The tools : hardware, OS and environment.

Opening series presenting the tools i use in my daily pro activity as a Linux Sysadmin

Hardware: HP elitebook

I have recently retired repurposed my previous 15 years old thinkpad as domotic / personal server. Actually using a refurbished HP Elitebook. Not a very good choice. Especially the shiny bright screen on which i can see my reflection. Plus it’s got keyboard issue, even when the cat is not nearby. To the point i need an external keyboard at bootime to enter luks key…

black cat resting 3 legs on the trackpad of my laptop, sitting on my lap.
Sometimes, the cause of trackpad / keyboard malfunction is obvious

At home i plug it on external monitor, keyboard and rollermouse.

OS : Fedora

I’ve been using Fedora since release 21. Previously Debian SID but i got tired of the weekly half gb failed upgrade that would left me whithout a mail client for days. I tried gentoo a long time ago, went well until the next major upgrade. With Fedora, all major versions changed has been done by boringly typing 1 or 2 commands and rebooting. Not using Gnome, though. Not much tinkering either.

Environment : I3

I am a keyboard user with usually small screens. So i got addicted to tiling window managers pretty early. First Awesome, then i3. Still on i3 nowadays. An absolutely boring window manager that just does its job : dispalying and arranging application windows.

Configuration is here.

Every applications i start goes to their dedicated workspace, in full screen. I have keyboard shortcuts to navigate applications, workspaces, screens, change layouts.

Screenshot of I3 window manager split in 2, firefox on left, displaying this blog post in edit mode, terminal on the right displaying the result of neofetch command.
Current Environment: I3 on Fedora 44

Most applications are started automatically when i open session. I have shortcuts to start some. I also use ulauncher to starts less frequently applications.

Below the oldest desktop screenshot i could find. Enlightenment 16, traditional window manager, with incredible theming / effect, very low ressources usage.

An anynymized screenshot of a Enlightenment 16 desktop environment, showing a text editor, a font selector, a dual-paned file manger and xmms music player. a toolbar with cartoon like icons is on the top left corner. the theme is mostly black and red.
Screenshot of enlightenment 16 window manager, circa 2002. OS is probably Gentoo

In the next episode: most used console tools


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