Environments

10:12AMJune 7 2020Daniel Tompkins

Linux is an incredible (and FREE) way to run a powerful, yet low-resource, operating system. For a long time, my personal laptop was running Canonical's Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a great way to get started with Linux— in fact it's one of the more bloated Linux distributions. It comes with a decent amount of built-in utilities and software. Still, the Ubuntu system processes use far less memory and run way faster than Windows 10— especially on my old laptop with 4GB of RAM.

It can be fun (though sometimes stressful) to "distro-hop"— spending time on one OS before installing another. For a long time, I had been using the Regolith distro. Under the hood, this is a pre-configured Ubuntu system with the i3 tiling window manager installed.

Now that I'm an adult with a job, I've delved into the realm of fancy Apple hardware. Though I still miss my Linux setup sometimes, I'm using AeroSpace (an i3 clone) for window tiling on Mac OS.

Terminals

My favorite thing about Mac OS is that it's Unix-based. And my favorite part about Unix-based systems is that they are pretty indistinguishable from Linux when it comes to the command line.

Jurrasic Park (1993)

Professionally and recreationally, I spend a lot of time in the terminal. I use it to run scripts, manage servers, write code, and even pick my playlist. I like the immersion of having all my tools in the same, familiar place.

In addition to the desktop tiling, I multi-task in TMux — a terminal "multiplexer". I edit/write in Vim (actually, now Neovim ).

I'll link to my various dotfile setups and resources for setting up a great local development environment in the terminal. If you want to find other cool command line tools and tricks, I recommend checking out the r/commandline subreddit. I'm always finding neat new things to play with there.

BASH

The BASH, or "bourne-again " shell, is a classic and feature-full shell. These days, I'm actually more often using ZSH with Oh My Zsh! . The items below aren't always up-to-date, but I'll try to keep my public dotfiles repository current.

Click here to view my full .bashrc file on GitHub.
You can find my .zshrc here .

Emacs vs. Vi modes

Two options that can be set using the set command that will be of some interest to the common user are "-o vi" and "-o emacs". As with all of the environment modifying commands these can be typed at the command prompt or inserted into the appropriate file mentioned above.

Emacs Mode

set -o emacs

bash

This is usually the default editing mode when in the bash environment and means that you are able to use commands like those in Emacs (defined in the Readline library) to move the cursor, cut and paste text, or undo editing.
Commands to take advantage of bash's Emacs Mode:
- ctrl-a Move cursor to beginning of line
- ctrl-e Move cursor to end of line
- meta-b Move cursor back one word
- meta-f Move cursor forward one word
- ctrl-w Cut the last word
- ctrl-u Cut everything before the cursor
- ctrl-k Cut everything after the cursor
- ctrl-y Paste the last thing to be cut
- ctrl-_ Undo
NOTE: ctrl- = hold control, meta- = hold meta (where meta is usually the alt or escape key).
A combination of ctrl-u to cut the line combined with ctrl-y can be very helpful. If you are in middle of typing a command and need to return to the prompt to retrieve more information you can use ctrl-u to save what you have typed in and after you retrieve the needed information ctrl-y will recover what was cut.

Vi Mode

set -o vi

bash

Vi mode allows for the use of vi like commands when at the bash prompt. When set to this mode initially you will be in insert mode (be able to type at the prompt unlike when you enter vi). Hitting the escape key takes you into command mode.
Commands to take advantage of bash's Vi Mode:
- h Move cursor left
- l Move cursor right
- A Move cursor to end of line and put in insert mode
- 0 (zero) Move cursor to beginning of line (doesn't put in insert mode)
- i Put into insert mode at current position
- a Put into insert mode after current position
- dd Delete line (saved for pasting)
- D Delete text after current cursor position (saved for pasting)
- p Paste text that was deleted
- j Move up through history commands
- k Move down through history commands
- u Undo

One thing I like in ZSH, is the zsh-vi-mode plugin. It allows you to use Vi visual mode on the ZSH command line— without bringing up the full-fledged Vi editor.

Pretty Bash Prompts

RCol='\033[0m'
Gre='\033[32m'
Red='\033[31m'
Blu='\033[34m'
Yel='\033[33m'
PS1="${RCol}┌─[\`if [ \$? = 0 ]; then echo "${Gre}"; else echo "${Red}"; fi\`\T\[${Rcol}\] \[${Blu}\]\u@\h\[${RCol}\] \[${Yel}\]\w\[${RCol}\]\$(__git_ps1)]\n└───▶ "

bash

I don't use it personally, but my coworkers love the Starship prompt. It's a cross-shell prompt that works with BASH, ZSH, Fish, and more. It has a lot of features and is highly customizable.

Handy Aliases

Local HTTP Server

For a simple— Node.js-powered— HTTP server, I recommend browser-sync. It has a watch feature to auto-refresh the browser if it detects changes. Setup a shell alias to run the longer command by simply typing serve.

Install Browser Sync

npm install -g browser-sync

shell

Setup a shell alias

# If using a virtual environment (or WSL), you can set your local IP address to the "host" argument like so:
export ip4=$(ifdata -pa wlp2s0)
 
# Set the full command to an alias (in your ~/.bashrc) for ease-of-use:
alias serve="browser-sync start -s -f . --no-notify --extensions 'html' --host $ip4 --port 9000"

bash

For a simple (Python-powered) server, you can alias the python3 command:

Simple local server alias (Python).

# Run the HTTP server on port 80
alias serve="python3 -m http.server"

bash

Terminal Multiplexer

I use TMux for shell session management and organization. Tmux is a "terminal multiplexer"— basically, it allows you to run multiple terminal sessions in resizable panes within a single terminal window. You can also detach and reattach to sessions, useful if you accidentally close a shell! Here are some useful aliases for TMux:

Quick and simple Tmux aliases

alias td="tmux detach"
alias t0="tmux attach -t 0"
alias t1="tmux attach -t 1"
alias t2="tmux attach -t 2"
alias tmain="tmux attach -t main"

bash

FFMpeg

If you're working with video files, you might want to use FFMpeg . It's a powerful command-line tool for processing video and audio files. Here are some useful aliases for FFMpeg:

Make GIFs from the terminal with these bash aliases

# Make a video from a folder of PNG frames
alias mkvid="ffmpeg -r 1 -f image2 -pattern_type glob -i "*.png" -vf scale=720:480 -filter:v "crop=in_w:480" -vcodec libx264 -crf 0 -pix_fmt yuv444p test.mp4"
 
# Convert an mp4 video to GIF format
alias convgif="ffmpeg -i test.mp4 -vf scale=iw/2:ih/2 -f gif test.gif"
 
# Make a GIF from a folder of images
function mkgif() {
  ffmpeg -pattern_type glob -r 1 -i "$1" -vf "scale='min(640,iw)':'min(480,ih)':force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=640:480:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2" -pix_fmt yuv420p -f gif output.gif
}
export -f mkgif

bash

Another tool I found, gifski , makes it easier to get good results— but it requires Rust to install.

Low-Quality Image Placeholders (LQIP)

Must install GO
Uses the primitive command-line utility

Polygonized LQIP image for single file

function poly() {
  if [ ${1##*.} != "gif" ]
    then
      primitive -i $1 -o lqip/${1%.*}-lqip.${1##*.} -r 64 -s 64 -bg 'avg' -n 150 -v
  fi
  if [ ${1##*.} = "gif" ]
    then
      convert "$1[0]" temp.gif
      primitive -i temp.gif -o lqip/${1%.*}-lqip.jpg -bg 'avg' -r 64 -s 64 -n 150 -v
      rm temp.gif
  fi
}
export -f poly

bash

Polygonized LQIP images for all images in a directory

polyAll () {
  for image in *;
    do
      poly "$image"
  done
}
export -f polyAll

bash

Rofi Notes (RONO)

I don't use the Rofi launcher now that I'm on Mac OS, but I used to use it a lot on Linux. Rofi is a powerful and flexible application launcher that can be used to quickly access applications, files, and more.

Below is an example of how to customize Rofi for note-taking with Alacritty.

Customization of Rofi Notes with Alacritty
Save script as rofi_notes.sh to use with the i3 binding:

bindsym $mod+s exec rofi_notes.sh -a 'Daniel Tompkins' -e 'nvim' -o $HOME/.scratch/

#!/usr/bin/env bash
 
while getopts ":a:e:l:o:" opt; do
  case $opt in
    a) AUTHOR="$OPTARG"
    ;;
    e) EDITOR="$OPTARG"
    ;;
    l) LOOK="$OPTARG"
    ;;
    o) NOTES_FOLDER="$OPTARG"
    ;;
    \?) echo "Invalid option -$OPTARG" >&2
    ;;
  esac
done
 
if [[ ! -d "${NOTES_FOLDER}" ]]; then
  mkdir -p "$NOTES_FOLDER"
fi
 
get_notes() {
  ls "${NOTES_FOLDER}"
}
 
edit_note() {
  note_location=$1
  alacritty -t 'alacritty-floating' -e $EDITOR -c "${LOOK}" "$note_location"
}
 
delete_note() {
  local note=$1
  local action=$(echo -e "yes\nno" | rofi -dmenu -p "Are you sure you want to delete $note? ")
 
  case $action in
    "yes")
      rm "$NOTES_FOLDER/$note"
      main
      ;;
    "no")
      main
  esac
}
 
note_context() {
  local note=$1
  local note_location="$NOTES_FOLDER/$note"
  local action=$(echo -e "edit\ndelete" | rofi -dmenu -p "$note ")
  case $action in
    "edit")
      edit_note "$note_location"
      ;;
    "delete")
      delete_note "$note"
  esac
}
 
new_note() {
  local title=$(echo -e "cancel" | rofi -dmenu -p "input title ")
 
  case "$title" in
    "cancel")
      main
      ;;
    *)
      local file=$(echo "$title" | sed 's/ /_/g;s/\(.*\)/\L\1/g')
      local template=$(cat <<- END
---
title: $title
date: $(date --rfc-3339=seconds)
author: $AUTHOR
---
 
# $title
END
)
      note_location="$NOTES_FOLDER/$file.md"
      if [ "$title" != "" ]; then
        echo "$template" > "$note_location" | edit_note "$note_location"
      fi
      ;;
  esac
}
 
main() {
  local all_notes="$(get_notes)"
  local first_menu="NEW"
 
  if [ "$all_notes" ];then
    first_menu="NEW\n${all_notes}"
  fi
 
  local note=$(echo -e "$first_menu"  | rofi -dmenu -p "notes ")
 
  case $note in
    "NEW")
      new_note
      ;;
    "")
      ;;
    *)
      note_context "$note"
  esac
}
 
main

bash

Browsers

Firefox

I've used Firefox as my primary browser, along with Chrome for work. I know its politics and policies have changed over the years, though. I still use it, but I'm also interested in Brave and other privacy-focused browsers.

Disable Keyboard Shortcuts

First, change the Firefox shortcut settings:

In Firefox, navigate to about:config
Read through the disclaimer and click the "Accept the Risk and Continue" button
Search for permissions.default.shortcuts and click the pencil icon to edit the value
Change the "0" to "2" to allow overriding existing shortcuts

Next, install the Shortkeys Firefox plugin:

After installing, restart Firefox. Quit and re-open.
Click the add-on puzzle piece icon and find "Manage extensions" at the bottom, click it.
Click the gear icon to the right of the "Manage Your Extensions" heading.
- In the dropdown, click "Manage Extension Shortcuts"
Scroll down the list to the Shortkeys extension and setup your shortcuts!
- I like Cmd+, and Cmd+. for navigating prev/next tab, respectively.

Editors

Vim

You can find my full .vimrc here. However, I am now using Neovim — it's a modern fork of Vim with many improvements. You can find my Neovim dotfiles here .

Status lines

This is a configuration example for vim-airline

let g:airline_powerline_fonts=1
let g:airline#extensions#tabline#enabled=1
let g:airline_theme='luna'

vimscript

You might also try Lightline

let g:lightline = {
\ 'colorscheme' : 'seoul256'
\ }

vimscript

Other Nice Plugins

call plug#begin('~/.vim/plugged')
Plug 'vimwiki/vimwiki'
Plug 'vim-airline/vim-airline'
Plug 'vim-airline/vim-airline-themes'
Plug 'edkolev/tmuxline.vim'
Plug 'junegunn/goyo.vim'
Plug 'scrooloose/nerdtree'
Plug 'inkarkat/vim-SpellCheck'
Plug 'inkarkat/vim-ingo-library'
Plug 'etdev/vim-hexcolor'
Plug 'chrisbra/Colorizer'
Plug 'junegunn/vim-emoji'
Plug 'vim-scripts/AutoComplPop'
call plug#end()

vimscript

Colorschemes

Take a look at vim-colors for some awesome color schemes that will spruce up your edits.

VimWiki

let g:vimwiki_list = [{'path': '~/vimwiki/',
      \ 'syntax': 'markdown',
      \ 'template_path': '~/vimwiki/templates/',
      \ 'template_default': 'default',
      \ 'ext': '.md',
      \ 'path_html': '/var/www/l-o-o-s-e-d/html/knowledge-base/',
      \ 'custom_wiki2html': 'vimwiki_markdown',
      \ 'template_ext': '.tpl'}]

vimscript

Mobile

You must install scrcpy and connect your Android device to your computer with USB-debugging enabled .

Mirror a USB-connected Android device

alias android='scrcpy --max-size 1080 --window-x 1920 --window-y 1080 --window-borderless -S'
alias androidF='android --fullscreen'

bash

Ter­mi­nals

BASH

Emacs vs. Vi modes

Emacs Mode

Vi Mode

Pretty Bash Prompts

Handy Aliases

Local HTTP Server

Ter­minal Mul­ti­plexer

FFMpeg

Low-Quality Image Place­holders (LQIP)

Rofi Notes (RONO)

Browsers

Firefox

Dis­able Key­board Short­cuts

Ed­i­tors

Vim

Status lines

Other Nice Plu­gins

Col­orschemes

VimWiki

Mo­bile

Terminals

Terminal Multiplexer

Low-Quality Image Placeholders (LQIP)

Disable Keyboard Shortcuts

Editors

Other Nice Plugins

Colorschemes

Mobile