My Current Setup

#Aren't You Back to Void Linux?

Yeah, I was. However, one of my professors decided to make us take online tests using Safe Exam Browser. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support Linux or even running in a VM. So, I had to dual-boot Windows.

In the process of setting that up, I accidentally messed up my Void partition. Since it was the final term, I didn’t want to go through the hassle of setting everything up again. Luckily, I still had my NixOS configuration.

I booted up a NixOS live image, cloned my config, and—bam!—I had a fully working setup again. It was the first time I experienced the magic of NixOS's reproducibility. It felt like a miracle and solidified my appreciation for NixOS.

#Okay, NixOS... What Else?

At the time, my config was using Hyprland. It worked fine, except for a few quirks here and there. Then, I came across Niri, a scrollable-tiling compositor. I used it for a couple of weeks and honestly preferred its scrollable approach over traditional tiling.

However, being a window manager, it still had its occasional quirks. I realized I still had a soft spot for KDE.

So, I switched back to KDE, using the Karousel script. While it’s not quite comparable to a native tiling experience, it’s good enough for my needs. KDE also comes with many integrations that window managers either lack or are difficult to configure otherwise.

The only downside is that I currently manage my KDE configuration manually. There’s experimental support for configuring KDE with Home Manager, but it’s not mature enough, and I haven’t had the time to dive into it yet.

#What About the Rest?

Most of my old configuration remains unchanged, except for my code editor.

I still use and prefer Helix. However, I’ve been looking for an AI-powered coding assistant, which Helix doesn’t support. This led me down a rabbit hole, spending considerable time tinkering with Neovim and Emacs. Unfortunately, neither worked out for me.

This afternoon, I decided to give Zed editor another shot. It has Vim emulation and now includes free access to the Claude 3.5 Sonnet model. Its other features seem solid as well. That said, I still prefer Helix’s selection approach over Vim’s.

I guess I’ll need to use Zed for a while to see how it pans out.