What Chris Uses

(Last updated Feb 4, 2023)

A common question a lot of developers get about almost anything they are doing is "what are you using?". In that spirit, here is a list of things I am currently using.

Hardware

• 2021 Apple MacBookPro with M1 Max chip. 64 GB RAM, 1 TB Drive
• Apple Studio Display monitor
• Kinesis Advantage2 LF ergonomic keyboard
• Ploopy Classic Trackball
• Apple iPhone 13

I have been an Apple user for a very long time. Whenever it is time for me to get a new computer I inevitably ask myself if I should switch (usually to one running Linux). Then I remember what a huge pain in the ass it would be to go back to Linux, even though it's suport for Docker is so great.

So I stay in the Apple ecosystem. I still think the hardware is very nice. My Studio Display has been the best monitor I have ever owned. Great picture quality, really good sound from it and the built-in web cam is perfectly suited to the regular video meetings I have to do. For the most part, I stick to stable versions of everything I use and it all literally just works. Sorry h8rs, I like Apple's stuff.

The keyboard and trackball are all part of my plan to stay ahead of any RSI problems. So far, so good, although it has wrecked my ability to get any real work done on the laptop when I travel.

Software

This is for my day-to-day programming work

• PhpStorm as my day-to-day IDE
• Homebrew to manage OS-level dependencies
• Warp as my terminal
• Alfred as my launcher/helper
• Safari as my web browser
• zsh with Oh My Zsh but I don't leverage it enough.
• Joplin to take notes for my Zettelkasten system

Okay, first the elephant in the room: yes, I did work for Mozilla for almost 5 years. I still use Firefox but only for Facebook, and Google Chrome when a team of garbage developers have built a garbage web application that only works in it.

Given how much I use my phone I decided it was easier to just use Safari on the laptop as well so I can easily access sites on both devices. Firefox on iOS is just a shiny wrapper around mobile Safari, not worth the effort IMHO.

I also still use NeoVim for editing text files that aren't PHP files. I got lazy and used to how PhpStorm gave me an easy way to do just about everything I need.

Evaluating

• Nix to replace Homebrew
• Fish to replace zsh
• Go back and again use Mitchell Hashimoto's development environment
• Asahi Linux as a potential replacement OS. I have an older MacBook kicking around I should try it out on