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Show HN: I wrote an entire book to build a mouseless dev environment

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Re: Show HN: I wrote an entire book to build a mouseless dev environment

#71

Post by TimTheTinker »

mssundaram wrote: post #67
madhadron wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was fully mouseless with a tiling window manager (larswm) back in the 1990's. It was very nice, but these days I am very happy with my mouse and graphical tools. Maybe it's senility.

For all my years as a developer I've used a dark terminal and vim theme, until last weekend I just couldn't focus with it anymore. Happy with a light theme for the first time in my life

I think there really is something to switching things around every once in a while — color themes, lighting, even where I’m sitting and which way I’m facing.

I think part of is is that varying my environment keeps me more conscious of what I’m doing and helps me avoid falling into ruts of behavior.

Re: Show HN: I wrote an entire book to build a mouseless dev environment

#72

Post by NoThisIsMe »

pca006132 wrote: post #63
NoThisIsMe wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've only ever used Vimium-FF, so I'm not sure how it compares to the Chromium version, but it worked well enough. Now I use Tridactyl. Check it out. It takes the concept a lot further than Vimium.

I just checked the GitHub page for Tridactyl, it seems to have so many features. Do you have any frequently used feature that only Tridactyl provides but not Vimium-FF?

sure. i think the big ones are all kind of related: - a proper commandline, not just "open url / search" field - everything's an excmd. you can compose them and write your own. you can bind them to keys or use them adhoc. - you can define excmds that execute javascript snippets - ~/.config/tridactylrc

Re: Show HN: I wrote an entire book to build a mouseless dev environment

#73

Post by RMPR »

pca006132 wrote: post #63
NoThisIsMe wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've only ever used Vimium-FF, so I'm not sure how it compares to the Chromium version, but it worked well enough. Now I use Tridactyl. Check it out. It takes the concept a lot further than Vimium.

I just checked the GitHub page for Tridactyl, it seems to have so many features. Do you have any frequently used feature that only Tridactyl provides but not Vimium-FF?

There was a HN post[0] recently about that, you can find more insights reading the comments. I went from vim-vixen to vimium then to tridactyl. As for features that only Tridactyl provides (things may have change in the meantime) I must say that I absolutely love their hinting mode. It's totally different from anything I have used (even qutebrowser's which is completely keyboard focused [1]). It also provides a desktop executable that allows you to edit everything in Vim. That said, I've been using it for 6 months and I know I only scratched the surface.

0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24615787

1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24636160

Re: Show HN: I wrote an entire book to build a mouseless dev environment

#74

Post by RMPR »

jamcohen wrote: post #38

For anyone using iterm2, copy mode ( https://iterm2.com/documentation-copymode.html ) was a big help in reducing my mouse use.

You can achieve something similar in Alacritty with the vi mode[0]

0: https://github.com/alacritty/alacritty/blob/master/docs/feat...

Re: Show HN: I wrote an entire book to build a mouseless dev environment

#75

Post by j1elo »

I've been meaning to finally upgrade from my ancient but perfectly functional Linux Mint 18.3 (based on Ubuntu 16.04) to Regolith Linux, with the intention of getting into an i3 environment.

Any thoughts or comments about Regolith?

EDIT to mention that for people interested in getting into tiling window managers (such as i3), the Pop_OS distro also comes with its own, optional tiling wm that can be switched on/off, which might be a nicer and more approachable middleground for newcomers

Re: Show HN: I wrote an entire book to build a mouseless dev environment

#76

Post by the_svd_doctor »

thanato0s wrote: post #2

"I don't want to try i3 or Vim. What's the point using less of the mouse? Such a waste of time!" That was me, 6 years ago. My colleagues were pushing me to try the tools they were already using for years. They are very good developers, so at the end they convinced me to look at them. I had to admit I was wrong. I fell in love with these tools. From there, I built my system step by step, configured it as I wanted, acc…

Great read. I like the style. Looking forward to the complete version.

Re: Show HN: I wrote an entire book to build a mouseless dev environment

#77

Post by haxel »

j1elo wrote: post #75

I've been meaning to finally upgrade from my ancient but perfectly functional Linux Mint 18.3 (based on Ubuntu 16.04) to Regolith Linux, with the intention of getting into an i3 environment. Any thoughts or comments about Regolith? EDIT to mention that for people interested in getting into tiling window managers (such as i3), the Pop_OS distro also comes with its own, optional tiling wm that can be switched on/off, w…

Not OP, but I swapped over to Regolith a couple of months ago on my laptop and now it's on my main workstation too. Coming from Ubunutu MATE on both. Very happy with it.

It's my first time using i3 or any tiling WM for that matter. Took about a day to get used to the basics (sane defaults), and that's mostly all I've needed so far.

My one attempt to use the dedicated installer didn't work properly so instead I installed Ubuntu and then Regolith from PPA.

Re: Show HN: I wrote an entire book to build a mouseless dev environment

#78

Post by thanato0s »

surajs wrote: post #66
thanato0s wrote: post #2

"I don't want to try i3 or Vim. What's the point using less of the mouse? Such a waste of time!" That was me, 6 years ago. My colleagues were pushing me to try the tools they were already using for years. They are very good developers, so at the end they convinced me to look at them. I had to admit I was wrong. I fell in love with these tools. From there, I built my system step by step, configured it as I wanted, acc…

hate to be the devil's advocate, but could you throw some numbers about how your productivity or skill set improved as a direct result of not using the mouse?

I think it's good to be the devil's advocate. Different opinions are great to ask questions about our own.

I don't have any number, that's true. But I know that I enjoy using this system way more than any other I tried (including many "easy-to-use" Linux distros, Windows, or macOS).

As a result, when I discover this way of working, I began to participate way more in open source projects. In general, I didn't only like the result of what I was doing, I liked the way too. It changed everything for me.

I don't think we should always focus on the tools but more what we're creating with them. But if you use tools you truly enjoy using, I'm sure your productivity will increase as well.

This book is not to impose a system to anybody, it's more to dive into Linux and another way of working. That's why I explain everything in details: for anybody to shape their system and swap their tools as much as they want.

Re: Show HN: I wrote an entire book to build a mouseless dev environment

#79

Post by thanato0s »

madhadron wrote: post #52
thanato0s wrote: post #2

"I don't want to try i3 or Vim. What's the point using less of the mouse? Such a waste of time!" That was me, 6 years ago. My colleagues were pushing me to try the tools they were already using for years. They are very good developers, so at the end they convinced me to look at them. I had to admit I was wrong. I fell in love with these tools. From there, I built my system step by step, configured it as I wanted, acc…

I was fully mouseless with a tiling window manager (larswm) back in the 1990's. It was very nice, but these days I am very happy with my mouse and graphical tools. Maybe it's senility.

Change is part of life, isn't it? That was deep, I know :D

Seriously, maybe I'll write in 10 years "I was wrong: just install Ubuntu and you'll be happy". It will be a very short book though... but it's good to change and not staying in our little bubble.

Re: Show HN: I wrote an entire book to build a mouseless dev environment

#80

Post by thanato0s »

TimTheTinker wrote: post #71
mssundaram wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For all my years as a developer I've used a dark terminal and vim theme, until last weekend I just couldn't focus with it anymore. Happy with a light theme for the first time in my life

I think there really is something to switching things around every once in a while — color themes, lighting, even where I’m sitting and which way I’m facing. I think part of is is that varying my environment keeps me more conscious of what I’m doing and helps me avoid falling into ruts of behavior.

I think that's true. It's always good to explore new ways, especially the ones you don't agree with. Even if you still disagree at the end, I'm sure you'll learn something.

I tried Ubuntu a couple of months ago, as well as other distros (elementaryOS, Linux Mint, and Manjaro). For Ubuntu, it's better than before. These distros had some interesting ideas, but I'm still very happy with my system :D

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