···11----
22-title = "What I Use (2025)"
33-author = "Naomi Roberts"
44-date = 2025-12-03
55-summary = "An overview of the tech I used in 2025!"
66----
77-88-{#workstations}
99-# Workstation(s)
1010-1111-My setup didn't really change much this year, and the machines I use are still
1212-mostly identical to last year!
1313-1414-{#calibarn}
1515-## Calibarn
1616-1717-This is still my main computer, however I have made an upgrade since last year -
1818-I upgraded my old RTX 3060 to a RX 7900 XT, which has so far been a very good
1919-investment. I have also switched over to NixOS as my main OS, which has been the
2020-best decision I have made for myself.
2121-2222-- *CPU:* i5 12400f
2323-- *GPU:* RX 7900 XT
2424-- *RAM:* 32gb@3200mhz DDR4
2525-- *OS:* NixOS with `nixpkgs-unstable` and latest Linux kernel
2626-2727-The switch to NixOS has improved my Linux desktop and development experience so
2828-much. I honestly could not see myself being able to go back to using any other
2929-distro for my computer. Having everything in a central location and knowing that
3030-my computer would basically always work has been such a breath of fresh air this
3131-year.
3232-3333-Another thing that has changed is my window manager - I have switched from Hyprland
3434-to Niri, a scrollable window manager. This choice was made after hopping between
3535-various different WMs and DEs for a while, including KDE and LabWC. Niri was the
3636-most recent one I tried, and it really stuck with me. The ability to block certain
3737-windows from being captured by screenshots, screenshares and recordings has been
3838-amazing while talking to my friends, or blocking out certain windows while running
3939-my D&D sessions.
4040-4141-If you want to know more about Niri, there are some very good videos on YouTube
4242-by Brodie Robertson that showcase it fairly well. I would also reccomend just trying
4343-it out yourself to get the feel, as I don't think a video can quite do it justice.
4444-4545-{#aerial}
4646-## Aerial
4747-4848-This is still my ROG Ally, which I continue to use for travelling between home and
4949-university. It has been switched over to Bazzite Linux, an immutable Fedora-based
5050-distro made to emulate the SteamOS experience on other devices. I no longer play
5151-any Windows-only games, so it didn't make sense to keep Windows on it. I'm currently
5252-replaying through Tomb Raider (2013) on it, trying to 100% the game. Performance
5353-is still great, and I'm still surprised at how well these little handhelds perform.
5454-5555-{#barbatos}
5656-## Barbatos
5757-5858-Still my shitty old laptop, which has actually been dead for most of the year.
5959-It's been sitting in a bucket round my parent's house since the start of summer,
6060-waiting for someone to fix it. As of today (2nd December 2025), it has been fixed!
6161-My Dad walked into my bedroom about 2 hours ago and handed it to me - very kind
6262-of him to fix it for me! It's still running Windows 10, but I do plan to see if
6363-NixOS will be able to run on it without the weird flickering issues I had last time
6464-I tried any Linux distro on it.
6565-6666-- *CPU:* Ryzen 3 2200u
6767-- *GPU:* Radeon Vega 3
6868-- *RAM:* 8gb@2400mhz DDR4
6969-- *OS:* Windows 10 (for now)
7070-7171-{#software}
7272-# Software
7373-7474-As I mentioned earlier, I hopped about different window managers and desktop
7575-environments this year on my main PC, after finally settling on Niri.
7676-7777-{#editors}
7878-## Editors
7979-8080-- Zed (fully moved over to Zed from VSCode now)
8181-- Helix (still my main terminal-based editor)
8282-- IntelliJ IDEA (still for Java/Kotlin)
8383-8484-{#terminals}
8585-## Terminals
8686-8787-- Foot (main terminal emulator)
8888-- Alacritty (used on Barbatos)
8989-9090-{#operating-systems}
9191-## Operating Systems
9292-9393-- NixOS (Now my main OS on Calibarn, I managed to figure out the Nix language and
9494- it suddenly clicked.)
9595-- Bazzite (nice handheld distro, I dislike the focus on Flatpaks but I mostly
9696- just use it for gaming anyway)
9797-- Windows 10 (on Barbatos for now, might switch to NixOS soon)
9898-9999-{#programming-languages}
100100-## Programming Languages
101101-102102-I touched a lot less languages this year, focusing mainly on my Minecraft mods
103103-and Gleam projects.
104104-105105-- Gleam (still my favourite language a year later)
106106-- Java (Minecraft modding)
107107-- Kotlin (Minecraft modding, but better!)
108108-- C++ (used for university assignments, Unreal Engine 5 sadly)
109109-- Nix (for NixOS configuration - does this even count?)
110110-111111-{#version-control}
112112-## Version Control
113113-114114-I have barely touched Git this year, mainly using Jujutsu for everything. The
115115-inter-compatibility with Git repos is fantastic, and jj just feels so much more
116116-in tune with how I program.
117117-118118-I have also switched my Git forge around a bit, trying to reduce my reliance on
119119-GitHub as much as possible. This time last year I was using Codeberg for most of
120120-my projects (a great hosted Forgejo instance), but I have sine started to use
121121-[Tangled](https://tangled.org) for all my personal projects. Tangled is a new
122122-forge built on top of the AT Protocol, which is cool as fuck and you can read
123123-more about it on [their blog](https://blog.tangled.org/).
124124-11+---
22+title = "What I Use (2025)"
33+author = "Naomi Roberts"
44+date = 2025-12-03
55+summary = "An overview of the tech I used in 2025!"
66+---
77+88+{#workstations}
99+# Workstation(s)
1010+1111+My setup didn't really change much this year, and the machines I use are still
1212+mostly identical to last year!
1313+1414+{#calibarn}
1515+## Calibarn
1616+1717+This is still my main computer, however I have made an upgrade since last year -
1818+I upgraded my old RTX 3060 to a RX 7900 XT, which has so far been a very good
1919+investment. I have also switched over to NixOS as my main OS, which has been the
2020+best decision I have made for myself.
2121+2222+- *CPU:* i5 12400f
2323+- *GPU:* RX 7900 XT
2424+- *RAM:* 32gb@3200mhz DDR4
2525+- *OS:* NixOS with `nixpkgs-unstable` and latest Linux kernel
2626+2727+The switch to NixOS has improved my Linux desktop and development experience so
2828+much. I honestly could not see myself being able to go back to using any other
2929+distro for my computer. Having everything in a central location and knowing that
3030+my computer would basically always work has been such a breath of fresh air this
3131+year.
3232+3333+Another thing that has changed is my window manager - I have switched from Hyprland
3434+to Niri, a scrollable window manager. This choice was made after hopping between
3535+various different WMs and DEs for a while, including KDE and LabWC. Niri was the
3636+most recent one I tried, and it really stuck with me. The ability to block certain
3737+windows from being captured by screenshots, screenshares and recordings has been
3838+amazing while talking to my friends, or blocking out certain windows while running
3939+my D&D sessions.
4040+4141+If you want to know more about Niri, there are some very good videos on YouTube
4242+by Brodie Robertson that showcases it fairly well. I would also reccomend just
4343+tryingit out yourself to get the feel, as I don't think a video can quite do it
4444+justice.
4545+4646+{#aerial}
4747+## Aerial
4848+4949+This is still my ROG Ally, which I continue to use for travelling between home and
5050+university. It has been switched over to Bazzite Linux, an immutable Fedora-based
5151+distro made to emulate the SteamOS experience on other devices. I no longer play
5252+any Windows-only games, so it didn't make sense to keep Windows on it. I'm currently
5353+replaying Tomb Raider (2013) on it, trying to 100% the game. Performance is still
5454+great, and I'm still surprised at how well these little handhelds perform.
5555+5656+{#barbatos}
5757+## Barbatos
5858+5959+Still my shitty old laptop, which has actually been dead for most of the year.
6060+It's been sitting in a bucket round my parent's house since the start of summer,
6161+waiting for someone to fix it. As of today (2nd December 2025), it has been fixed!
6262+My Dad walked into my bedroom about 2 hours ago and handed it to me - very kind
6363+of him to fix it for me! It's still running Windows 10, but I do plan to see if
6464+NixOS will be able to run on it without the weird flickering issues I had last time
6565+I tried any Linux distro on it.
6666+6767+- *CPU:* Ryzen 3 2200u
6868+- *GPU:* Radeon Vega 3
6969+- *RAM:* 8gb@2400mhz DDR4
7070+- *OS:* Windows 10 (for now)
7171+7272+{#software}
7373+# Software
7474+7575+As I mentioned earlier, I hopped about different window managers and desktop
7676+environments this year on my main PC, after finally settling on Niri.
7777+7878+{#editors}
7979+## Editors
8080+8181+- Zed (fully moved over to Zed from VSCode now)
8282+- Helix (still my main terminal-based editor)
8383+- IntelliJ IDEA (still for Java/Kotlin)
8484+8585+{#terminals}
8686+## Terminals
8787+8888+- Foot (main terminal emulator)
8989+- Alacritty (used on Barbatos)
9090+9191+{#operating-systems}
9292+## Operating Systems
9393+9494+- NixOS (Now my main OS on Calibarn, I managed to figure out the Nix language and
9595+ it suddenly clicked.)
9696+- Bazzite (nice handheld distro, I dislike the focus on Flatpaks but I mostly
9797+ just use it for gaming anyway)
9898+- Windows 10 (on Barbatos for now, might switch to NixOS soon)
9999+100100+{#programming-languages}
101101+## Programming Languages
102102+103103+I touched a lot less languages this year, focusing mainly on my Minecraft mods
104104+and Gleam projects.
105105+106106+- Gleam (still my favourite language a year later)
107107+- Java (Minecraft modding)
108108+- Kotlin (Minecraft modding, but better!)
109109+- C++ (used for university assignments, Unreal Engine 5 sadly)
110110+- Nix (for NixOS configuration - does this even count?)
111111+112112+{#version-control}
113113+## Version Control
114114+115115+I have barely touched Git this year, mainly using Jujutsu for everything. The
116116+inter-compatibility with Git repos is fantastic, and jj just feels so much more
117117+in tune with how I program.
118118+119119+I have also switched my Git forge around a bit, trying to reduce my reliance on
120120+GitHub as much as possible. This time last year I was using Codeberg for most of
121121+my projects (a great hosted Forgejo instance), but I have since started to use
122122+[Tangled](https://tangled.org) for all my personal projects. Tangled is a new
123123+forge built on top of the AT Protocol, which is cool as fuck and you can read
124124+more about it on [their blog](https://blog.tangled.org/).