Here’s my software development toolkit.
Zen Browser
I’ve used these browsers roughly in this order.
- Lynx
- Netscape Navigator
- Internet Explorer
- Firefox
- Opera
- Links
- Vivaldi
- Google Chrome
- Arc
- Brave Browser
- Back to Firefox
- And onward to Zen
I use Zen because it’s stable, fast, and doesn’t block ad blockers.
I use a few browser extensions to simplify my life.
- RSS Reader Extension (by Inoreader): I ♥️ RSS. We need more Aaron Swartz and less Jeff Bezos.
- Bitwarden — Free Password Manager: I use Bitwarden for password management.
- uBlock Origin: May your life be free of ads, and devoid of popups.
Experimenting
- Bridgy — I’m working on joining the indy web.
macOS
I use macOS as my primary computing platform.
I use it for the following reasons.
- It works more often than Microsoft Windows or Linux—based computers.
- It’s built to last.
- It’s Unix under the hood.
- The user interface is consistent and pleasing to the eye.
- It’s simple and productive.
Alfred
I use Alfred and shell scripts to automate repetitive tasks.
I used Automator for a while, but Alfred is superior.
I use it for the following reasons.
- It’s user friendly
- It’s incredibly flexible.
- It works like Spotlight but with a lot more options.
- Clicks steal ticks.
Ghostty
I use Ghostty instead of the default macOS terminal. I like that it’s built for speed and simplicity.
Command Line
I live on the command line.
A couple shell enhancement tools.
- starship — Primary use, themes
- zsh-autocomplete-plugin — Auto—completion is a gift from the gods
I’m learning nushell.
Indispensible CLI Programs
You’ll pry these from my cold dead meat sticks.
- find — Where did I put that file again?
- grep — Unlock the mysteries of file contents
- jq — Json parsing FTW
- shellcheck — A clean shell script is a happy shell script
- xargs — Construct argument lists and invoke a utility
- Copilot for CLI — I’m not a robot, but I can write like one
- sed — Regex all the things
- zoxide — cd++
- eza — ls++
- …and hundreds more
My Custom Tools
I build tools to automate my workflows.
- Emoji Search Tool — Finding the perfect emoji shouldn’t be hard. This tool makes it easy.
If you have any great tools to share, please drop a comment below!