Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
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I used to code on Linux, but for the past 4 years I've been coding on WSL2. Now, I’m going back to true Linux: NixOS. I've never used NixOS, but I've heard great things about it and it seems super interesting so figured I'd give it a shot.
In this video, I'm putting together a Dual PC setup: one with NixOS for coding and the other with Windows (i know i know, but i need it for content and gaming), and I'll be using a capture card to get the NixOS video feed over to my content machine. Then, I get NixOS installed and configured with the following (parenthesis list the lang each tool is written in):
OS: NixOS (Nix)
WM: Hyprland (C++)
Bar: Waybar (written in C++). I'll try out here soon hyprpanel, but it's written in TS and I guess it’s bloated because there are reports of freezing and lagging... but it sure is pretty.
Launcher: Rofi-wayland (C)
Terminal: foot (C). I like alacritty and have heard good things about wezterm, plus they’re written in Rust and I’m obviously a rust fanboy now… but I have no GPU on this machine so can’t even use their GPU acceleration. But I'll try out wezterm at some point.
Fetch: Nitch (C). Because I like the way it looks - gonna write my own fetcher in Rust though, just for fun.
Lock: Hyprlock (C++)
Dock: nwg-dock-hyprland (Python)
File Manager: Yazi (Rust) and Thunar (C). One is terminal, one is GUI, respectively.
Shell: zsh (C) with starship (Rust).
Text Editor: Base Neovim (Lua). Just base because I’m not diving into it just yet. When I do, I’ll do just as much research as I’ve done for this video - a lot. But I’ve seen things about nixCats, nvchad, nixvim… don’t know the difference but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
IDE: VS Code & JetBrains. I'll do this setup in the next video, plus everything setup for Java dev, Rust dev, and whatever else I need to setup. I'd like to get Neovim to a spot where it can replace these, but I'll need a lot of plugins to make it as convenient as my typical IDEs, or close to it.
PDF Reader: Zathura (C). Supports vim keybinds.
TTY: no DM, but setup TTY to auto-start Hyprland on login. But maybe SDDM if I want to later.
Scratchpad: pyprland (Python)
Animated Wallpapers: swww (Rust)
Browser: Firefox. I'll look into Ladybird and maybe Zen. Idk if it really matters or if I really care.
Discord-Client: vesktop (JS/Electron, oof.)
Clipboard Tools: cliphist for history (Go) and wl-clipboard for basic clipboard operations (C)
Screenshots: grimblast (Bash)
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0:00 i'm back coding on Linux
0:25 Dual PC Hardware Setup
4:14 stuff you probably don't care about
4:58 Download NixOS ISO
5:30 Install base NixOS
6:35 NixOS Hyprland + custom configuration
22:38 shutting down
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Don't know why you'd want to follow me on other socials. I don't even post. But here you go.
🐱🚀 GitHub: github.com/forrestknight
🐦 Twitter: twitter.com/forrestpknight
💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/forrestpknight
📸 Instagram: instagram.com/forrestpknight
Shop Micro Center’s Winter Savings Event: https://micro.center/3919b3
I used to code on Linux, but for the past 4 years I've been coding on WSL2. Now, I’m going back to true Linux: NixOS. I've never used NixOS, but I've heard great things about it and it seems super interesting so figured I'd give it a shot.
In this video, I'm putting together a Dual PC setup: one with NixOS for coding and the other with Windows (i know i know, but i need it for content and gaming), and I'll be using a capture card to get the NixOS video feed over to my content machine. Then, I get NixOS installed and configured with the following (parenthesis list the lang each tool is written in):
OS: NixOS (Nix)
WM: Hyprland (C++)
Bar: Waybar (written in C++). I'll try out here soon hyprpanel, but it's written in TS and I guess it’s bloated because there are reports of freezing and lagging... but it sure is pretty.
Launcher: Rofi-wayland (C)
Terminal: foot (C). I like alacritty and have heard good things about wezterm, plus they’re written in Rust and I’m obviously a rust fanboy now… but I have no GPU on this machine so can’t even use their GPU acceleration. But I'll try out wezterm at some point.
Fetch: Nitch (C). Because I like the way it looks - gonna write my own fetcher in Rust though, just for fun.
Lock: Hyprlock (C++)
Dock: nwg-dock-hyprland (Python)
File Manager: Yazi (Rust) and Thunar (C). One is terminal, one is GUI, respectively.
Shell: zsh (C) with starship (Rust).
Text Editor: Base Neovim (Lua). Just base because I’m not diving into it just yet. When I do, I’ll do just as much research as I’ve done for this video - a lot. But I’ve seen things about nixCats, nvchad, nixvim… don’t know the difference but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
IDE: VS Code & JetBrains. I'll do this setup in the next video, plus everything setup for Java dev, Rust dev, and whatever else I need to setup. I'd like to get Neovim to a spot where it can replace these, but I'll need a lot of plugins to make it as convenient as my typical IDEs, or close to it.
PDF Reader: Zathura (C). Supports vim keybinds.
TTY: no DM, but setup TTY to auto-start Hyprland on login. But maybe SDDM if I want to later.
Scratchpad: pyprland (Python)
Animated Wallpapers: swww (Rust)
Browser: Firefox. I'll look into Ladybird and maybe Zen. Idk if it really matters or if I really care.
Discord-Client: vesktop (JS/Electron, oof.)
Clipboard Tools: cliphist for history (Go) and wl-clipboard for basic clipboard operations (C)
Screenshots: grimblast (Bash)
Shop the Minisforum MS-A1 Mini PC: https://micro.center/8d33f0
Shop Micro Center’s Selection of Qualcomm Microsoft Surfaces: https://micro.center/f7cf88
Sign-Up for Early Access to Micro Center Santa Clara: https://micro.center/80eccd
0:00 i'm back coding on Linux
0:25 Dual PC Hardware Setup
4:14 stuff you probably don't care about
4:58 Download NixOS ISO
5:30 Install base NixOS
6:35 NixOS Hyprland + custom configuration
22:38 shutting down
If you're a developer, sign up to my free newsletter Dev Notes 👉 devnotesdaily.com
If you're a student, checkout my Notion template Studious: notionstudent.com
Don't know why you'd want to follow me on other socials. I don't even post. But here you go.
🐱🚀 GitHub: github.com/forrestknight
🐦 Twitter: twitter.com/forrestpknight
💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/forrestpknight
📸 Instagram: instagram.com/forrestpknight
