How it All Started
In high school, the world of Linux was a mystery to me. At that time, I was particularly interested in game development and had only heard of Linux in a Blender (the free and open source 3D creation suite) tutorial. Aside from hacking, I had no idea what Linux was actually about. Who knew it would eventually become my primary operating system?
The Transition to Linux
I was introduced to Linux in my second year of college when my Windows laptop started struggling with high resource usage. A classmate was using Fedora Linux, one of the most popular Linux distributions, and I decided to give it a try.
The installation was smooth, and I appreciated the minimalist design of the operating system. I was amazed by my laptop’s performance, perhaps because it had been running Windows its entire life. In the months that followed, I continued exploring the Linux world, occasionally diving deeper into its features.
After a few months of using Fedora, I was happy with the performance but not satisfied with its appearance. I was using the default GNOME desktop environment, which was good, but I wanted something more. That’s when I came across Tuxedo Linux, a customized version of Ubuntu featuring a beautiful KDE desktop environment. I decided to try it out and installed it on my laptop. It was my first time using KDE, and, lord, I was angry that I had been stuck with GNOME for so long without giving KDE a try.
Switch to Window Manager
I was happy with KDE, but by then I had switched to Arch Linux. The story of how I transitioned to Arch is a tale for another day. Although I was content with KDE, I recently came across a video by the famous vim lord, ThePrimeagen, and I was thoroughly impressed. In one of his developer workflow videos, I learned about window managers. I spent some time understanding what a window manager was and how it differed from a desktop environment—it felt like the pinnacle of Linux efficiency.
I had a conversation with the same friend who introduced me to Linux about window managers, and he assured me that I would be able to use one without worrying about its complexity. Over the next few days, while tinkering with my Arch setup, a Linux YouTuber posted a video demonstrating the Hyprland window manager setup using a shell script. His configuration looked amazing, and I was eager to recreate it myself. Why wouldn't I want to? It was a beautiful setup with smooth transitions and animations.
Then came the day I decided to install it. I ran the shell script, which installed the window manager along with all its dependencies. I was greeted by a sleek desktop environment featuring a terminal and a file manager. I marveled at both the performance and the appearance of the window manager; navigating through the system was a breeze, and the animations were impressively smooth.
I fell in love with the window manager, even though a few issues remained. One was that certain fonts had to be installed separately—something I hadn't known about. Another was that window managers can be challenging for beginners since they require Linux experience and familiarity with alternative programs to replace the default functionalities of a desktop environment. Over the next few months, however, I managed to resolve these issues, learning a great deal in the process.
Finding Stability
It took me almost two years to finally create a setup that I was happy with—and, ironically, it was very minimal. It seemed that my subconscious mind always craved the setup that ThePrimeagen had once shown me. I watched that video every few months and would integrate bits of his configuration until I eventually achieved a similarly serene experience.
Yet, there was one missing piece to the puzzle: the realization that, as I was growing both as a developer and as a professional, I needed to find a stable base.
One thing led to another, and I eventually switched to Fedora. Don't get me wrong—Arch revealed the true beauty and strengths of Linux, and I will always be grateful for that. However, Fedora struck the perfect balance between stability and customizability for me. I was delighted with both the performance and the aesthetics of the system, I had finally found my perfect setup.
Top comments (1)
Boy you so anime