An in-depth look at the currently trending Arch Linux configuration that is Omarchy.
They make some fair points, but to me they are mostly, uh, beside the point. I’ve tried switching to Linux with a dozen or so different distributions. I didn’t enjoy any of them. I enjoyed just about everything about Omarchy right out of the box, which is the point. If it weren’t for this cobbled together configuration with its questionable security and fragile bash scripts, I wouldn’t be using Linux.
I’m trying. I really am.
I’ve spent a while getting my head around Darktable and digiKam. That’s no small feat, honestly. What weird software. It’s capable, but getting to where I was with Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and sometimes Capture One has been elusive.
There are manuals, blog posts, and Youtube videos to consume, but, given the nature of Darktable, everyone tells me to do things differently. There are a dozen ways to accomplish every task. Which one’s best? Who knows!?
Converting film negative scans it what I’m struggling with most. Lightroom has Negative Lab Pro, which is sort of de facto standard at this point. It makes quick work of conversion, adjustments, and metadata handling. Darktable has Negadoctor, which remains a mystery to me. I’ve used it to convert three rolls, and I’m getting the hang of the process, but I still can’t get the look I want from them. Everything’s a tad muddy, no matter how much I futz with the 175 available sliders.
One thing I’ve learned is that the Framework is slower than the little Beelink with Darktable. That means the Beelink stays as the main desktop. I thought for a second I could use the Framework for both, but not if I’m going to be processing photos with it.
I’ll give it until the end of October to see if I can forego the Mac entirely.
TL;DR It’s a love/hate thing, with love in the lead.
Here are a few thoughts on how things are going so far.
(more…)I’ve spent a lot of time installing and configuring software on the two new Linux boxes. Install a package and figure out where to configure it, then (maybe?) symlink and sync the configuration so that I can do the same things on the other computer. It’s kind of exhausting. I realize that this is mostly a front-weighted problem, but still, it has me thinking of ways to reduce the ongoing effort.
One of those ways is to use more web apps. Omarchy makes “installing” standalone web apps easy.
I could use the Fastmail web UI for email instead of my intricate and complex Mutt or Mu4e or GNUS setup. I could use WordPress (or Kirby) for blogging and not need go/hugo/rsync, etc. I could use SilverBullet for notes. There is even a growing number of web-based image manipulation tools I could use for quick resizing/conversions.
I don’t necessarily want to change my tools in order to take advantage of web apps, but it sure would simplify some things.