My dear Linux

 

A lot of people actually make fun of me for using Linux, since "it's too much work" or "things don't work". I love Linux, and I would never switch back. I am definitely a big Linux fan, and other fans should also address, as I am now, that sometimes it’s true that not everything works. Usually, those things are pretty specific, and there's an alternative to almost any kind of app or service. I myself prefer using certain services at times; also, Windows app compatibility isn't missing either.
However, this is the story between Linux and me: my journey and why I love it.
I first installed Linux when I was about 16 years old (probably 2016-2017). I had a quite old and almost unusable notebook in my room, and I decided to try Linux on it.
I remember choosing between Ubuntu and Linux Mint, unfamiliar with the rolling release model. In the end, I chose Linux Mint because it was the most up-to-date.
Once I installed the OS, I was amazed at how a sluggish and nearly unusable notebook became fast and responsive.
Since then, I realized how powerful Linux can be. On the other hand, I rarely tinkered with it while I kept using my main machine, a MacBook Air (yes, with MacOS).
When I was 16, I was very intrigued by cybersecurity: I used to watch some videos and read some articles, and this slowly convinced me to try some cybersecurity-oriented distros like Parrot OS and the famous Kali Linux, even though it didn't really work, because my notebook was indeed not powerful at all.
Anyway, since my early experiments with Linux, I fell in love with how customizable the entire OS can be. My first ever configuration was a ghost theme on KDE Plasma, which I achieved by following this tutorial. It still is quite cool, even after all those years!  
Growing up, I kept my passion for computers, which led me to apply to computer engineering at the university. During the Computer Science course, the Professor strongly advised us to install Linux on our computers or to use a virtual machine. It was 2019, and I still had my MacBook Air, so I decided to start from where I had left off: I installed Kali Linux again.
This was really the first time I had to deal with Linux on a daily basis (horrible distro choice), and I still remember I had such a hard time setting up my Wi-Fi.
Learning some Linux things made me install Arch Linux, and, funnily enough, despite being 2020, I decided to customize KDE Plasma in the same way I did all those years ago, following the same tutorial.
As soon as I got a new computer (a Lenovo Ideapad 5), I decided to install Linux on it. I had some problems at first, but the only real distro that worked flawlessly was KDE Neon.
I could finally use my laptop, and I had Linux on it. And I followed this tutorial to customize my Desktop.
Later on, I started trying several distros on my computer, so I entered the famous distro-hopping phase: I tried out OpenSUSE, Debian, Manjaro, Fedora, MX Linux,Void Linux, and a few more, even for very short periods.
The endgame was Gentoo Linux.
Considering that I switched degrees, that I have never really learned programming, and also that I value my time, I openly admit that I am not a Linux expert, but, at the end of the day, I get most of the things I want done.
Surely enough, I am quite curious (not enough to get lost in deep rabbit holes), which helped me learn a lot and improve as well.
Gentoo is not an easy distro, but it's not as complicated as many say. Anyway, I felt at home with Gentoo (despite some first issues), so I kept it on my laptop as the main distro. I had a secondary partition where I kept experimenting with other distros, like NixOS.
This was the time when I started getting accustomed to window managers. I was particularly fascinated by Hyprland on Arch Linux.
I recall that the first time I installed Hyprland, it was quite a mess: laggy, the fonts weren't working, and several other issues...
But then I tried again after some months, and it was greatly improved!
Only in the last year (2024) I started getting into window-manager customization: I tried Hyprland on Arch, Void Linux, and NixOS. I also tried dwm (a little, really) and i3 on Gentoo.
Recently, after I deleted Gentoo on my main partition to do a full Void Linux installation, I reinstalled Gentoo on the whole memory again, and I chose Sway.
However, I currently have a secondary partition with NixOS.
As it's pretty much understandable, I really stick with Linux not only for the performance improvements, but especially because I love customizing things and making them my own.
I could share some of my past and newer configurations as well.
My past configurations are:
- Violet flowers i3 on Gentoo Linux
- Skyscrapers Hyprland on Arch Linux
Currently, I am working on a Rei Ayanami configuration on Sway (on my Gentoo partition). And I am also planning something new based on vaporwave aesthetic and pixel art with bright colours.
SIDE NOTE ON  DOTFILES:
While I do have my past configuration files saved on GitHub, I won’t be sharing some of them, mostly because they're not exactly complete. They were also never meant to be shown to the public, but rather to make it easier for me to copy an older configuration.

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