preloader

My Setup & Gear

My Dell XPS Setup

The Philosophy

I believe that a developer’s environment should be an extension of their mind: fast, distraction-free, and highly optimized. I prefer bare-metal performance, keyboard-driven workflows, and zero telemetry. Here is the gear and software I use daily to write code, analyze systems, and build this journal.

💻 The Hardware Engine

  • Main Workstation: Dell XPS Series — Repasted for advanced thermal efficiency and running custom undervolted profiles to maintain maximum sustained performance without thermal throttling.
  • Displays: A dual minimalist high-resolution layout. The primary monitor is strictly for code and active terminals, while the secondary handles documentation, sandboxed browsers, and logs.
  • Peripherals:
    • Keyboard: Custom-built mechanical keyboard (tactile switches, ortholinear layout) tuned for ergonomic, high-accuracy, stealth typing.
    • Mouse: Ergonomic high-precision trackball to reduce wrist strain during long debugging sessions.

⚙️ The Operating System & Core Stack

  • Host OS: A heavily debloated, custom-hardened environment. All native telemetry, background ads, and structural overhead have been stripped at the registry/kernel level.
  • Virtualization: Heavy reliance on Type-1/Type-2 hypervisors and Docker. I run isolated virtual environments to safely analyze software behaviors without exposing the primary host.
  • Primary IDE: Visual Studio Code — Heavily customized with a minimalist dark theme, strict formatting rules, and VIM bindings.
  • Utilities: Microsoft PowerToys (for window management and system-wide search), Sysinternals Suite (for deep process inspection), and custom local DNS sinkholes (Pi-hole/AdGuard) to block trackers at the network level.

📟 Terminal & CLI

  • Emulator: Windows Terminal / Alacritty — GPU-accelerated and configured for zero input latency.
  • Shell: A custom POSIX-compliant setup (often PowerShell Core / Zsh) enriched with automated shortcuts, rich Git indicators (Oh My Posh / Starship), and an arsenal of custom aliases for rapid directory traversal and Git operations.
  • CLI Tools: bat (better cat), ripgrep (ultra-fast searching), fzf (fuzzy finder), and tmux for terminal multiplexing.