dotfiles VS website

I'm in the middle of switching now, from Silverblue. It's a lot of fun. The Arch wiki to do something will have you changing three files and restarting 2 services, while with NixOS you add a line to your config and you're done. And when something doesn't exist as a Nix package/config, it seems somewhat easy to build your self (compared to other package managers, at least). I realized there's no "game-devices" package last night, for example, but I was able to get this working in about an hour of Googling:

https://github.com/pkulak/dotfiles/blob/nix/nix/gamedevices....

Still not all the way in. Like, I'm still going to use Chezmoi for my home directory because I don't quite see the value-add of Home Manager, but who knows; maybe I'll be a super fan next year and move everything over.

Fonts were always a PITA for me too, until I realized you can just drop whatever you want in ~.local/share/fonts. Then you can even track them with whatever dotfile manager you use and always have them available on every machine you use, immutable or not. There's zero need to involve a package manager.

I just have a wrapper script that I run instead of sway itself.

That doesn't fly with me. I just use Alacritty and re-bind the keys so I can still use ctrl-c and v:

https://github.com/pkulak/dotfiles/blob/master/.config/alacr...

I hear you, but they've all moved along in leaps and bounds. Some options if you ever look again -

* ElementaryOS(https://elementary.io/)

I’ve seen Raycast adjacent apps for Linux, but I don’t know what the current go-to all the kids are using these days. I used Quicksilver on OS X back in the day, which kind of defined the category I think. But these days I try to keep it simple.

Elementary OS seems to be trying to solve for the design issue, but it’s not as polished as macOS and there are still all the 3rd party apps to contend with. I’ve tried it, and it didn’t have me considering a full time switch.

https://elementary.io/

For me, one of the big things keeping me on macOS is the sync between devices. 20 years ago it seemed much easier to move to Linux, because I didn’t have to worry about my contacts, calendar, etc being in sync everywhere. Having all that stuff, and the handoff between devices, just work is a huge benefit. There are probably ways to sync various things between iOS and Linux, but then researching all the options, setting it up, and keeping up on it all, becomes a hobby. That’s not a hobby I want at this stage of my life.

I thought ElementaryOS was dead due to infighting between the two cofounders, but it still seems to be going: https://elementary.io/

(I installed it on one box a few years ago and liked it, but moved back to Ubuntu once I learned about its conflict in the team.)

As an alternative to the other (great) suggestions, check out ElementaryOS.

But get an old laptop, download and install on it https://elementary.io/, or PopOS or Debian (they all resemble macOS) or whatever distro you like the most. And start tinkering.

I would suggest installing elementaryOS inside a VM, and follow their getting started guide

Elementary OS e un distro de Linux cu aspect de macos

Maybe take a look at https://elementary.io/? It was one of the better "out of the box" linux distros when I was last using linux.

It warms my heart seeing all my fellow linux users here! 😊 I personally use elementary OS because the desktop is pretty 🥺. Also, the lead of the project is a trans woman!