(This is using the usesthis.com interview template.)
hardware
My main machine is a 13" M2 MacBook Pro that I use for everything, (programming, design, etc). I've had it for a few years and it still works great, even with 8GB of memory. Along with this I usually carry a cheap Acer usb hub around with my MacBook so I can plug in various USBs and cables for microcontroller programming and what not. I also use a Wacom Intous4 with this laptop for all my digital art stuff. While I'm at home I either have my MacBook hooked up to a second monitor or I have my desktop computer hooked up to the monitor, which is a Dell Optiplex (chronos). It run Debian, has a 500GB HHD and like 4GB of memory which works fine for basic computing + some heavy duty tasks like extreme multitasking and slight gaming. With the Optiplex I use a Cherry Ergo keyboard. I got it fairly recently and I've loved it so so much. I use a simple 3-button Dell mouse with it. Another computer I use is a Raspberry Pi 3B+ with a 7" touchscreen monitor running Raspbian (escpod). I use a Cherry Stream keyboard (super nice) and a 3-button Lonovo mouse with it. It's a great permacomputing setup, roughly inspired by Devine from 100rabbit's own. I use it primarily for reading, writing, and very small low-level programming next to either my Mac or my desktop (whatever I'm using at the time). I use all of these computers to ssh into my remote EC2 instances, all of which run Debian.
Everyday I carry 4 things with me:
- Phone
- RFID-blocking wallet
- HPDA
- Bic Round Stic ballpoint pen cut to 11"
I used to carry Field Notes in my pocket along with just any pen I could find, but the HPDA has been the best notepad I've ever carried. The Bic Round Stic has also made it's way to my favorite pen (or at very least right behind the Bic Cristal).
software
All my computers (minus my MacBook) run some form of Linux, usually based on Debian. My Optiplex runs Debian with the KDE desktop environment, and my raspberry pi runs Raspian with the default desktop environment, which I think is based off LXDE or LXQT. I plan on switching to cwm on it soon, but I still need to set up the config in a way that I like. All of my EC2 instances run Debian, except for like 2 or 3 which run OpenBSD. I've debated running OpenBSD on this extra laptop I don't use, but that has yet to happen.
I usually work in the terminal. I use VSCodium for all my programming on my Mac, however I'll occasionally use Vi or GNU Nano for quick changes. I used to use Emacs reigiously, and still use it from time to time (especially when working with a lisp varient, typically GNU Guile), however as time went on I kinda just started using whatever just worked simplier and without much configuration or features. Whenever writing Uxntal I'll use Left, and on my Optiplex I use the Kate text editor, KDE's default editor. I find it to be really similar to VSCodium and it's very cozy to work in. Another very cozy editor that I use on my raspberry pi (along with vi) is Geany. It comes pre-installed on Raspbian and it's honestly really nice for some simple programming and writing, however I'm usually just using the raspberry pi to ssh into another machine and using vi.
Art software has been a pretty wild journey for me. When I first started making digital art as a child I used Microsoft Paint and Kid Pix 3D, both of which were extremely limited in it's capabilities, however still engaging to work in. Starting at the beginning of my "professional" journey I started using Adobe Photoshop, and that became my default digital art software for a very very very long time. After Adobe lost it completely, I shortly moved to Affinitiy Designer, which I still use occasionally, however I have mostly moved back into simpler software. I now primarily use MacPaint via System 7 running on my mac using Mini vMac, and Noodle by 100rabbits for Varvara. Whenever I need to do something larger or just general photo editing, I use Photopea.
In the blue moon that I decide to work on music, I use Ableton Live. I also use it for general audio editing, however occasionally I will use Audacity.
For web browsing I mostly use Firefox or some fork of it. Recently I've been using Librewolf on my Mac and my Optiplex. On my raspberry pi I use Dillo and Netsurf. They're both really good smol web browsers that don't eat up too much cpu. I also occasionally will use Lynx. I also use toot on all my devices.