lesbian.skin
My website
lesbian.skin
post: What I Use (2025)
Signed-off-by: Naomi Roberts <mia@naomieow.xyz>
+124
+124
src/website/data/posts/what-i-use-2025.dj
+124
src/website/data/posts/what-i-use-2025.dj
···
1
+
---
2
+
title = "What I Use (2025)"
3
+
author = "Naomi Roberts"
4
+
date = 2025-12-03
5
+
summary = "An overview of the tech I used in 2025!"
6
+
---
7
+
8
+
{#workstations}
9
+
# Workstation(s)
10
+
11
+
My setup didn't really change much this year, and the machines I use are still
12
+
mostly identical to last year!
13
+
14
+
{#calibarn}
15
+
## Calibarn
16
+
17
+
This is still my main computer, however I have made an upgrade since last year -
18
+
I upgraded my old RTX 3060 to a RX 7900 XT, which has so far been a very good
19
+
investment. I have also switched over to NixOS as my main OS, which has been the
20
+
best decision I have made for myself.
21
+
22
+
- *CPU:* i5 12400f
23
+
- *GPU:* RX 7900 XT
24
+
- *RAM:* 32gb@3200mhz DDR4
25
+
- *OS:* NixOS with `nixpkgs-unstable` and latest Linux kernel
26
+
27
+
The switch to NixOS has improved my Linux desktop and development experience so
28
+
much. I honestly could not see myself being able to go back to using any other
29
+
distro for my computer. Having everything in a central location and knowing that
30
+
my computer would basically always work has been such a breath of fresh air this
31
+
year.
32
+
33
+
Another thing that has changed is my window manager - I have switched from Hyprland
34
+
to Niri, a scrollable window manager. This choice was made after hopping between
35
+
various different WMs and DEs for a while, including KDE and LabWC. Niri was the
36
+
most recent one I tried, and it really stuck with me. The ability to block certain
37
+
windows from being captured by screenshots, screenshares and recordings has been
38
+
amazing while talking to my friends, or blocking out certain windows while running
39
+
my D&D sessions.
40
+
41
+
If you want to know more about Niri, there are some very good videos on YouTube
42
+
by Brodie Robertson that showcase it fairly well. I would also reccomend just trying
43
+
it out yourself to get the feel, as I don't think a video can quite do it justice.
44
+
45
+
{#aerial}
46
+
## Aerial
47
+
48
+
This is still my ROG Ally, which I continue to use for travelling between home and
49
+
university. It has been switched over to Bazzite Linux, an immutable Fedora-based
50
+
distro made to emulate the SteamOS experience on other devices. I no longer play
51
+
any Windows-only games, so it didn't make sense to keep Windows on it. I'm currently
52
+
replaying through Tomb Raider (2013) on it, trying to 100% the game. Performance
53
+
is still great, and I'm still surprised at how well these little handhelds perform.
54
+
55
+
{#barbatos}
56
+
## Barbatos
57
+
58
+
Still my shitty old laptop, which has actually been dead for most of the year.
59
+
It's been sitting in a bucket round my parent's house since the start of summer,
60
+
waiting for someone to fix it. As of today (2nd December 2025), it has been fixed!
61
+
My Dad walked into my bedroom about 2 hours ago and handed it to me - very kind
62
+
of him to fix it for me! It's still running Windows 10, but I do plan to see if
63
+
NixOS will be able to run on it without the weird flickering issues I had last time
64
+
I tried any Linux distro on it.
65
+
66
+
- *CPU:* Ryzen 3 2200u
67
+
- *GPU:* Radeon Vega 3
68
+
- *RAM:* 8gb@2400mhz DDR4
69
+
- *OS:* Windows 10 (for now)
70
+
71
+
{#software}
72
+
# Software
73
+
74
+
As I mentioned earlier, I hopped about different window managers and desktop
75
+
environments this year on my main PC, after finally settling on Niri.
76
+
77
+
{#editors}
78
+
## Editors
79
+
80
+
- Zed (fully moved over to Zed from VSCode now)
81
+
- Helix (still my main terminal-based editor)
82
+
- IntelliJ IDEA (still for Java/Kotlin)
83
+
84
+
{#terminals}
85
+
## Terminals
86
+
87
+
- Foot (main terminal emulator)
88
+
- Alacritty (used on Barbatos)
89
+
90
+
{#operating-systems}
91
+
## Operating Systems
92
+
93
+
- NixOS (Now my main OS on Calibarn, I managed to figure out the Nix language and
94
+
it suddenly clicked.)
95
+
- Bazzite (nice handheld distro, I dislike the focus on Flatpaks but I mostly
96
+
just use it for gaming anyway)
97
+
- Windows 10 (on Barbatos for now, might switch to NixOS soon)
98
+
99
+
{#programming-languages}
100
+
## Programming Languages
101
+
102
+
I touched a lot less languages this year, focusing mainly on my Minecraft mods
103
+
and Gleam projects.
104
+
105
+
- Gleam (still my favourite language a year later)
106
+
- Java (Minecraft modding)
107
+
- Kotlin (Minecraft modding, but better!)
108
+
- C++ (used for university assignments, Unreal Engine 5 sadly)
109
+
- Nix (for NixOS configuration - does this even count?)
110
+
111
+
{#version-control}
112
+
## Version Control
113
+
114
+
I have barely touched Git this year, mainly using Jujutsu for everything. The
115
+
inter-compatibility with Git repos is fantastic, and jj just feels so much more
116
+
in tune with how I program.
117
+
118
+
I have also switched my Git forge around a bit, trying to reduce my reliance on
119
+
GitHub as much as possible. This time last year I was using Codeberg for most of
120
+
my projects (a great hosted Forgejo instance), but I have sine started to use
121
+
[Tangled](https://tangled.org) for all my personal projects. Tangled is a new
122
+
forge built on top of the AT Protocol, which is cool as fuck and you can read
123
+
more about it on [their blog](https://blog.tangled.org/).
124
+