Documenting my system as I go on: https://joespano.xyz

The source is xbps-query -m, which shows packages I explicitly installed rather than every dependency on the system. The point is not to document every library. The point is to remember why the main pieces are here.

Base system

• base-system — Void base system
• base-devel — compiler, make, headers, and normal build tools
• void-docs — local Void documentation
• xtools — Void package/repository helper tools
• opendoas — simple privilege escalation

This is the core of the machine. Void stays small enough that the manually installed package list is still understandable.

Desktop

• xorg-minimal — minimal X11 system
• xinit — start X from the console
• spectrwm — window manager
• st — terminal
• dmenu — launcher
• slock — screen locker
• xwallpaper — wallpaper
• xrandr — display layout
• xsetroot — root window/status text utility
• font-iosevka — main terminal/programming font

The desktop is intentionally plain: X11, spectrwm, st, and dmenu. No desktop environment.

Terminal workflow

• bash — current shell
• abduco — session attachment
• dvtm — terminal tiling
• nnn — file manager
• fzf — fuzzy selection
• fd — file search
• ripgrep — text search
• tree — quick directory views
• xclip — clipboard bridge

This is the part of the system that should get faster over time. The goal is to move around files, search text, edit notes, and work in the terminal without building a large custom framework.

Editing and development

• vis — primary editor
• git — version control
• hugo — static site generator
• curl — HTTP testing and downloads
• wget — downloads
• jq — JSON processing
• groff — formatting and manpage-related work
• man-pages-devel — development manpages

This site is written in Markdown, edited locally, committed with Git, built with Hugo, and deployed to Codeberg Pages.

Browsing

• firefox — general web browser
• qutebrowser — keyboard-driven browser

Firefox is still useful for compatibility. Qutebrowser fits the keyboard-driven direction better and should become more important as the configuration settles.

Reading, RSS, and communication

• newsboat — RSS reader
• weechat — IRC
• zathura — document reader
• zathura-pdf-mupdf — PDF backend
• calibre — ebook management

RSS is part of the publishing loop for this site. Posts and project pages are available through feeds and can be read from Newsboat.

Media and images

• mpv — media player
• ffmpeg — audio/video conversion
• nsxiv — image viewer
• ImageMagick — image manipulation
• maim — screenshots
• slop — region selection for screenshots

This covers basic media handling without pulling in a heavy desktop stack.

Passwords and keys

• pass — password store
• gnupg2 — GPG backend for pass
• openssh — SSH keys and remote Git access

The website repo uses SSH to push to Codeberg.

Hardware and graphics

• intel-video-accel — Intel video acceleration support
• mesa-dri — Mesa DRI drivers
• mesa-vulkan-intel — Intel Vulkan support
• libva-utils — VA-API testing tools
• smartmontools — disk health

These packages support the T480 hardware and give me tools to inspect whether graphics/video acceleration and storage health are working.

Printing and documents

• cups
• cups-browsed
• cups-filters
• avahi
• nss-mdns
• libreoffice

This is the practical document/printing stack. It exists because a daily-driver laptop still needs to print, open forms, and deal with ordinary documents.

CAC and smart card tools

• opensc
• opensc-pkcs11
• pcsc-ccid
• pcsc-tools
• pcsclite

These are for smart card/CAC-related workflows.

System utilities

• btop — system monitor
• cronie — cron daemon
• rsync — file sync and backup tool
• unzip — archive extraction
• setxkbmap — keyboard layout
• dbus — desktop/system messaging needed by some programs

These are small pieces that make the system practical.

Things to review later

• Should I switch to tmux or stick with what I'm working with now

Rebuild note

A future version of this note should turn into a small package manifest and rebuild script.

For now, this page is just a record of what is installed and why.

I got Asus A15 rn but due to some issues my family member gotta take that one with them , so i got no other choice but to buy a new laptop under a fix budget , around 420$ ig , anyhow if there is any good laptop , i've been doing some research and got these laptop Thinkpad and all , but are they worth buying in 2026?
please lmk i dont have much time left

edit:-
i thought of buying lenovo ThinkPad T490

Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 Pro

Ram: 8GB RAM

Storage: 256GB SSD

Worth it?

I just got a new one (as in title T14s gen6 on AMD platform) with optional upgraded 2.8K OLED screen. Already regretting the choice of screen, should've kept it stock low resolution IPS, but now that I am here -- looking for any help to try and fix it.

The symptom: screen will periodically go into "seizure" where it flickers for a few seconds. Flickers as in the entire screen will go black for a fraction of a second then go back to normal.

I am on the most recent updates of Fedora 44, so fairly fresh amd-gpu-firmware and kernel (7.0.14).

What I've tried so far:

• fwupd -- some minor updates were done, but no change in screen behavior
• resetting bios settings and updating the bios -- no change
• downgrading amd-gpu-firmware and booting with the oldest available kernel (6.19) -- no change
• installing even older kernel from koji builds (f42 kernel, 6.16) -- this one had no flickering, but the wifi/bt is broken (the mt7925e chip is too new and supported version of mt7xxx-firmware does not work with 6.16 kernel)
• Also tried all the google'd options of amdgpu cmdline params -- no effect there, the flickering persists regardless

Any ideas what else I should try or what else I can do there? Any point in raising it to Lenovo support (the laptop comes with Windows only, it shows as Fedora 42 certified, but it is impossible for this revision due to the soldered on mediatek chip, not m.2 card)

Anyone running Linux can tell me what battery life they're getting on their AMD t14 gen 2? Please list your Cpu, distro and battery size. I'm looking to buy a Gen 2 with a Ryzen 7 pro 5850U

disclaimer: i am not particularly tech-savvy i dont know a lot neither about linux nor laptop tinkering so please bear with me in your explanations and try to put it in the most crayon-eating terms possible

hey everyone,

i recently brought my old Thinkpad T420 back to life with ubuntu and now i am thinking about upgrading this thing a bit maybe getting a new cpu (i currently have core i5-2520m) but i think the main problem is probably the gpu so i read a bit about egpu's and now i have several questions:

1. is it difficult to get the driver's for the egpu going on linux? knowing that some programs just dont work the same on linux like they do on windows i just wanna make sure that i dont end up wasting money on hardware that i can't use

2.which egpu would you recommend? which are compatible with the the T420? i know that the whole thing works via express card docking station but are there certain egpu's which aren't compatible with the whole express card docking?

3.should i stick to intel? given that my cpu is intel and my current gpu(Graphics 3000) is also intel or does this not matter?

4. do i need anything else or just the express card docking station and the egpu?

5. do you think i should upgrade my cpu first and then think about getting egpu?

This computer was handed down to me on Ubuntu 22.10 . I want to update it, but I don’t know how, and I only really want it to install a couple programs. Some forums said something about an EOL, but they were unclear in saying if I could keep using it normally, or if I would absolutely have to install a more recent update.

I am on a thinkpad 11e 5th gen.

Any help would be appreciated 🙏🙏

Hi! Yesterday I got a Lenovo Thinkpad E335 from 2012 or so, running Windows 7 all right. The battery would need replacement, but it can used as a desktop pc. It has a AMD E2 1700 MHz cpu with integrated graphics, 4 GB RAM and 120 GB hard drive.

I tried installing Linux Mint. It gave out some error messages, but started anyway. But I didn't install it because it couldn't find the wifi card.

I also tried Fyde OS for AMD cpus, but it wouldn't start. I checked the list of supported models for Chrome OS Flex, but they start with E340.

Is there a Linux you can recommend for such an old computer?

EDIT: MX Linux works great on this machine!

I have a 2019 x1 carbon - perfect shape except eDP cable is broken. It’s a 10$ cable and 30 min fix, I just don’t have time. Where is a good place to sell? I’m willing to let go for rly good deal, just want it to go to a loving home lol. Any information much appreciated. Thanks!

It works perfect w/ monitor