11th Apr 2025 My Setup
The following interview was inspired by Uses This, a collection of nerdy interviews asking people from all walks of life what they use to get the job done.
Who are you, and what do you do?
My name is Thomas Brand. I dropped out of art school to spend time behind the Genius Bar. Today I work at MIT, and run up hills for fun.
What hardware do you use?
My work laptop is a Framework 13 with a 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1360P CPU. Battery life is not as good as my 14-inch M1 MacBook Pro, but these days I am more excited about easy upgrades and repairs than participating in the Apple ecosystem.
I game on an Intel Core™ i9-12900K Processor with Radeon 7700 XT graphics dual-booting between Linux and Windows.
In my pocket I carry a Google Pixel 8 running AirMessage for iMessage compatibility. My daily passenger rail commute means I am always running out of hotspot high-speed data.
On my wrist I wear a Omega Seamaster 2531.80 Chronometer. I used to wear a Apple Watch, but now I run carryng my phone.
I traded in my Apple Extended Keyboard for a Das Ultimate S; the Darth Vader of mechanical keyboards
My MessagePad 130 rarely leaves my desk these days, but remains my favorite Newton.
And what software?
These days I prefer booting Fedora [Atomic][] over MacOS. I have not been this excited about an operating system since the release of Mac OS X Tiger in 2005. Fedora is the perfect combination of three emerging open source technologies all wrapped up in opinionated UX of GNOME 3.
The only thing Fedora can't do for me is run my favorite Mac apps.
My home lab is powered by a personal license of Proxmox. All of my servers run Debian and FreeBSD.
I write all of my email, code, and blog posts in Vim. Through the power of Mosh I take my writing environment with me everywhere I go. Vim’s undo branches are my poor man’s version control system. I read email in Alpine/Thunderbird, RSS in Miniflux, and HTML in Librewolf; everything else I send to Instapaper.
What would be your dream setup?
I started my career in graphic design because I fell in love with the Macintosh. Today I value the freedom to try different platforms. Choice keeps me interested in technology.