In my first blog post, I thought I’d quickly write about how I do my computing.

Hardware Setups

I have two primary setups:

  • System76 Adder WS with an RTX 4060
  • MacBook Air M4

System76 Adder WS

This is my primary workstation when I’m at my dorm or at home. I run it in a dual-boot setup: CachyOS and Windows 11. I primarily use the former, but I use the latter when I want to do Windows development or need to play specific games.

I went with System76 because I wanted to support Linux-focused OEMs and while I did experience issues initially, I am pretty satisfied with the experience of it. But the main thing holding it back from being my portable device (aside from the bulkiness) is the battery life; it is inadequate for long outings. This influenced my decision to get a MacBook Air, which I will get into.

MacBook Air M4

Midway through my second quarter at UCI, I went to The Hill (the university’s bookstore) to purchase a MacBook Air, primarily out of convenience, but also because I wanted to dip my toes into Apple software development.

After about a month with it as of this writing, I am incredibly satisfied with it. I enjoy the lightweight, portable, and high-quality design of the device. But most importantly, the battery life allows me to get into lectures without having to worry about whether a charging port is nearby.

Primary Software

I use a variety of software for different purposes. I’ll cover different categories of software and explain my reasons.

Browser

I use Brave because I want a Chromium-based browser that is privacy-focused, which is a major concern for me in a world where data is constantly collected.

Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)

I primarily use JetBrains IDEs like PyCharm, Rider, and WebStorm; I enjoy the convenience and the out-of-the-box experience they provide.

I use Xcode on my MacBook Air for Swift development as it is the primary platform for such.

Media Players

My primary music player is AIMP as I like the variety of features and the modularity of it. On my MacOS and Linux setups, this app is what I use Wine primarily for.

When it comes to watching movies and videos, I use mpv; the minimalism compared to VLC makes me find it to be more responsive and performant.

Compilers

I use GCC when compiling applications for Linux and MacOS, but I prefer to use MSVC when compiling for Windows. I do use mingw-w64 on MacOS to compile for Windows if I do not have immediate access to my primary workstation.

Package Managers

On my CachyOS installation on my primary workstation, I use pacman and paru (an Arch User Repository (AUR) helper) as it’s what Arch Linux, the base of CachyOS, uses. I occasionally use Flatpak for apps that are distributed exclusively in that format. On my Windows partition, I like use WinGet as it’s the primary package manager on Windows.

The same can be said for Homebrew on my MacBook; it provides that Linux-esque method of installing and updating packages on MacOS.

Closing Thoughts

As my first blog post, I think covering my technical lifestyle is a great start. In the future, I plan to write about various topics, from mundane aspects of life to my personal achievements. Stay tuned!