Designing a Linux-First Development Workflow • Bhavesh's Portfolio

Why Linux-First?

After years of experimenting with different development environments, I’ve settled on a Linux-first workflow that prioritizes speed, keyboard-driven navigation, and minimal distractions. This setup has transformed how I code, making context switching nearly instant and keeping me in the flow state longer.

The Stack

My development environment is built on four core components:

Hyprland - Dynamic tiling Wayland compositor
Ghostty - GPU-accelerated terminal emulator
tmux - Terminal multiplexer for session management
Neovim - Modal text editor with Lazy.nvim plugin manager

Hyprland: The Foundation

Hyprland is a dynamic tiling Wayland compositor that provides smooth animations, powerful window management, and extensive customization. Unlike traditional desktop environments, Hyprland is keyboard-first by design.

Why Hyprland?

Tiling by default - Windows automatically organize themselves
Wayland native - Better performance and security than X11
Smooth animations - Makes window management feel natural
Highly configurable - Every keybinding and behavior is customizable

Key Features I Use

# Workspace switching (Super + 1-9)
bind = SUPER, 1, workspace, 1
bind = SUPER, 2, workspace, 2

# Move windows between workspaces
bind = SUPER SHIFT, 1, movetoworkspace, 1

# Window focus (Vim-style)
bind = SUPER, h, movefocus, l
bind = SUPER, l, movefocus, r
bind = SUPER, k, movefocus, u
bind = SUPER, j, movefocus, d

I organize workspaces by context:

Workspace 1: Code (Neovim + tmux)
Workspace 2: Browser (documentation, testing)
Workspace 3: Communication (Discord, Matrix)
Workspace 4: System monitoring

Ghostty: The Terminal

Ghostty is a GPU-accelerated terminal emulator that’s blazingly fast and highly configurable. It handles rendering with ease, even with complex tmux layouts and Neovim UI elements.

Why Ghostty?

GPU acceleration - Smooth scrolling and rendering
Native performance - Written in Zig for speed
True color support - Beautiful syntax highlighting
Ligature support - Programming fonts look great

Configuration Highlights

# Font configuration
font-family = "JetBrainsMono Nerd Font"
font-size = 12

# Theme
theme = "catppuccin-mocha"

# Performance
shell-integration = true

tmux: Session Management

tmux is the glue that holds my terminal workflow together. It provides session persistence, window management, and the ability to detach/reattach sessions.

My tmux Workflow

# Create project-specific sessions
tmux new -s project-name

# Split panes for different tasks
Ctrl-b %  # Vertical split
Ctrl-b "  # Horizontal split

# Navigate panes (Vim-style)
Ctrl-b h/j/k/l

Key Configuration

# Remap prefix to Ctrl-a
set -g prefix C-a
unbind C-b

# Enable mouse support
set -g mouse on

# Start windows at 1, not 0
set -g base-index 1
setw -g pane-base-index 1

# Vi mode for copy
setw -g mode-keys vi

I use tmux sessions for different projects, making it easy to switch contexts without losing my place.

Neovim: The Editor

Neovim with Lazy.nvim is the heart of my development workflow. It’s fast, extensible, and once you learn the keybindings, incredibly efficient.

Why Neovim + Lazy.nvim?

Modal editing - Different modes for different tasks
Lazy loading - Plugins load only when needed
LSP integration - Native language server support
Extensible - Lua configuration is powerful and fast
Community - Massive plugin ecosystem

Essential Plugins

-- Plugin manager
require("lazy").setup({
  -- File explorer
  "nvim-tree/nvim-tree.lua",

  -- Fuzzy finder
  "nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim",

  -- LSP configuration
  "neovim/nvim-lspconfig",

  -- Autocompletion
  "hrsh7th/nvim-cmp",

  -- Syntax highlighting
  "nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter",

  -- Git integration
  "lewis6991/gitsigns.nvim",

  -- Status line
  "nvim-lualine/lualine.nvim",
})

My Workflow

Open project - nvim . in project root
Find files - <leader>ff (Telescope)
Search text - <leader>fg (Telescope grep)
Navigate code - LSP go-to-definition, references
Git operations - Gitsigns for hunks, Fugitive for commits

Dotfiles Management with GNU Stow

The secret to maintaining this setup across multiple machines and distros is GNU Stow. It’s a symlink farm manager that makes dotfiles management trivial.

Why Stow?

Simple - Just symlinks, no complex scripts
Selective - Install only what you need
Reversible - Easy to unstow configurations
Distro-agnostic - Works everywhere

My Dotfiles Structure

~/dotfiles/
├── hyprland/
│   └── .config/
│       └── hypr/
├── ghostty/
│   └── .config/
│       └── ghostty/
├── tmux/
│   └── .tmux.conf
├── nvim/
│   └── .config/
│       └── nvim/
├── zsh/
│   └── .zshrc
└── scripts/
    └── scripts/

Using Stow

Install configurations:

cd ~/dotfiles

# Install specific config
stow nvim
stow tmux
stow hyprland

# Install everything
stow */

Remove configurations:

# Remove specific config
stow -D nvim

# Remove everything
stow -D */

Distro Hopping Made Easy

When switching distros, my setup process is:

Install base system
Clone dotfiles - git clone https://github.com/bhavesh-7/dotfiles ~/dotfiles
Install dependencies - Hyprland, Neovim, tmux, Ghostty, stow
Stow configs - cd ~/dotfiles && stow */
Done - Fully configured environment in minutes

No manual copying, no broken symlinks, no missing configs. Everything just works.

The Complete Workflow

Here’s how it all comes together:

Boot into Hyprland - Instant login to tiling compositor
Launch Ghostty - GPU-accelerated terminal
Start tmux session - tmux new -s project
Open Neovim - nvim . in project directory
Code - Everything is keyboard-driven, no mouse needed

Typical Development Session

# Create new project session
tmux new -s myproject

# Split terminal
Ctrl-a %  # Vertical split for code + terminal

# Left pane: Neovim
nvim .

# Right pane: Development server
npm run dev

# Switch between panes with Ctrl-a h/l
# Switch workspaces with Super + 1-9
# Everything stays running, even if I disconnect

Benefits of This Setup

Speed

No mouse - Keyboard navigation is faster
Instant context switching - Workspaces and tmux sessions
Fast startup - Everything loads in milliseconds
GPU acceleration - Smooth rendering everywhere

Focus

Minimal distractions - No notification popups or animations
Full screen - Tiling maximizes screen real estate
Single task - One workspace, one focus
Flow state - Stay in the zone longer

Portability

Dotfiles in git - Version controlled configuration
Stow for deployment - Install anywhere in seconds
Distro agnostic - Works on Fedora, Arch, Ubuntu, Debian
Session persistence - tmux keeps everything running

Getting Started

Want to try this workflow? Here’s how:

1. Install Dependencies

# Fedora
sudo dnf install hyprland neovim tmux stow

# Arch
sudo pacman -S hyprland neovim tmux stow

# Ubuntu (Hyprland requires PPA or build from source)
sudo apt install neovim tmux stow

2. Install Ghostty

Follow instructions at ghostty.org

3. Clone My Dotfiles

git clone https://github.com/bhavesh-7/dotfiles ~/dotfiles
cd ~/dotfiles

4. Stow Configurations

# Start with basics
stow zsh
stow tmux
stow nvim

# Add Hyprland when ready
stow hyprland

5. Learn the Keybindings

Hyprland - Super key for everything
tmux - Ctrl-a prefix (or Ctrl-b default)
Neovim - Start with vimtutor, then customize

Tips for Beginners

Start small - Don’t install everything at once
Learn one tool - Master tmux before adding Neovim
Customize gradually - Copy configs, then modify
Use cheatsheets - Keep keybindings handy
Be patient - Modal editing has a learning curve

Conclusion

This Linux-first workflow has made me a faster, more focused developer. The keyboard-driven nature keeps me in flow, the tiling window manager maximizes screen space, and the dotfiles management with Stow makes it portable across machines.

If you’re tired of slow, mouse-heavy development environments, give this setup a try. It takes time to learn, but the productivity gains are worth it.

Resources

This entire blog post was written in Neovim, inside tmux, running in Ghostty, on Hyprland. The workflow works.