I’m always amazed what people can do with Vim. Andrew somehow manages to do all of his Drupal development with it, which is pretty mind-blowing. Andrew is also an Openbox user. I wasn’t familiar with pipe menus but it’s an ingenious idea. The always-impressive Openbox lets you do so much with so little overhead.
You can find more of The Linux Setup here.
You can follow Linux Rig on Google+ here and follow me on Twitter here.
- Who are you, and what do you do?
My name is Andrew Thornton and I am a systems architect for Mediacurrent, where I specialize in server security, website performance and High Availability for large-scale websites running Drupal. Originally from London, I moved to the states in 2000 and currently live in Atlanta, where I continually complain about the heat.
-
Why do you use Linux?
I have always had a fascination with computers, not specific to any particular operating system. In the early days, I started out on mainframes, before PCs were affordable. I was very much entrenched in the Windows world for work but maintained an interest in other operating systems. While visiting a friend in the states, he introduced me to Slackware Linux and I’ve been hooked ever since. The reason I use Linux for my main operating system is that it does everything I need it to do. If I need an app, I can install it from the command line and just get on with my day. The system is fast, easy to modify, elegant and productive. All of which is everything I need in an operating system.
-
What distribution do you run on your main desktop/laptop?
I am a fan of Ubuntu and GNOME, but my laptop is currently running Crunchbang Linux, based on Debian. I love the ease of use and the wealth of knowledge and software available to Ubuntu users. However, I was looking for something a lot leaner and more efficient on my laptop. Crunchbang was a fun diversion that turned into my main distro of choice.
-
What desktop environment do you use and why do you use it?
I’m currently running Openbox under Crunchbang. I love the speed and simplicity as well as the clean desktop environment. I also use pipe menus to automate my workflow. I can drop a playlist or a video into a folder and it shows up on my menu to play automatically through the use of small python scripts I knocked together. Other than Openbox, I am also big fan of GNOME and Unity.
-
What one piece of software do you depend upon with this distribution? Why is it so important?
Not limited to this specific distro, but I live in a console prompt with Vim. I do all of my web development for Drupal using Vim, which I have tied into a Git repo with all my code snippets and templates, as well as code lookup and the Drupal API. I prefer it to full blown IDEs such as Eclipse or Aptana studio, as it uses very little memory and is incredibly powerful.
-
What kind of hardware do you run this setup on?
I am currently using a Dell XPS laptop with an external monitor and Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
-
Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?
Interview conducted October 2, 2013
The Linux Setup is a feature where I interview people about their Linux setups. The concept is borrowed, if not outright stolen, from this site. If you’d like to participate, drop me a line.
You can follow Linux Rig on Google+ here, follow me on Twitter here, and subscribe to the feed here.
