Tech stack as of December 2024

Geeky as I am, I thoroughly enjoy coming across posts where people write about their tech stacks. So I thought I'd jump on the trend and write about my own. Given the timing, perhaps I'll make it an end-of-year review of sorts.

Before we get going, let me start with a disclaimer: I have no commercial relationship with any of the brands/products/services mentioned. I've bought everything mentioned because I thought I'd like it. I've kept it because I did like it.

Hardware

These are the devices I use to get things done.

Main computer: Macbook Air M2 13" (2022)

My daily workhorse. Apart from writing, I do all of my computer stuff on this machine, from reading to working on my website and... well, everything else.

I think it it is the perfect laptop and I've named it Incitatus.

Writing computer: Macbook Air 11" (2011)

Earlier this year I was inspired to pursue a distraction free writing experience. To that end, I repurposed my wife's old Macbook Air into a single-purpose laptop with Sublime Text installed and no internet access. (It wasn't exactly straight forward and I really should write about it.)

It's the perfect writing setup for me! I use the machine daily, but I've yet to find it a fitting name.

"Home server": Macbook Pro Retina 13" (2012)

An old employer let me keep this one after I switched jobs. It was my main computer for years until some new version of MacOS made it slow as molasses. Was glad to have it around when I decided to rearrange my tech stack this year.

This machine is a hub for all my devices. All my data is stored here and on an externally attached SSD. Every automation I run, including the static site generator that powers this site, happens on this machine. Its name is Urithiru.

Phone: iPhone 11 (2019)

When my employer mandated device management enrolment this fall, I decided to get a separate private phone. Luckily my wife had one of those lying around, too.

The camera is not exactly top notch, and the scroll and transition animations sometimes stutter. Nothing I can't live with. Haven't come up with a clever name for it. Yet.

E-Reader: Kindle Paperwhite (2017)

Settling down in my favourite chair at night, dimming the lights and basking in the soft glow of my backlit Kindle, all is right. I don't know how you can improve on this device. It's perfect.

Running tracker: Stryd (2021)

I attach this little footpod to my running shoes when I go out for a run. It accurately tracks distance and active time. I manually log these details into my spreadsheet training log.

Alarm clock: Apple Watch series 6 (2021)

An expensive alarm clock. Vibration only is a life saver, though, because it allows me to get up without waking other people in the room. I just wish it had a month battery life instead of a day.

Apps

I use a fairly small selection of apps. Leaving out pure utility apps like banking, car, utilities and so such.

Laptop writing: Sublime Text

Code, prose or something in between? Doesn't matter. Long pieces or short notes? No worries, Sublime Text handles it all. Here I have found my perfect writing experience. I use plain text files for all my writing, and Sublime is my editor of choice.

Phone writing: Textastic

I don't write much on the phone. But when I do, I use Textastic to power the exact same workflow, using the exact same files as I do on my laptops.

Browser: Firefox

What's the alternative? Exactly, so Firefox it is.

Email: Mail

I used Proton for most of the year. Didn't like their apps. As I don't need email encryption, I decided to switch to another provider. One that uses bog standard IMAP and thus lets me use the email client of my choice, which is Mail.app on Mac and Iphone.

Feed reader: Reeder Classic

I follow a couple of hundred blogs and websites. To organise and keep track of them I use the excellent Reeder Classic.

Services

The world is better off with a healthier mix of smaller providers. I've spent the year trying to disentangle from big tech.

Email provider: Migadu

Migadu offer simple, no frills email hosting. Their model of charging for usage instead of addresses and accounts is also beneficial for someone with far too many aliases.

Password manager: 1Password

Found myself longing for the polish of 1Password after using Proton Pass for a while. Once I decided to drop Proton for email, going back to 1Password was also a given.

Webhost: OpenBSD.amsterdam

Wrote about why I chose OpenBSD.amsterdam in detail here. Not much to add to that. Things have been working as expected since, which is to say perfectly fine.

Off-site backups: Hosthatch

My search for cheap storage with SSH access led me to "Storage VMs" from Hosthatch. A terabyte of storage for $5 per month is perfect for my backup needs.

Cloud: Icloud

As of yet I haven't been able to fully exit the Icloud ecosystem. I use the Photos library feature to sync media between my phone and laptop, and sharing. To cut down on space requirements, I extract everything older than a year from Icloud to my local media library.

Closing thoughts

This post would've looked a lot different a year ago. I am happy with the changes I have implemented throughout the year, and I feel more in control of the technology that I rely on from day to day than has been the case for a long time.

I am always tempted by some new gadget, app or service. But if I have one goal for the coming year, it is to make even better use of what I currently have at my disposal. The opportunities feel endless. It is only a matter of being willing to put in the time to make it work.

When I do repeat this post a year hence, I want report very few changes.