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We need more zero config tools

arne.me

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Re: We need more zero config tools

#31

Post by exe34 »

mattlondon wrote: post #4

I know this will be unpopular but I try to live a zero-config life. I just live with the defaults 99% of the time. I prefer not to be beholden to some special keyboard map or shell config or that essential plugin that does something very niche that you could simply not live without any more , because what if you do need to live without it? If you ever change machine or do pair programming or whatever where you are no…

> it already has "your" config since they are all the defaults!

that made me laugh, thank you for that!

in practise, every distribution has different defaults and every version changes everything around. I've gone full autistic in my nixos install: xmonad, xterm, emacs. now I can keep the config frozen for the rest of my life. what if I find myself in front of a different computer? I'll tell them the same thing I tell windows people: I have no idea what's going on. sorry.

Re: We need more zero config tools

#32

Post by simion314 »

mattlondon wrote: post #4

I know this will be unpopular but I try to live a zero-config life. I just live with the defaults 99% of the time. I prefer not to be beholden to some special keyboard map or shell config or that essential plugin that does something very niche that you could simply not live without any more , because what if you do need to live without it? If you ever change machine or do pair programming or whatever where you are no…

So 1% of the time you change the configs?

Maybe you are very average, or your tools are hard to configure or you are forced to work on other computers daily.

I have bad eyes so would be stupid to use regular font sizes instead of bigger fonts, I also use a Zoom tool that has the shortcuts set to be easy to remember but require 2 hands to use so of course I change them to use them with one hand. Most of the keyboard shortcuts use Ctrl so I remap it to a more comfortable position (it would be confusing for others to use my computer but this is not a shared machine). I also use TTS software, the default voice speed is good for the average person but I maxed the speed , I can do things much faster.

I used Windows, Mac, GNOME but KDE is my system because I can configure it, like Windows Zoom tool had no way to reconfigure the keyboard shortcuts last time I checked and this tool was supposed to be created by people that think about accessibility.

Side story, my son is different, I installed a program for him, then hours later I asked about this experience and he complained that some keys were not set as he was used to but he managed, he did not consider to check and change the keyboard shortcuts, some people just prefer to suffer mental and body pain and adapt to the tool instead of adapting the tool for them (GNOME users are the supreme example)

Re: We need more zero config tools

#33

Post by Zababa »

bpx51 wrote: post #12

Another tool that I can't live without, which requires no configuration at all is fzf, you can easily and (fuzz)yly find files in your system, move into directories, search in your command history, search active processes and kill them and a lot more. Give it a try

fzf (https://github.com/junegunn/fzf) is really great. Very useful for providing a quick and easy user interface. For example, I use it to fuzzy find inside git branches to have an "improved checkout". I do that since at work branches are usually named "-", it's faster to search for the issue number.

Re: We need more zero config tools

#34

Post by nitinreddy88 »

I try to use most of the tools (linux) as standard as possible without customisation including shortcut keys. The problem is, once you are in remote sever/dev ops boxes, you can't have fancy tools or fancy shortcuts. It's better to train your mind to standard tools as much as possible.

Re: We need more zero config tools

#35

Post by ephaeton »

Zababa wrote: post #28
cjk wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I try to do this as well, with the notable exceptions of neovim, zsh, and tmux. My zsh configuration, despite being quite large, has never broken in strange and hilarious ways when adopting a new version of zsh. The opposite is true for neovim, and to a lesser degree, tmux. Nearly every time I install a neovim update, something breaks (often LSP-related). The devs don't seem to give a rat's ass about backwards compat…

Maybe you've already heard about it but Helix ( https://helix-editor.com/ ) mostly just works out of the box.

On the cost of ditching that vi muscle memory.

Re: We need more zero config tools

#36

Post by exe34 »

oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #9
kunley wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not always makes sense, especially when the defaults are counterintuitive. Example: I never understood why tmux folks have chosen different key bindings than screen, as their product was meant to replace screen, not to be run like one inside another. But the brain has been wired over the years. Then I am always remapping tmux to ctrl-a. There are also other examples when defaults have been made to satisfy some percei…

I can't speak to specifics of tmux/screen but, generally, one approach to this problem is to pick tools with the defaults you want. If a tool doesn't have good defaults, pick one that does. Sure, you have to be pragmatic about this—if no tool has good defaults, just pick the one with the best (and the best support for configuration...)

that's a very wild take - pick tools based on the key bindings instead of the features you actually need....

Re: We need more zero config tools

#37

Post by thierrydamiba »

Iulioh wrote: post #24
dimal wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can understand that POV and would love to be able to do that, but as a neurodivergent person, I could never live that way. The default settings for the world are generally intolerable to me. I customize absolutely everything in my life. Without that, I’d be a jibbering wreck 99% of the time. If I have to forgo pair programming to function optimally the rest of the time, I’ll take that deal. I would love simpler con…

My Android homepage had a 4 hour setup process, it was not fun but oh god it's cool.

Please tell us more

Re: We need more zero config tools

#38

Post by nox101 »

Tainnor wrote: post #10
mattlondon wrote: post #4

I know this will be unpopular but I try to live a zero-config life. I just live with the defaults 99% of the time. I prefer not to be beholden to some special keyboard map or shell config or that essential plugin that does something very niche that you could simply not live without any more , because what if you do need to live without it? If you ever change machine or do pair programming or whatever where you are no…

Defaults are fine if you live a default life. I moved to another country 15 years ago, but I was never going to learn a different keyboard layout after having already been quite proficient in my previous one. And if I use e.g. a Mac at work and Linux at home, I want certain special characters to be available with the same key combinations (for some reason, that's not the case by default), otherwise I'll just confuse…

I thought the same as you. I arrived in a new country, paniced at the foreign keyboard, had family send me my keyboard from home ASAP. It arrived 4 weeks later. I tried to use it but my fingers had already gotten used to the foreign keyboard and it would have been more work to switch back. So, I was wrong. I did get used to it. I got so used to it that when I moved back to my home countries I kept using the foreign keyboard for ~2 years. Until I got a laptop with a local keyboard. At which point I finally switched back on my desktops.

Re: We need more zero config tools

#40

Post by [deleted] »

mattlondon wrote: post #4

I know this will be unpopular but I try to live a zero-config life. I just live with the defaults 99% of the time. I prefer not to be beholden to some special keyboard map or shell config or that essential plugin that does something very niche that you could simply not live without any more , because what if you do need to live without it? If you ever change machine or do pair programming or whatever where you are no…

[deleted]
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