linux

Development Workstation

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M1 Development Workstation
M1 Development Workstation

M1 macOS-Creative/Xubuntu-Development Workstation

Finding the perfect balance of performance, isolated environments, and hardware efficiency is a constant evolution. I recently rebuilt my workstation from scratch to tackle advanced software engineering, local AI workflows, and academic computer science.

Here is the blueprint of my current setup:

  • 💻 The Host & Virtualization Layer
    • Apple M1 Silicon: The silent, hyper-efficient hardware foundation.
    • Parallels Desktop: Native-speed virtualization to run smooth Linux side-by-side with macOS.
    • Ubuntu VM: My primary workspace, keeping my macOS host clean and uncluttered.
  • 🐳 Containerization & Backend
    • Docker: Handles all app isolation so deployment is completely reproducible.
    • Composer: The essential package and dependency manager for my backend architecture.
    • PostgreSQL & DBeaver: A robust relational database paired with a universal GUI for easy schema management.
  • 🤖 Local AI & LLM Engine
    • Ollama + Qwen: Running powerful LLMs completely locally for private, zero-latency coding assistance.
    • Kimi: Integrated as an efficient AI helper to accelerate research and debugging.
  • 🛠️ Editor & Academic Foundation
    • VSCodium: All the power and extensions of VS Code, but completely telemetry-free and open-source.
    • Jinja: Fast, clean Python templating for dynamic configurations.
    • HarvardX’s CS50: The ultimate framework guiding my structured approach to computer science fundamentals and algorithmic thinking.

Download Videos

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yt-dlp

Are you a little techie? Know how to open a Linux or macOS terminal, or even a God-forsaken Windows command shell? Want to download online videos? Then yt-dlp to the rescue. First, follow one of these installation instructions for your operating system.

  • Linux uses this command to install yt-dlp: “sudo apt install yt-dlp (or replace apt with dnf, etc.)
  • macOS uses the Homebrew package manager (install Homebrew with instructions at the homebrew.sh website) with the command “brew install yt-dlp“,
  • Windows uses winget with the command: “winget install yt-dlp“

After installing yt-dlp, download a video with the command “yt-dlp “YOUR_VIDEO_URL“. Replace the ‘YOUR_VIDEO_URL’ with the video URL, but DON’T remove the double quotes.