Running Linux, My Way

One Arch box, freelancing across several companies at once, from a bare install to the scripts that boot the whole workday.

There are three major operating systems for personal computers: Windows, OSX, and Linux. Two out of three cost money, are owned by big corporations, and are closed source. One is free, built by a community of professionals and hackers, and open source. So where’s the catch? Why doesn’t everyone use the free, open option? We could argue about open source versus closed source, something I care about as a programmer but maybe you don’t. We could argue about corporate versus community-driven software, something I care about as someone who isn’t fond of corporations and big institutions. But money is something everyone can agree on: why pay for something when a free alternative exists?

As a 90s kid who grew up on Windows, I’d only heard rumors about Linux. It was described as something for professionals only, something to be feared, and it took me ten years to give it a try. It wasn’t an easy journey, but it was worth it without a doubt. In this series of posts, I want to help you learn Linux by example. I want to show you how I use Linux, so maybe it helps you too. A lot of resources show you how to install or use this tool or that tool, but not as a bundle, not as a working system. By the end of this series, you should be able to see Linux in action.

One problem with Linux is the sheer number of options it offers compared to Windows or OSX. In the Linux and open source world, nobody holds your hand or decides things for you, for better and for worse. You need to know what you’re doing. That’s why, even now, I don’t recommend Linux for non-technical users. That said, you don’t need to be a super expert hacker either. If you’re comfortable enough to open the Windows Registry editor, you’ll be fine in Linux. Over the years, desktop Linux has come a long way: it’s better supported and far more reliable than it used to be, which opens it up to newcomers, not just hackers.

This series is deliberately opinionated. I’m not trying to show you every option, I’m going to show you what I use and what works for me, as someone who has spent 10+ hours a day in front of a computer for more than two decades. There are already plenty of good resources covering the full range of options Linux offers. What I want to give you instead is something concrete you can copy as-is, then learn from and adapt over time. At least it gives you somewhere to start.

That said, I’m the kind of person who really wants to understand what I’m doing, and who needs full control over my system. So I won’t use one of those easy, drop-in Linux distributions that just work out of the box, because that convenience comes at a price: the ability to understand and tune the system to your own needs. That’s why I use Arch Linux. Don’t let the reputation scare you. It’s actually one of the easiest distros once you know what you’re doing, and this series will show you exactly that. But why Arch, given its reputation as a famously complicated distro? Start with the first post in this series, My Journey to Arch, to get the answer.

  1. My Journey to Arch Linux

    A 25-year journey through Windows, Ubuntu, OSX (ugh), Debian, and finally Arch - and why there's no going back

  2. How to Manage System and User Config

    How to keep Linux config in one git repo, synced across every machine with GNU Stow, and why /etc still needs a different approach

  3. How to Partition Your Disks

    What a disk and a partition actually are, the partition types you actually need, why multi-boot needs a dedicated /boot partition, and a 2TB SSD schema that's held up for years

  4. The Linux Boot Process

    What actually happens between power-on and the login screen: firmware handing off to a boot loader, the kernel starting PID 1, and systemd's path down to the Getty unit

  5. Desktop Environments: Going Without One

    What a desktop environment actually is, why every major one felt like too much, and the case for Openbox plus a handful of single-purpose tools instead

  6. Managing Temporary Files: A Professional Approach

    A simple folder convention for temp files that keeps Downloads and Desktop from turning into a junk drawer