my setup environment, for the people who care.
Here's a list of hardware and software that I use on a daily basis. There's probably some objective reasoning behind my picks, so let me know if you wanna chat or ask questions about it.
Preface
I use two operating systems on the daily, with my laptop being MacOS and my main computer using Windows 11. I have a coding VM on my homelab that runs Debian, and I SSH into that to do any of the coding I do. So majority of the software I use is mainly for MacOS (Unix) and Linux.
Development environment
- Currently, I use neovim for my editor (though I'm still learning all the keybinds)
- Catppuccin Mocha Mauve is my go-to theme for everything, including neovim.
- For my terminal, I use zsh with Oh My Zsh and my forked version of bliss-zsh as the base theme.
- I really like using Apple's SF Mono font (Nerd font patched) for coding. I have a patched version somewhere on my GitHub.
- For terminal application, I use kitty on MacOS and WezTerm on Windows.
Desktop Apps
- Firefox Nightly is my browser of choice. Firefox still has good privacy and uBlock origin (my goat). Nightly because the icon colors are better.
- For music, I use Spotify. They just introduced lossless!
- My email client is Thunderbird.
Tech Stack
- For web development, I usually stick with Next.js with my own template. Though, I've been looking into other frameworks because of the business practices behind Next.js.
- I use Bun as my runtime for JavaScript/TypeScript and Uv for Python.
- My backend go-to language is Go (GOPHERS!). I've also been using Rust for some APIs too and my old APIs are still stuck with Python.
- For databases, I usually use MongoDB but more recently Redis for my apps.
Desk Setup
- My monitors are an MSI G274QPF E2 (1440p, 27in, 180hz) and a BenQ GW2480 (1080p, 24in, overclocked to 75hz).
- I use a Logitech G Pro Wireless mouse for everything. If I need a "mouse" for MacOS, I use a Magic Trackpad (seriously why are the macbook trackpads so good).
- My keyboard is a QK65 in lilac and white colorscheme. I use the LoobedSwitches Cotton Candy switches (RIP LoobedSwitches) with osume Strawberry Milk keycaps.
- My second keyboard is a Bakeneko60 with JWK Bluey switches and QTUO Blue Bunny keycaps.
Computers
- I have a MacBook Air 13-inch M2 (16GB ram, 256GB storage).
- My main PC is a small form factor (SFF) build with a Intel Core i5-14600k + 64GB ram + NVIDIA RTX 5070. The case is a S300 case from KXRORS (this has a lot of names so just search up "S300 case" on Amazon).
- My homelab server is just a simple Dell PowerEdge T40. This server runs Proxmox with multiple LXC containers for services and apps (including my coding container!).
- I also run a Kubernetes cluster on a bunch of random cloud VMs using k3s and tailscale. Most of my APIs are pushed up here.
Audio
- I like to listen to speakers as much as possible, in my opinion: speakers > headphones > earbuds/IEMs.
- My main speakers are ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.1 with a Monoprice 12in subwoofer, powered by a Pioneer XC-HM86 amp/reciever.
- For IEMs, I use the really nice Moondrop Aria Snow Edition.
- My microphone is the super tested (and survived being run over) Shure SM58 with a Focusrite Scarlett Solo audio interface. My speakers and IEMs are both plugged into this as the DAC.
- On the go, I whip out my AirPods Pro 2.