Ahwx' Linkbase

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Cool MacOS stuff ​

Package managers ​

  • brew.sh
  • MacPorts (also allows usage of some X11 programs and Linux exclusives such as dmenu.)

TouchID as sudo password: ​

sh
doas nvim /etc/pam.d/sudo

And now add as the first non-comment line:

auth sufficient pam_tid.so

Remapping keys (Karabiner) ​

I use Karabiner to do some key remapping such as:

  • fn -> control & control -> fn
  • option (alt) -> command (meta) & command (meta) -> option (alt)
  • control + h, j, k, l -> arrow- left, down, up, right

I do this since I don't like the key layout on MacBooks by default. Karabiner allows me to remap keys on the MacBook's keyboard but not on my mechanical board. I love this since my mechanical board has the correct layout by default.

Keyboard shortcuts (skhd) ​

skhd is a simple hotkey daemon; a tool that allows you to map key combinations to shell commands.

Window management (Yabai) ​

Yabai is an amazing window management tool. Yabai is basically a tiling window manager, and although it has some delays etc, it works without any issues. It's made by the same person that made skhd, and thus it works pretty good together with skhd.

Bar-like (Sketchybar) ​

I use Sketchybar to display workspaces, volume, battery, GitHub notifications, WiFi network and IP address, updates, date and time.

Sketchybar has a very nice intergration with skhd and yabai.

Mounting other file systems than default MacOS ones ​

Some commands: ​

Improve key repeat:

sh
defaults write NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat -int 1
defaults write NSGlobalDomain InitialKeyRepeat -int 14

Articles I found ​

Awesome-productivity-likes ​

I use a MacBook Pro 14" with the following specs (displayed in the terminal using neofetch)

sh
                    'c.          ahwx@Pawou.redacted.internal.domain
                 ,xNMM.          ---------------------------
               .OMMMMo           OS: macOS 13.5.2 22G91 arm64
               OMMM0,            Host: Mac14,9
     .;loddo:' loolloddol;.      Kernel: 22.6.0
   cKMMMMMMMMMMNWMMMMMMMMMM0:    Uptime: 17 days, 19 hours, 55 mins
 .KMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMWd.    Packages: 320 (port), 312 (brew)
 XMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMX.      Shell: fish 3.6.1
;MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM:       Resolution: 3440x1440, 1920x1080
:MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM:       DE: Aqua
.MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMX.      WM: yabai
 kMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMWd.    Terminal: tmux
 .XMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMk   CPU: Apple M2 Pro
  .XMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMK.   GPU: Apple M2 Pro
    kMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMd     Memory: 2757MiB / 16384MiB
     ;KMMMMMMMWXXWMMMMMMMk.
       .cooc,.    .,coo:.

I usually have it docked to my 34" 3440x1440 ultrawide monitor with built in USB hub (4x type-A 3.0_, which has a 1TB HDD for backups, my keyboard and a USB cable to another (my monitor stand's built in) USB hub (also 4x 3.0 type-A). This hub has a temperature/humidity sensor for my room built with an Arduino, my mouse USB dongle and my microphone USB-C cable. The laptop also has a HDMI 2.1 port which I use for a 24" Fujitsu 1920x1080 monitor. Here is a diagram:

Laptop USB-C port

  • Philips monitor hub/audio/video/power
    • Keyboard: Varmilo VA87M Retro Keys
    • Keyboard: Keychron K3 (BT/cable)
    • Harddrive: 1TB Apple-branded HGST HDD
    • USB Hub in monitor stand: ARCTIC Z3 Pro
      • Mouse dongel: Logitech G Pro X Superlight
      • Arduino Uno with LCD as temp/hum sensor and display (throws the data back in JSON over serial for Home Assistant in the future)
      • Microphone: Blue Microphones Yeti with a USB-C -> mini-USB Laptop HDMI port
  • 24" Fujitsu 1920x1080 normalwide monitor

The laptop is barely recognisable as a MacBook, as I replaced the MacOS status bar with SketchyBar, replaced the default window manager with yabai and added trust keyboard shortcuts with skhd.