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diff --git a/content/blog/2022-06-16-terminal-lifestyle.md b/content/blog/2022-06-16-terminal-lifestyle.md index 3935c7b..d8c7b75 100644 --- a/content/blog/2022-06-16-terminal-lifestyle.md +++ b/content/blog/2022-06-16-terminal-lifestyle.md @@ -7,165 +7,155 @@ draft = false # Text-Based Simplicity -I\'ve detailed my views on web-based minimalism and related topics in -other posts throughout the years; e.g., JavaScript/CSS bloat slowing -down websites that are essentially a text document. However, I have -never really expanded beyond talking about the web and describing how I -focus on minimizing distractions in other digital environments. - -This post is going to set the baseline for how I *try* to live my -digital life. It does not necessarily get into my physical life, which -is often harder to control and contain all the noise in our modern -world. - -While there are new things to do every day in our digital world, I find -that keeping a core set of values and interests can ground you and keep -you mindful of *why* you are participating in the digital world. For -example, if - at your core - you have no interest in what strangers -think about random topics, it would be unwise to start participating in -social media. However, I am someone who has been dragged in by effective -advertising to participate in communities that I realize I do not care -for. - -I won\'t dive much further into explaining the philosophy of all this, -but I will link a few helpful articles that may pique your interest if -you\'re in search of more meaningful experiences: - -- [Mindfulness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness) -- [Minimalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism) -- [Stoicism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism) +I've detailed my views on web-based minimalism and related topics in other +posts throughout the years; e.g., JavaScript/CSS bloat slowing down websites +that are essentially a text document. However, I have never really expanded +beyond talking about the web and describing how I focus on minimizing +distractions in other digital environments. + +This post is going to set the baseline for how I *try* to live my digital life. +It does not necessarily get into my physical life, which is often harder to +control and contain all the noise in our modern world. + +While there are new things to do every day in our digital world, I find that +keeping a core set of values and interests can ground you and keep you mindful +of *why* you are participating in the digital world. For example, if - at your +core - you have no interest in what strangers think about random topics, it +would be unwise to start participating in social media. However, I am someone +who has been dragged in by effective advertising to participate in communities +that I realize I do not care for. + +I won't dive much further into explaining the philosophy of all this, but I +will link a few helpful articles that may pique your interest if you're in +search of more meaningful experiences: + +- [Mindfulness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness) +- [Minimalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism) +- [Stoicism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism) # Living Life in the Terminal -My personal approach to reducing digital distractions and increasing my -focus on the task at hand is to use a terminal for as much as I possibly -can. +My personal approach to reducing digital distractions and increasing my focus on +the task at hand is to use a terminal for as much as I possibly can. -Most days, this means that I have a few tabs open constantly in my -terminal: +Most days, this means that I have a few tabs open constantly in my terminal: -1. A web browser -2. A chat client -3. An email client -4. An RSS feed reader -5. A local shell for navigating my computer\'s files -6. A remote shell for managing servers and other machines +1. A web browser +2. A chat client +3. An email client +4. An RSS feed reader +5. A local shell for navigating my computer's files +6. A remote shell for managing servers and other machines -Beyond this, I rarely open other tabs or GUI applications, unless -absolutely necessary. If you look, you may be surprised what can be -accomplished in the terminal. +Beyond this, I rarely open other tabs or GUI applications, unless absolutely +necessary. If you look, you may be surprised what can be accomplished in the +terminal. -For example, I have moved my music and entertainment downloads to the -terminal, along with my device VPN connections. I am exploring options -for moving my RSS subscriptions to something like -[Newsboat](https://newsboat.org/), so that I can read my daily articles -without all the fuss. +For example, I have moved my music and entertainment downloads to the terminal, +along with my device VPN connections. I am exploring options for moving my RSS +subscriptions to something like [Newsboat](https://newsboat.org/), so that I can +read my daily articles without all the fuss. -Now that we have some examples out of the way, let\'s dive into the -specifics. +Now that we have some examples out of the way, let's dive into the specifics. ## Browsing the Web -I\'m going to start off with a hard topic for those who prefer to live -in the terminal: web browsing. This task is made hard mostly by websites -and web apps that require JavaScript to run. The other difficult part is -that if you\'re using a text-based browser, that means images won\'t -load (hopefully that\'s obvious). +I'm going to start off with a hard topic for those who prefer to live in the +terminal: web browsing. This task is made hard mostly by websites and web apps +that require JavaScript to run. The other difficult part is that if you're +using a text-based browser, that means images won't load (hopefully that's +obvious). -I am using [Lynx](https://lynx.invisible-island.net), a text-based -browser that runs quickly and easily in the terminal. Lynx allows me to -browser most websites by simply typing `g` and then typing in -the URL I want. +I am using [Lynx](https://lynx.invisible-island.net), a text-based browser that +runs quickly and easily in the terminal. Lynx allows me to browser most websites +by simply typing `g` and then typing in the URL I want.  If you need a search engine while in Lynx, I recommend [DuckDuckGo -(Lite)](https://lite.duckduckgo.com/lite/), which allows you to search -the web using their text-only interface. +(Lite)](https://lite.duckduckgo.com/lite/), which allows you to search the web +using their text-only interface.  -Eventually, you will run into websites that don\'t work (or are just too -ugly and messy) in a text-only mode, and you\'ll be forced to switch -over to a GUI browser to look at that site. Personally, I don\'t mind -this as it doesn\'t happen as often as I thought it would. +Eventually, you will run into websites that don't work (or are just too ugly +and messy) in a text-only mode, and you'll be forced to switch over to a GUI +browser to look at that site. Personally, I don't mind this as it doesn't +happen as often as I thought it would. -The only time I need to do this is when I want to browse an -image/video-focused webpage or if I need to log in to a site, and it -doesn\'t support a text-only login page. For example, I am able to -easily log in to [Sourcehut](https://sr.ht) in lynx. +The only time I need to do this is when I want to browse an image/video-focused +webpage or if I need to log in to a site, and it doesn't support a text-only +login page. For example, I am able to easily log in to +[Sourcehut](https://sr.ht) in lynx. ## Chatting with Friends -After web browsing activities, my main form of terminal communication is -Matrix. I use the [gomuks](https://docs.mau.fi/gomuks/) client -currently. +After web browsing activities, my main form of terminal communication is Matrix. +I use the [gomuks](https://docs.mau.fi/gomuks/) client currently. -This was incredibly easy to install on macOS (but I will need to see if -it\'ll be just as easy on Linux when my new laptop arrives): +This was incredibly easy to install on macOS (but I will need to see if it'll +be just as easy on Linux when my new laptop arrives): ```sh brew install gomuks ``` -Once you launch gomuks, it will sync and require your username and -password to login. After doing so, the only problem I ran into was -verifying my gomuks client so that I could participate in rooms with -E2EE. +Once you launch gomuks, it will sync and require your username and password to +login. After doing so, the only problem I ran into was verifying my gomuks +client so that I could participate in rooms with E2EE. -Finally, I was able to verify the session by opening the Element desktop -app (I assume you can do this in the browser and mobile app too, but -I\'m not sure) and manually verifying myself with this process: +Finally, I was able to verify the session by opening the Element desktop app (I +assume you can do this in the browser and mobile app too, but I'm not sure) and +manually verifying myself with this process: -1. Open the Element desktop app -2. Open a room I was a member of -3. Open the `Room Info` pane -4. Open the `People` menu and search for myself -5. Click on my profile name -6. Click on the session link under the `Security` section - and follow the prompts to manually verify the session +1. Open the Element desktop app +2. Open a room I was a member of +3. Open the `Room Info` pane +4. Open the `People` menu and search for myself +5. Click on my profile name +6. Click on the session link under the `Security` section and follow the prompts + to manually verify the session -Overall, I like gomuks and am able to enjoy all the features I was using -in Element. The only hiccup I have occurred is manually downloading -images to view them, which can be annoying. +Overall, I like gomuks and am able to enjoy all the features I was using in +Element. The only hiccup I have occurred is manually downloading images to view +them, which can be annoying.  ## Email -Moving email to the terminal has been the hardest of the tasks for me. -Unlike web browsing, where I can simply decide to not look at a website -that does not work in the terminal, I cannot simply ignore emails sent -to me. +Moving email to the terminal has been the hardest of the tasks for me. Unlike +web browsing, where I can simply decide to not look at a website that does not +work in the terminal, I cannot simply ignore emails sent to me. Personally, I am experimenting with [neomutt](https://neomutt.org/) as a potential email client. -However, this requires a **TON\*** of configuration and tweaking to get -right. Even when I was able to set up neomutt, configure my email -account, and customize a few personal preferences, a lot of emails still -do not display correctly (mostly due to HTML and images). +However, this requires a **TON** of configuration and tweaking to get right. +Even when I was able to set up neomutt, configure my email account, and +customize a few personal preferences, a lot of emails still do not display +correctly (mostly due to HTML and images). -I won\'t get into the details of configuring `neomutt`; I -mostly followed this blog post: [Email in the Terminal: Configuring +I won't get into the details of configuring `neomutt`; I mostly followed this +blog post: [Email in the Terminal: Configuring Neomutt](https://gideonwolfe.com/posts/workflow/neomutt/intro/). -Finally, I have yet to figure out how to connect my GPG keys to -`neomutt`, but that\'s a problem for another day. +Finally, I have yet to figure out how to connect my GPG keys to `neomutt`, but +that's a problem for another day. ## RSS Feed Reader -I have just started using [Newsboat](https://newsboat.org/) to read -articles in my terminal and have found quick success with it. +I have just started using [Newsboat](https://newsboat.org/) to read articles in +my terminal and have found quick success with it. -I\'ll show you a quick screenshot first: +I'll show you a quick screenshot first:  -The configuration was super easy for this app; I simply installed the -app, created a file for URLs, and imported my OPML subscriptions that I -had exported out of my old feed reader: +The configuration was super easy for this app; I simply installed the app, +created a file for URLs, and imported my OPML subscriptions that I had exported +out of my old feed reader: ```sh brew install newsboat @@ -181,13 +171,12 @@ newsboat -i=my_subscriptions.opml ## Writing & Programming -Unfortunately, the weak link in my terminal-based environment right now -is my grasp of the possibilities of editing files within a shell. +Unfortunately, the weak link in my terminal-based environment right now is my +grasp of the possibilities of editing files within a shell. -I am used to the easy extensions found in VSCodium and Kate, so I am -slowly learning how to mold the default editing tools to my needs. -Currently, this means I am using `nano` with the following -configuration: +I am used to the easy extensions found in VSCodium and Kate, so I am slowly +learning how to mold the default editing tools to my needs. Currently, this +means I am using `nano` with the following configuration: ``` config set breaklonglines @@ -199,18 +188,16 @@ set fill 80 ``` This configuration allows nano to automatically hard-wrap lines at 80 -characters, autoindent the wrapped lines (if the previous line was -indented), use 2 spaces per tab, and display line numbers within each -file I open. - -I am currently looking to see if `vim` or `emacs` -would be more useful for my current needs, but I\'m not in any rush, so -I don\'t expect to find an answer anytime soon. - -With my current life demands, I am not programming at the moment and -have not explored the best terminal set-up for programming. However, I -have seen many peers find success configuring `vim` and -`emacs`, so that\'s where I will start when I pick my -projects back up. +characters, autoindent the wrapped lines (if the previous line was indented), +use 2 spaces per tab, and display line numbers within each file I open. + +I am currently looking to see if `vim` or `emacs` would be more useful for my +current needs, but I'm not in any rush, so I don't expect to find an answer +anytime soon. + +With my current life demands, I am not programming at the moment and have not +explored the best terminal set-up for programming. However, I have seen many +peers find success configuring `vim` and `emacs`, so that's where I will start +when I pick my projects back up.  |