Linux

So long FreeBSD

Considering my career since, it’s surprising to think that the first *nix-like OS I used in anger was not some flavour of Linux. Instead it was FreeBSD. As such, I’ve always had a fondness for it despite the fact I haven’t actually used it since. So when I was looking for a little project to pass the time, I thought “Why not port DistroD to FreeBSD?” That’s when reality finally met my rose-tinted glasses.

Linux Is Not Primetime Ready

Browsing the HackerNews thread on a recent article criticising Apple keyboards, I was amused by a common discussion that always crops up on a subject like this: is Linux a viable alternative to Mac OS? To which the answer is always the same: no. But why is that?

Simple Linux keyboard switching: Carillon

As part of my work on my custom Linux distribution, I needed an application that: had a graphical user interface, listed a set of keyboard layouts, applied them when changed, used low-level X components only. A very simple set of requirements. And yet, I couldn’t find anything. Most of them are tied to a specific desktop environment, like GNOME or KDE. Or they use their own complex components, like iBus. I knew about xkb but everything I’d used was either CLI-only or were static graphical views.

My own Linux distro: DistroD

Linux is the best alternative if you’re not running one of Windows or Mac OS, the two big juggernauts of the desktop OS world. There are a huge number of distributions that cover a range of use cases. But none really hit the sweet spot for me, so I built my own.