Ask HN: What your linux workstation looks like?

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Stock Xubuntu here.
I found Xfce on Arch to be much nicer than Xubuntu. Xfce is just more aligned with Arch in spirit.
Kind of a broad question so I'll try to answer it with stuff I would like to know.

Arch + I3-gaps. (yes just like the running joke, also my dot files are heavily based on https://larbs.xyz) I use these IDE'S: Eclipse, Atom, VScode and (neo)vim.

Then I have these eco systems: - Luarocks - npm - composer - LLVM - android studio

I use this laptop/mobile workstation for both work and at home so it's all over the place.

Specs: - Intel I5 hex core - 16GB ram (ddr4) - Nvidia GTX1060M - mSATA 128 GB (linux + tools) - HDD 750GB (data, steam, etc)

I boot my laptop -> log in on tty1 -> keyring unlocks for session -> I3 launches(with video from the Nvidia card via passthrough) -> default stuff launches (firefox, thunderbird and terminal(tmux)) in their workspaces.

Thinkpad p52s running Debian 10 and MATE. I've had a couple of issues with the Trackpad but besides that it runs pretty good. I primarily use Tmux + Vim/Neovim for coding and writing.
I bought (at half the official price, from an enterprise reseller) a new elitebook 840 g5.

i5 8th gen 4 core 8 threads, 24gb ram, fullhd screen and ~11h battery life.

I switch os often, right now I am on kubuntu lts but until some months ago I was on Manjaro and as soon as wls2 is stable I will try windows 10 again.

At my workplace I connect it to an external 23-27 inches display.

I install instantly docker, dropbox, npm/yarn/npx, webstorm, vscode and intellijidea.

NixOS + i3 on surface pro. Couldn't really ask for a more convenient device really.
Linux Distribution - Manjaro Tiling Window Manager - i3 with gaps Coding and note-taking - Vim + tmux

Apps: reddit - rtv rss feeds - newsboat email - mutt music - mpd + mpc + ncmpcpp video player - mpv image viewer - sxiv

Currently:

Ryzen 1700 (8 cores), 16gb RAM, Nvidia GTX 960 (still works well enough), Arch + GNOME. I've been trying to switch to openSUSE, but I keep finding little things that make it hard to switch.

I use i3-wm, with no desktop environment, and with a custom status bar I wrote myself; I otherwise start all programs from xterm. I have xterm for the terminal emulator.

For text editing I use vim, and for email I use Heirloom-mailx, and for Usenet/Unusenet I use bystand, and for IRC I use my own IRC client (which even has syntax highlighting).

4GB RAM, 500GB hard disk (although I only use 5% of the available disk space so far), DVD writer drive.

If you don't mind me asking, what sort of work do you do?
I run Fedora on a ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2016, though I've also enjoyed running it on a T430 (need to replace the screen to keep using it).
Funny, I got almost the same machines -- I had a Thinkpad X1 Yoga 2016 and before, I had a T420. These are amazing machines. I am writing this text on my T420 which is now 8 years old but still has 8GB RAM, 1TB SSD, with this being better then many "high end" laptops selled nowadays.

Towards the software: I'm a Linux user since 15yrs. I ended with vanilla Ubuntu, because that's a good compromise of unspectacular updates ~ every year. I enjoy Linux for having access to the developer setups I love: Plain, easy. I code C/Cpp projects with Kate and GNU make. I am frequently vowed for my artwork done with Gimp, Inkscape, Blender, Libreoffice despite I am not a designer. I frequently install "fat" non-distribution codes such as http://visit.llnl.gov at ~/bin, where also non-open-source codes such as Mathematica or Maple go. Generally, I prefer minimalistic tools over fat solutions, despite I acknowledge the power of Mathematica or a Microsoft Windows installation inside Virtualbox or KVM/libvirt/virtmanager. I even have to admit, I enjoy KDE and, as I said, I enjoy a decent graphical editor such as Kate. I work on command-line-only tools on servers very often, but I could never warm up with vim. I just never took the time to climb the learning curve of vim. But I also don't want to work on servers with VNC/X2Go, because ssh is just faster. That's why I use the tools available when in place. I'm probably a Linux opportunist: I use the Linux desktop because it is accessible, on any machine -- much more accessible then Mac OS X or Windows.