My Path Back to Daily Driving Linux (2026)

After several years with various MacBooks as my main computer, I think I’ve started to shift back to a Linux computer as my ‘daily driver’ again. To be clear, I still own and even use my MacBook often. However, for the last month or two, I’ve defaulted to my nixOS laptop, and used the Mac secondarily. Here’s how (from what I recall), that long road back has unfolded.

A Brief History

First, let’s establish a very brief history. Prior to owning a Mac, I was a full-blown Linux-only user (Yes. The annoying kind.) for a number of years (~2010-2019). Then at the end of 2019 out of curiosity, I did a macOS challenge. It went quite well. In fact, the challenge occurred right as Apple had finally fixed the keyboard on the 16" MacBook Pro, and I ended up ordering a base model after the challenge. I used it as my laptop, with my ‘main’ computer still being my Linux desktop. Even when the laptop was docked at my desk and I was in macOS user-land, I was often still working remotely on the desktop, via the MacBook most of the time.

This was all before Apple Silicon. After a year with the Intel 16" MBP, I gave in and jumped to an M1 MacBook Air. I argued that one reason to downsize to the air was that my MacBook was still my secondary portable machine. After switching to the M1 Air, however, that slowly eroded over time (Apple Silicon was, and still is, amazing). Eventually, I acknowledged that the air had become my main device, and upgraded to the 14" M1 Pro after it released. That switch started the train of a few personal MacBook upgrades and experimentation over the years since.

Eventually, when it came time for my next work laptop upgrade, I even switched to a MacBook Pro there as well (less dev work and mostly meetings meant the Mac was much better suited for the task in all honesty).

That’s how things continued, probably until the end of last year (2025).

Where it started

So, why did I slide back this year? Two reasons:

• I wanted to use ‘simpler’ tooling workflows
• I had an increased desire to break my dependence on Apple products and services

Simpler Software

What does ‘simpler tooling workflows’ even mean? It started over a year ago when I re-thought how I consume my RSS feeds. In that post, I outlined trying various TUI-based RSS readers, and ultimately landed on elfeed in emacs, which is still my main (and favorite) method for browsing and reading RSS. After that switch, I continued to rethink my tooling and didn’t stop. It’s been great, and most of these systems/applications/programs work much better on Linux.

Apple Lock-In

I’ve always been leery of Apple lock-in. When I started using Macs, I tried to maintain my old Linux workflows as much as possible. Nevertheless, with time, especially after becoming a parent, I leaned into the ecosystem a bit more. The experience is great – assuming you’re staying within expectations. The native apps are beautiful and work well, but if you want to dip into a CLI on iPadOS, or alter your window manager, it falls apart fast.

My resurfaced distaste for Apple lock-in started with a thought experiment about minimal phones. While thinking to myself about what it would be like to trial a device like a light phone, Mudita Kompakt, or heck, even an Android-based Clicks Communicator, I realized I couldn’t. My Apple Watch would no longer function well. I couldn’t continue tracking steps with my preferred app. Photos would be a mess. I would need to shift my apps for things like podcasts, tasks, etc. Even the crappy apps I developed are iOS only. The list went on. I didn’t like how the majority of my computing life had become so dependent on the continued purchasing and supporting of such a massive company… and one I honestly haven’t been very happy with for the last few years.

So, I started slowly chipping away. I’m still using Apple products (they’re good and work well for the family), but I have started switching to alternatives or setting up self-hosted backups outside the garden walls for my data (ex: photos, iCloud). I want to have the freedom to walk away from Apple if and whenever I feel like it.

As I moved back to more cross-platform apps, systems, and workflows, I learned something magical… the siren song of the ecosystem weakens. Sure, some features may be a little rougher, but you don’t feel the need to stay. You’re free to experiment more. So I did.

Device Switch-ups

A Brief History (continued)

Back to hardware, let’s pick up where I last left off…

When I got rid of my desktop and switched to using a MacBook Pro for my daily driver, I still kept around an x86 mini PC that I could run Linux (or even Windows) in a pinch when I needed it. For the longest time, that was a Minisforum HX99G. It mostly sat under my desk unplugged, as it wasn’t worth the hassle of booting up, connecting to peripheral devices, etc. When I did run it to play a game or two, it was loud and flaky with the Apple Studio Display.

Chuwi Minibook

As I started dabbling with using TUI apps and emacs again, I also started looking for better options to use them when portable. As great as the hardware is, iPadOS really lacks what I need for these workflows. To test out a modern netbook-like computer, I purchased a Chuwi Minibook X to function as a simple Emacs machine.

I loved it. The more I used it, the more I found myself dabbling with Linux again beyond the barriers of Emacs and the TUI apps. However, as I started to delve into full desktops on my 5K Studio Display, the Minibook’s Intel N150 started to struggle. Even so, my mini Linux laptop experiment worked. Unlike the HX99G that was never used (and still wasn’t), I reached for the minibook daily.

GPD Pocket 4

After the success of my trial, I devised a plan. I sold the HX99G and the Chuwi Minibook X (nope… it died) in order to buy a GPD Pocket 4, a device that combined (nearly) the power of the HX99G with the portability and flexibility of the Minibook.

It too, worked well. It was much more powerful than the minibook, and I was able to use it docked like a desktop to really dive more into nixOS. I even started using tiling window managers again, finding and configuring my current favorite pair, niri with the noctalia shell. This is when I started to realize that I was shifting to daily-driving Linux again.

As cool of a device as the GPD Pocket 4 is, it started to have some limitations as a daily driver. Mostly, it sucked as a laptop. The keyboard was usable, but not at all enjoyable. I mostly operated it as a desktop, but even then, it was loud due to its tiny size. I wanted to use it more because of how much I was enjoying Linux again. Unfortunately, even just to spend an hour writing a blog post in the kitchen, I found myself moving a portable monitor, keyboard, mouse, battery pack (it had terrible battery life with the portable monitor connected), and an assortment of stands + wires to connect it all up.

At some point I thought to myself… If I want to truly test out Linux as a daily driver, maybe I should just try using a normal laptop with it again?

X1 Carbon Thinkpad (Gen. 9)

So, like any experienced Linux user, I went to eBay and found a used Thinkpad X1 Carbon (Gen 9) for ‘cheap’, that combined with a new replacement battery, totaled roughly $300 USD.

Since its arrival, it’s basically been my daily driver. NixOS and niri+noctalia run great on both the built-in screen and when plugged into my external monitor. With its 180° hinge, even using it ergonomically in the kitchen with my external keyboard and track ball is much simpler than with the GPD Pocket. It’s become the device I grab by default, consistently. I even packed it instead of my MacBook Pro for a family trip last month. I tried the same thing with the GPD Pocket for a weekend trip just a few weeks prior, but unlike that experience, the X1 Carbon was enjoyable.

While the X1 Carbon runs much better than I anticipated, it is old (9th Gen came out in 2021, I think - about the time I started to daily drive macOS ironically). For 90% of what I use it for, it’s fine. That 10% does drag a bit though.

Framework 13 Pro Pre-Order

Here’s where I stand now. The X1 Carbon has shown I can and want to have a ‘normal’ Linux laptop again. It works well enough now, but I would love something with a little more power that I could use long-term. Maybe even a device that could be upgraded in the future…

So, I’ve pre-ordered a Framework 13 Pro. I have been rooting for Framework since they started, and have eyed all their devices, but unfortunately haven’t wanted a Linux laptop enough to justify the higher price of a Framework (especially when I already have an expensive MBP). Also, I had some concerns with the Framework 13, but I think the Pro should address most of them.

The only issue is that there’s a long wait for the 13 Pro pre-orders. When I decided on this plan, I placed an order right away for a base spec (Intel Ultra 5 325) with 16 GB of RAM and supplying my own NVME. That should be powerful enough for what I need right now, and the beauty of a Framework is that in the future, I should be able to update the logic board/RAM and can then either pass down the old one to my son, or give my Intel N100-based home-server quite the upgrade.

I’m Batch 19, which is currently expected to ship in November, but I know right now everything is up in the air when it comes to tech hardware. I took advantage of the terrible market to sell the GPD Pocket 4 for about what I paid for it a year ago, and have earmarked that money to pay the majority of the Framework’s cost. Until it arrives, I’ll keep chugging along with the X1 Carbon (and use my MBP for any intensive workloads).

Conclusion

All that to say, I guess I’m daily driving Linux again. However, this time around… it’s not that big of a deal. Over my last few decades of computing, I’ve learned it’s stupid to define yourself by a specific OS. I love the passion people have, but when I started using macOS, I was riddled with guilt which took years to shake off. You might not agree with Apple the company, or understand its “sheeple” user base, but if people feel the need to refrain from admitting that they use anything other than Linux… or even something other than a ‘blessed’ distro…, it shows that the Linux community isn’t perfect either.

So I use Linux. And I use Mac. They are both great. And they both suck. That’s technology in a nutshell 🤷🏻‍♂️.

Yearly Theme

In many ways, this post feels like a continuation of what I wrote in my 2026 Yearly Theme post earlier this year, which contained the seeds for all of this. I stated back then that I was pulling back from my dependency on Apple, wanting to use NixOS and self-hosting more. I guess this is the update. It has been a year of reconsidering everything, and allowing myself to experiment.

For me, experimenting has meant getting creative and returning to enjoying tech again. At a time when tech has more baggage associated with it than any other point in my life, I need that.