My Personal Software Stack - Fall 2024 Edition

It’s interesting to look at how one’s software usage changes over time. Some people use the same tools for years or even decades. Some people change productivity tools every six months. While I do have a /uses page that lists the tools I use to accomplish work and have fun on the computer I figured it would be nice to take a snapshot of the software tools I am using at a particular point in time.

Note that these are tools I use for my own personal projects and productivity, not ones that I use exclusively for my day job (eg Jira).

Software

• Primary Text Editor: Zed
  • Alternatives: Neovim, VS Code
• Terminal: Alacritty - Hoping to switch to Ghostty soon
• Launcher/Everything App: Raycast
• Passwords: 1Password
• OTP/2FA: Aegis
• Personal Notes: Obsidian
  • Plus Obsidian Sync and Obsidian Publish
• Shared Notes: Google Keep
• Todo: TickTick
• Weather: Hello Weather
• Email, Calendar: Google
  • I primarily use the webapp for both, but I also use the Itsycal menu bar app
• Docs: Google Docs
• Spreadsheets: Google Sheets
• Podcasts: AntennaPod
• AI Tools: Ollama, BoltAI
• Screenshots: Cleanshot X
• MacOS Window Management: Rectangle
• API Tool: RapidAPI, httpie

Software Services

• Cloud File & Photo Storage: Google Drive, Dropbox
  • Maestral open source Dropbox client
• VPN: Subscribed to PIA but I rarely if ever use it. Will drop once subscription ends.
  • Actively working on setting up Tailscale for a private VPN
• Git Hosting: GitHub
• Search: Google but I am also currently experimenting with Kagi
• AI: ChatGPT (paid account for work, I use the free version personally), Gemini
• Family Chat: WhatsApp

Hardware

• Macbook Air 13” M2/24GB/512GB
• Dell U2720Q (27” 4K monitor)
• HHKB Professional Hybrid Type-S
• Apple Magic Trackpad
• Logitech MX Master 3S
• Google Pixel 6 Pro
• Sony WH1000XM3 Headphones

Other Hardware

• I have a desktop PC that I build in December 2020 that I only use for playing games.
  • AMD Ryzen 5, Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti, 32GB RAM
• Steam Deck (OLED 1TB)
• Nintendo Switch
• A mountain of mechanical keyboards, but mostly untouched since I got my HHKB.