This page serves as a documentation on my desktop environment and how I work. It is also a reminder for me what to install and configure when I have to reinstall my OS or get a new computer.
This article contains the common things across my work machines, but also the differences on how I work on my laptop, my work place at home and my main workplace in the office of my employer.
This article is still incomplete.
Preparations
Font: DejaVuSansM Nerd Font
install globally with
mv *.ttf /usr/local/share/fonts
fc-cache -f -v- create ~/.local/bin/ for my custom scripts and self-build programs
- create ~/Workbench/ as a place for my third-party self-build programs
- create ~/Codes/ for my own projects
Languages & Environments
Gnome
Settings
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri none- Don’t use a picture as a background image.
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background primary-color '#ef6c00'- Use a single color as a background.
org.gnome.mutter center-new-windows true- New Windows are opened in the center of the screen.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Name | Reassigned Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Close window | Super+X |
| Home folder | Super+F |
| Browser | Super+B |
| Launch terminal | Super+Enter |
Programs
Alacritty (Terminal Emulator)
- Follow INSTALL.md on Github
- Install theme
- Set as default emulator
Create a Symlink from ~/.locac/bin/alacritty to …/release/alacritty. This way I can git pull new changes and simply rebuild the project once in a while.
.bashrc additions
# shorten path strings
PROMPT_DIRTRIM=3
# prompt format
PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]\$ '- Uncomment
#force_color_prompt
Browser
Firefox
In about:config:
toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets: true- enable custom userChrome.css style tweaking
browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab: false- don’t close firefox when closing last tab, instead keep it open with a new empty tab
Style
Then tweak the variables to fit the Night-Owl colorscheme.
Extensions
- Keepa.com - Amazon Price Tracker
- Old Reddit Redirect
- Dark Mode Website Switcher
- Concent-o-matic
- New Tab Homepage
Vivaldi
- There is a Night-Owl theme available in Vivaldi Themes.
- Disable Animations in settings (why do I have to do this again?)
- Hide Address Bar (Open it with Ctrl+L instead)
- Hide Status Bar (=Bar at bottom)
- Compact User Interface Density
- Disable Workspaces
Extensions
Vimium
IntelliJ
Other Command Line Tools
btop (System Resource Monitor)
- comes with the Night-Owl theme pre-installed. Navigate with Esc to the Options and select it in the menu.
omm (Task List)
- set
editor = "nvim"in .config/omm/omm.toml
Modern alternatives
fd(fdfind)-
as alternative to
find rg(ripgrep)-
as alternative to
grep eza-
as alternative to
ls icdiff-
as alternative to
diff zoxide-
as alternative to
cd
fzf
clone the repository and run ./install.
Then install Fzf Tab
Completion
Neovim (Text Editor)
After spending way too much time figuring out whether I can write my own neovim configuration, I settled on using LazyVim.
Introduction & Tutorial: Zero to IDE with LazyVim Additional Plugins:
Office
Monitor: Samsung C49RG94SSU (5120x1440)
Window Management
Windows are ordered in a grid, which is manually created with the
help of a shell script using wmctrl and
xdotool triggered by Super+W.
The screen space is divided in three columns: A “2K” 2560x1440 containing IntelliJ and a Browser in the middle and various other tools on the side pane. A quick terminal opened in the center by Super+Enter is used for ad-hoc command line work.
Home Office
Monitor: Acer Nitro XV275KP3 (3840x2160)
Personal Laptop
Operating System: PopOS
Special Configurations
- execute
sudo xkdbmap de neoto set the keyboard layout on the login screen and cryptsetup
Window Management
No extensions, the built-in tiling manager is suitable for my needs.