My journey into Linux began in May 2013. At the time, I was a self-reliant Windows user—fixing my own BSODs, removing viruses, and reinstalling the OS myself. Deciding it was time to specialize in a new skill, I bought Serif PagePlus 6 for web design, only to quickly realize it was essentially a computerized coloring book.

I turned to YouTube to learn web design and started downloading a 13-part series on the subject. While looking through the videos, I noticed the word "Linux" as the very last word in a sentence. When I read the whole sentence, it mentioned an "Introduction to Linux." I didn't know what it meant, but I thought it was the coolest word I had ever seen in my life. Intrigued, I went and watched Eli the Computer Guy's "Introduction to Linux" video. That was on a Tuesday. By Friday, I had downloaded and installed Ubuntu 13.04, and that very same weekend, I performed my first data recovery on a laptop hard drive using the command-line tool testdisk.

Throughout the following years, I was mesmerized by the archlinux-simplyblack wallpaper. Every time I saw it, I wanted Arch Linux, but the Arch Wiki terrified me. I told myself, "Stay where you are, that's too complicated for you." But in February 2017, I finally said, "No more." My first successful installation took three days and six or seven failed attempts, but once I memorized the process, I was hooked. I spent years mastering Desktop Environments like GNOME, LXQt, and XFCE before transitioning to Window Managers in 2019, starting with Openbox and moving through i3, bspwm, Awesome, and Qtile.

After a forced break from the internet in late 2019, my learning accelerated, eventually leading me to the Wayland ecosystem in December 2023 with Hyprland, River, Sway, and beyond.

Today, I maintain comprehensive documentation for all my configurations across multiple platforms. I don't do it to brag or show off; I do it for myself. I'm not the type to shout "look at me." My favorite part of this entire journey is simply sitting down and working with Arch Linux.

• 2013 - Started with Ubuntu 13.04
• 2017 - Installed Arch Linux for the first time
• 2019 - Moved to Window Managers (Openbox → i3 → bspwm → Awesome → Qtile)
• 2023 - Entered the Wayland world (Hyprland, River, Sway)
• 2026 - Still learning, still configuring, still loving it

• OS: Arch Linux
• Compositor: River-classic / Hyprland
• Window Manager: Wayland wlroots based
• Bar: Waybar
• Launcher: Rofi

• Maintain Wayland configurations
• Document setups across multiple platforms
• Experiment with compositors and window managers

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