Tools: Is Omarchy Any Good...?

What are the good parts of Omarchy? ## Let's talk tiling window managers... ## Where does Omarchy fall short? ## The verdict In case you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard the buzz about Omarcy Linux (the new-ish Linux distro that is the brainchild of 37signals co-founder, David Heinemeier Hansson). I've been slowly rolling it out across my home systems, and blogging as I go. First and foremost, the look-and-feel of the operating system is superb. You can really tell that the team behind the project have spent a good deal of time on making things minimal yet robust. All aspects of the operating system are accessed primarily by keyboard shortcuts (and mouse clicks in just a few cases). I like this, especially because I do a lot of work on a laptop. Being based on Arch Linux means you have thousands upon thousands of software applications at your fingertips. I've been able to install development environments, docker containers, and retro games without any problems. I've found that Omarchy can breathe new life into old hardware. The desktop environment runs on very minimal resources. Window management is snappy, and as long as you're not running resource-intensive applications then you're fine. I know, they're kind of a polarizing topic. It's a first for me, but now that I'm used to the keyboard shortcuts it feels pretty natural. I think if you have a large monitor it makes a difference, especially when working with multiple windows. One thing that I think would be nice is the ability to hide a window without closing the application. It would be a helpful way to manage your screen real-estate. So far I'm zero-for-two on running the Omarchy update tool. First one bricked my desktop, and I had to restore from backups. Second nearly bricked my laptop. I had to login from a bootable USB and arch-chroot then reinstall the Linux kernel. Despite some rough edges, Omarchy is a compelling experiment in thoughtful operating system design. It feels opinionated in a good way: focused, fast, and built for people who live on their keyboards and value simplicity. If you enjoy tinkering, don’t mind getting your hands a little dirty when things go sideways, and want a Linux environment that feels both modern and intentional, Omarchy is well worth trying. You can read more about my Omarchy journey over at franklinstrube.com: Templates let you quickly answer FAQs or store snippets for re-use. Are you sure you want to hide this comment? It will become hidden in your post, but will still be visible via the comment's permalink. Hide child comments as well For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse - Omarchy Begins - Omarchy on Old Hardware - Omarchy on an Acer C720 Chromebook