Pigges Blog

Hello, World

Wed, 07 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Hello and welcome to my blog.

console.log('Hello, World');

This is my first blog post. I decided to start this blog while creating my new website using Astro, as the implementation were so seemless.

This blog is also available as an RSS feed, which you can use with you favorite RSS reader.

My Linux Journey: From Windows Frustration to Daily Arch Bliss

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

I’ve been running Linux as my daily driver for years now. Back in 2021, I finally hit a breaking point with Windows. Privacy concerns, general frustration, and the announcement of Windows 11 all pushed me over the edge. I’d been curious about Linux for a while, but fear held me back. My only prior experience was tinkering with a Raspberry Pi, mostly copying terminal commands from guides without truly understanding them, yet somehow reaching the end goal.

What finally tipped the scale? I was already following several Linux content creators, including Chris Titus Tech (CTT), who was running Arch Linux at the time. I wanted that same freedom and control.

Everything aligned: I was fed up with Windows, worried about privacy, and ready for change.

Choosing My Setup: Arch Linux + AwesomeWM

Despite CTT’s own history of calling Arch “too unstable long-term” (he didn’t stay on it forever), I dove in anyway. Looking back, I got incredibly lucky. My install has been rock-solid.

I skipped traditional desktop environments like GNOME or KDE. Instead, I went with AwesomeWM, the same window manager CTT was using. It’s lightweight, no bloat, and most importantly, a tiling window manager. Unlike the stacking/floating style you’re used to on Windows or macOS, tiling automatically arranges windows into perfect grids. Everything is keyboard-driven: I move, resize, and switch windows without touching the mouse (though mouse support is still there when I want it). The productivity boost was immediate, I felt organized and in control like never before.

Preparation and Installation

Before touching my real hardware, I practiced the Arch install in a virtual machine multiple times, strictly following the official Arch Wiki guide. One small oversight almost bit me: I only practiced Legacy BIOS installs, but my PC was UEFI. Thankfully, it went smoothly anyway.

My system had two drives, a small SSD (where I left Windows) and a 1 TB HDD (where I installed Linux). I kept the dual-boot option as a safety net. After the install, I was off and running.

One thing that astonished me right away was how much faster Linux booted compared to Windows, even though Linux was on the slower HDD. That instant responsiveness sold me even more.

Early Days: Smooth Sailing (Mostly)

I expected chaos. Instead, I faced almost no major issues that a quick search couldn’t fix. The one persistent problem? Windows never appeared in my GRUB boot menu. I later learned the fix was simply enabling os-prober in the GRUB config. But I’m secretly glad it never worked. Forcing me to use the UEFI boot menu kept me on Linux 99% of the time.

Application compatibility was surprisingly good from day one:

My main game, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, ran perfectly thanks to Valve.
Discord had official Linux support.

Today, it’s even better. Valve’s Proton makes the vast majority of Steam games “just work” (as long as they don’t have invasive anti-cheat). The Linux gaming experience has become fantastic.

Leveling Up: From AwesomeWM to Hyprland

As my Linux knowledge grew, I started customizing everything. I kept CTT’s minimal base and loved the clean setup. Then, in early 2023, Hyprland exploded in popularity, a Wayland compositor that doesn’t sacrifice on its looks. I was hooked. When I built my new PC that year, I switched to Hyprland immediately. I’ve been daily-driving it ever since.

Stability That Still Surprises Me

Here’s the part that sounds unbelievable to some people: I’ve never had a single catastrophic failure. No reinstalls, no broken systems. The current install on my main PC (from when I built the new system in early 2023) is over 1,000 days old as I write this. Arch gets a bad rap for being “unstable,” but with a bit of care, it’s been the most reliable OS I’ve ever used.

Laptop Adventures: A Little Distro Hopping

My main desktop stayed pure Arch, but my high-school laptop had a different story. I needed Windows for exams and secure boot was locked down (no way around it at the time), so I had to dual-boot.

Started with Ubuntu (easiest option).
Quickly switched to Debian (server install) because Ubuntu felt bloated on my tiny drive.
Later moved to Fedora as a middle ground. More up-to-date than Debian but not quite as bleeding-edge as Arch.

Once I graduated and bought the laptop, I disabled secure boot and finally installed Arch. No more hopping!

Personal Reflection: Why Linux Felt Different

Looking back, my choices make perfect sense:

Arch because I wanted minimalism and to learn everything from the ground up.
AwesomeWM (and later Hyprland) because I craved a fresh, exciting way to interact with my computer.

This surprised me at first. Growing up, I hated change. New things, new routines, anything unpredictable stressed me out. So why was Linux different? Why did I want to dive into something so unfamiliar?

I think it’s tied to my deep love of learning. If a change lets me acquire new skills and understanding, I’m all in. (Contrast that with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s 2018 Panorama UI update: I didn’t touch the game for months because it felt like pointless change with no learning payoff.)

But it’s more than just learning for its own sake. Linux gave me a space where I could actively grow and get better at something that mattered to me. Every config tweak, every new tool I mastered, every problem I solved felt like real personal progress. It wasn’t random upheaval; it was deliberate self-improvement on my own terms. That made the discomfort of change feel worthwhile, even exciting.

In real life you can’t always choose what changes, but Linux taught me how to embrace the ones that matter, and how to turn them into opportunities to become a better version of myself.

Really Simple Syndication

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Today’s internet is, in many ways, bloated. There are ads and sponsored posts everywhere.

In the past, you made the decisions on what you wanted to do.

Nowadays, you are at the mercy of big tech companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon and their algorithms.

Let us try taking back our control using something called RSS.

RSS is a standardized format for defining web feeds. This means that by using these feeds, you don’t have to manually browse all the invididual sites and get absorbed by all the other things you didn’t intend to check out. You simply get a feed of what you want.

Benefits?

So what are the benefits of using RSS feeds, you may ask?

Organize all your feeds in one place.
You get to choose what you want to see.
Don’t let the algorithm choose for you.

You can easily organize all your feeds in one place, and you don’t have to worry about going out to each and every site to get the latest updates.
Instead of letting the algorithm choose, you get to be in control of what you want to stay up-to-date about.

Where is it used?

Many of the websites you repeatedly visit may already offer RSS feeds for their content.

To get the RSS feed for any Youtube Channel, you could use this template below by changing the <CHANNEL_ID> with the channel you want.
```
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=<CHANNEL_ID>
```
To get the RSS feed for any Subreddit, you could use this template below by changing <SUBREDDIT> with the subreddit you want.
```
https://www.reddit.com/r/<SUBREDDIT>.rss
```

Other sites may even have a direct link to their RSS feed. It may say something like “RSS Feed” in the link.

Other times, it might be an icon that looks something like this:

However, sometimes these feeds can be a little tricky to find.
In those cases, it might be useful to have an extra tool up your sleeve.

There is an extension called Get RSS Feed URL, which can help you grab these.
This can even grab the feeds for YouTube and Reddit for you. Below is a list of where you can get it installed.

For Chrome or Chromium-based Browsers (link)
For Firefox browsers (link)

How to use it

In order to use an RSS feed, you need to have an RSS Reader. This could either be something built for a browser, desktop computer, or mobile device.

The reader I really recommend is FreshRSS.
Which you can either self-host or use any of the community-hosted instances.
I like this one because of the interface and because it doesn’t bloat you with a bunch of ads if you don’t pay.

Personally, I went with the self-hosting option because I like to be in control of the services I use.
The way I have it set up is by running FreshRSS on my Raspberry Pi and then just connecting to the web interface.

If you didn’t find this reader interesting or want to try something else,

Feedly (ads) freemium
Feeder freemium
Inoreader (ads) freemium

I haven’t tried any of these myself, but they are among the more popular ones.

How does it work?

RSS is basically a plain text file formatted in XML.
These files typically have the file extension “.xml” or “.rss”.
This makes it relatively easy to read, both for computers and humans.
An RSS reader is essentially just refreshing this feed every once in a while to grab any changes.

Below is an example of what a feed could look like. ```xml RSS Title This is an example of an RSS feed http://www.example.com/main.html 2020 Example.com All rights reserved Mon, 6 Sep 2010 00:01:00 +0000 Sun, 6 Sep 2009 16:20:00 +0000 1800 Example entry Here is some text containing an interesting description. http://www.example.com/blog/post/1 7bd204c6-1655-4c27-aeee-53f933c5395f Sun, 6 Sep 2009 16:20:00 +0000 ``` Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS)

Conclusion

I’ve been using RSS for quite a while now, and I can say that it has definitely helped me to be more aware of the content I am consuming.
It also feels empowering to know that I am the one in control and not algorithms that are made to profit big tech.