode
Machine 4:
- Purpose: Disposable environments to test new things
- Usage: 100% work
- Location: Work
- OS: Kubuntu 25.10 (Current plasma version is great so far)
- Shell: ZSH
- IDE: VSCode
Also:
- Android Tablets
- Android Phones
- iPads
- iPhones
Future:
- Helix
- I want to learn Helix’s keyboard workflow
- Helix’s lack of extensions has held me back.
- Helix has been working on extensions for a while though and I’ll re-evaluate it once it does and the community builds the needed extensions
- Zed has some helix commands, so I may switch to that from vscode to get helix commands + extensions.
- OSs
- I want to reduce my windows 11 maintenance
- Held back by anti-cheat games (PUBG, then Helldivers 2, and will try Arc Raiders these holidays, potentially Marathon next year)
- I’ll experiment with KDE / Cosmic / Niri in 2026.
- If no anti-cheat games have captured my attention in 2027, I’ll switch another one of my personal machines to Linux
Helldivers 2, and will try Arc Raider
Helldivers 2 and Arc Raiders both work fine on Linux. PUBG does not.
potentially Marathon next year
Marathon is unlikely to work since Destiny also doesn’t work.
FWIW I tried the Helix mode in Zed, and it was missing lots of Helix bindings that I rely on.
Emacs clients in alacritty terminals on GNU Guix. I am used to vi-keybindings so I use evil-mode.
- NixOS + Home Manager
- Niri
- Kitty
- Neovim, via Neovide
For work it’s Fedora + Home Manager because the remote admin software doesn’t support NixOS. Thankfully I’ve been able to define my dev environment almost fully in a Home Manager config that I can use at work and at home.
I use lots of Neovim plugins. Beyond the basic LSP and completion plugins, some of my indispensables are:
- Leap for in-buffer navigation & remote text copying
- Oil for file management
- Fugitive + Git Signs + gv.vim + diffview.nvim for git integration
- nvim-surround to add/change/remove delimiters
- vim-auto-save
- kitty-scrollback
What is Home Manager?
Home Manager is a Nix tool for managing configuration for a single user, usually on a Linux or MacOS system, or possibly WSL. You configure installed programs, program configuration (such as dot files), and a number of other things, and you get a reproducible environment that’s easy to apply to multiple machines, or to roll back configuration, etc. I find it helpful for having a clear record of how everything is set up. It’s the sort of thing that people sometimes use GNU Stow or Ansible for, but it’s much more powerful.
A Home Manager configuration is very similar to a NixOS configuration, except that NixOS configures the entire system instead of just configuring user level stuff. (The lines do blur in Nix because unlike traditional package managers where packages are installed at the system level, using Nix packages can be installed at the system, user, project, or shell session level.) Home Manager is often paired with NixOS. Or on Macs Home Manager is often paired with nix-darwin. As I mentioned, the Home Manager portion of my config is portable to OSes other than NixOS. In my case I’m sharing it in another Linux distro, but you can also use Home Manager to share configurations between Linux, MacOS, and WSL.
neovim, neovim, neovim
At work:
- WSL
- EMACS
- evil-mode, lsp for whatever language, org-roam
- NixOS
- Hyprland (pending migration to Niri)
- Emacs (eglot)
I occasionally use Jetbrains products as well (e.g. maintaining Kotlin projects).
I run Manjaro, and use neovim for my development. I’ve got a slew of plugins for everything from language servers to database to things like integration with
tmuxand specialty motions.I’ve tried many development environments, but so far I keep coming back to nvim.
I’ve been a fan for about 5 years at this point, and I use it for PHP+js+html at my day job and Rust for personal projects, but also any other language that comes up. Delightful to have one editor that can do basically everything and do it with consistent shortcuts, that I can even run on my phone with a folding keyboard.
Arch with Niri, LazyVim in Ghostty.
So how do you like niri and is it stable enough to be a daily driver? Also what kind of screen do you have for it to be useful? I have a feeling that it’s extra useful on wide screens but when it comes to ones which are fairly high it’s less useful, is my assumption correct?
Not OP, but I’ve been using Niri as my daily driver for almost two years (since v0.1.2). The stability and polish have really impressed me. In addition to the scrolling workflow it has some especially nice features for screen sharing & capturing, like key binds to quickly switch which window you are sharing, and customizable rules to block certain windows when showing your whole desktop.
I do use a 40" ultrawide. Looking for options for getting the most out of an ultrawide was how I got into scrolling window managers.
I only occasionally use my 13" laptop display. I still like scrolling because I like spatial navigation. Even if windows end up mostly or entirely off the screen I still think about my windows in terms of whether they’re left, right, up, or down from where I’m currently looking.
I don’t like traditional tiling as much because I find squishing every window to be fully in view to be awkward; and with e.g. i3-style wms if I want to stash a window out of view, like in a tab that’s a separate metaphor I have to keep track of, with another axis where windows might be. Scrolling consistently uses on spatial metaphor, placing all windows on one 2D plane with one coordinate system.
I’ve also used Niri for quite a while now, mainly on a laptop without external screens, but sometimes with a 34" wide and curved screen as well. I find it just works for the way I think, I guess? Niri has been rock solid for me too. Can’t remember ever having a problem with it.
Windows + Visual Studio :(
Unfortunately, the alternatives are really lacking. JetBrains Rider REALLY feels underbaked. No deal-breaking issues, but lots of little low-impact ones, and lots of design decisions that go against common conventions, for no apparent reason. The “Visual Studio Mode” doesn’t really help.
On top of that, I’ve had several issues with RUNNING Rider, on account of being on Bazzite, an immutable distro. It was fine on Mint, but Mint had its own troubles with my NVidia card.
That’s what I mostly use too
I share this pain :(
😂








