I Used Arch, BTW: macOS, Day 1

Summary

TL;DR: I used Arch Linux for nine years as a daily driver on non-Apple laptops. I received my new M4 Pro MacBook Pro yesterday. This recounts my experience configuring it to hit the ground running from day 1. If you're a Linux user making the switch to Apple Silicon, or thinking of doing so, this post may be of interest. Zed, AeroSpace, Raycast's "Switch Windows" and Alacritty in action. What I Need My Computer For The way one uses their computer is shaped by their needs, values, and habits. As of writing, I am midway through my PhD at McGill University and Mila, focusing on neuro-AI research at McGill's Department of Physiology. My background is in computer engineering. My workflow as a PhD student involves a mix of: Filing, reading and annotating scientific papers using Zotero; Writing code in Zed, a fast text editor with first-class support for LSP and Tree-Sitter, GPU acceleration, Rust-powered multithreading, and, non-negotiably, vim bindings; Doing most of my computer interaction inside of a zsh shell with a featureful prompt such as Starship (previously, grml-zsh-config or oh-my-zsh); Managing Python projects using Astral's uv; Writing bespoke command-line utilities in Rust; Using JAX and PyTorch for numerical simulations and deep (reinforcement) learning; Doing exploratory development using local Jupyter Lab notebooks; Firing off longer-running jobs on remote compute resources, using on-premises workstations or larger SLURM clusters; Writing down notes in my org-roam personal knowledge base; Writing papers and slides in Typst or LaTeX (if I have to); Collaborating with colleagues on Zulip, Slack, or in person; Attending scientific meetings in-person or virtually (and taking live notes in org-roam); Staring intensely at a whiteboard/wall/ceiling when I'm mulling over a problem (no tech required); Debugging anything and everything: driver issues on compute workstations, sub-millisecond timing code in psychophysics experiments using custom Teensy photodiode con...