Customization

Tips and Hacks for Everyday Life

Computer Programmers

What are some cool ways programmers customize

their laptops?
16 Answers

Alex Weber, Incorrigible tinkerer, electronics repairer, aesthete

26.6k Views Upvoted by Stan Hanks, building "the Internet" since 1981, now building web-scale
companies

In regards to customizing the exterior of your laptop

Apply A Decal

Sure, many folks have a MacBook Air, but mine is more geometrically satisfying. I like to
think of it as a TriangleBook.
If you've got money to burn, consider this MacBook customization which highlights
WordPress:

Don't forget some Stickers

Many programmers support the EFF. Here's where to get these: EFF Sticker Pack
Other stickers you'd probably see are for various startups or tools.

As per customizing the inside

Other commenters on this thread have offered excellent suggestions about setting up
scripts, installing alternate OS, etc.
I'd like to highlight a few specifics:
System Monitoring. I love iStat Menus for this.

Browser Plugins. Everyone will have their favorites, but I'll list a couple of mine, for
Chrome:

1.

uBlock Origin - block ads and trackers

2.

HTTPS Everywhere - enforce encrypted communication

3.

Momentum - prevent some distraction when opening a new tab

4.

LastPass - store passwords and personal information

5.

Tampermonkey - enable user modification of website functionality

Hope this helps!
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Ambroise Dhenain, AKA "Vadorequest" - Developper, software engineer, web lover, geek,
gamer.
9.2k Views

I never customized the exterior of any of my laptops. About what's inside though, it's a real
hand-made customized OS. I mostly use Windows, but also Ubuntu.
Before to explain in details what are the OS customization, I'll give a few tips about what can
be done with components/hardware. I use this computer: Toshiba Qosmio X70-A-13C
Use a USB hub, especially useful to plug my remote mouse and hard-drives.
(Consider plug-in hard-drive directly in the computer ports for faster write though, but
when it's just to have access to a lot of data, like documents or movies, it's perfectly fine
to go through a hub without low performances.)
I really love it because I can have my movies + tv shows HDD always plugged in the
computer, as well as the mouse and even a remote keyboard. And you save several
ports on the computer to plug other stuff.
N.B: As Guru Prasad stated, you need a hub powered by an outlet and not just by the
computer if you have multiple hard-drive connected or the motherboard may suffer.

One or two screens in addition of the computer screen (I only use laptops)
One screen is the minimal for me now, two are important when I need n overview on
many things at the same time (particularly useful when I work).
Of course, you need a computer that can support two more screens at the same time,
one using HDMI and the other VGA, for instance.

A SSD Hard Drive, mine is 256GB and it's not enough. I wish I had taken a 512
at least, and still, that wouldn't probably be enough because all games should be in the
SSD, as well as the OS.

I7 (or good I5) processor or similar. So useful to compile and install packages
fast, even for a web developper (compiling CoffeeScript or TypeScript or installing
packages through npm, bower or alike takes time, much more time with a I3, believe
me). Just time saver, with a SSD it's a few seconds away from a completed boot from
scratch.

I use a remote mouse designed to help with the right-hand position, which helps
when you use your computer for hours every single day. Here is the one I use (french
description) CSL - Souris optique TM137U

The total storage of my computer is 2 * 1To HDD + 256Go SSD. I just love it :)
(gotta buy a 750Go SSD some day though!)

Now, let's talk about the OS customization. I currently use Windows 8.1.
Home background and shortcuts customization (Dexpot):
I use a custom brackground images for each screen, and I can switch configurations from
the game screen to the work screen, or the presentation screen.
Here is the game config: 2016-02-13 13_48_09-Screen.png

Here is the dev screen: 2016-02-13 14_00_05-Program Manager.png

And my presentation screen is a soft one without shortcuts or only those useful for the
presentation, I use it when I must show something to people through meeting or stuff like
that. I prefer to have a clean and soft background when I do that.
To achieve this, I useVirtual desktops for Windows which is really great even though it was
hard at first to configure different icons for config (shortcuts and so on), but configuring a
different background for each screen was kinda easy. There is no latency nor bugs, it just
works fine and I like it. I use a couple of shortcuts to go from one screen to another and I
could have up to 20 different setups. I haven't tried it with 3 screens yet!
Enhanced desktop (Rainmeter): 2016-02-13 14_19_05-Greenshot.png

In addition of the multiple desktop background, I use Rainmeter which allows me to add
custom components and configure them, for instance the links for games and sofwares
around the big circle in the picture above. Or the top bar with additional info such as CPU
used, RAM, and free disk space. Or the right bar with Network stats, processes uses and so
on.

You can add the components you want, but once again, it takes time to read, find and
configure what you want, but you'll definitely have a unique desktop after that :)
Note t...
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Gerry Kavanagh

17k Views Upvoted by Stan Hanks, building "the Internet" since 1981, now building web-scale
companies

I don't know if it's all that cool, but I replaced the stock spinning drive with an SSD,
andreplaced the DVD drive with a caddy into which I placed the original spinning drive, so I
have 750GB of 'slow' storage where stuff like media and things I am not directly working on
live and 256GB of 'fast' storage where the OS and most applications live.
It runs Arch Linux, which I like because it is so fast and small. The full install, including all
appplications and windowing environment is about 25GB - and thats after about 18 months
of usage. Also, the Arch wiki is probably the best source of documentation anywhere on the
Internet.
I use zsh as a shell, and urxvt as a console. I use Firefox with Vimperator as a browser and
mutt for email. I use hlwm as my window manager. All of these lend themselves to
keyboard-only interaction, which makes things much faster as I don't need to keep reaching
for a mouse/touchpad.
I have zsh configured to be 'git aware' using Zim. This means that the prompt will tell me if I
am in a repo that needs an add or commit without having to do continual 'git status'. I have
multiple versions of things like Python installed and use tools likevirtualenv and some
custom scripts to make everything Just Work.
I have a pretty comprehensive Vim configuration which could probably do with some
tidying up, but it works well for me and is pretty fast to use. It also has custom keystroke
help for when I have a senior moment and forget what key I assigned to 'show whitespace'.
I also have 'portable' Linux configuration courtesy of github and judicious usage of
symlinks. I know Gnu Stow is the (or at least a) right way to do this, but I have not yet (and
may never) taken the leap.

I have a udev rule which when it recognises my backup drive being plugged in,
automatically mounts it and rsyncs a bunch of important stuff.
I use BTRFS as a volume manager/filesystem, which gives fast, immediately accessible
point-in-time snapshots.
Most of the customisation I have done is to make an already pretty fast laptop faster, and to
enable me to just get on with stuff, without having to remember did I take a recent backup
or can I fix a broken upgrade.
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Chris Maguire, Entrepreneur, Engineering Co-founder of Postling and Etsy

28.3k Views Upvoted by Barry Rountree, Computer Scientist, LLNL

This was entirely aesthetic, but I'm still pretty happy with the laser etching I performed on
my netbook ( remember when those were a thing? ) in 2009. I assembled the complete level
maps of Super Mario Land into one contiguous panel and burned them into the top of the
machine with a BEAM OF CONCENTRATED LIGHT.

The monochrome design of the levels really lent itself to etching. Surprisingly, I still use this
machine occasionally in 2016 despite its advanced age.

Written Feb 9 View Upvotes

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Basit Saeed, Professional web developer, passionate mobile developer; love open source.
6.7k Views

I like customizing the physical aspects of my laptop. I am an avid Android fan and I develop
Android apps as well, so I have quite a collection of Android collectibles including their
stickers. You can see one Android developer sticker on the MacBook Pro along with a sticker
of git logo (because which developer doesn't love git?).
I actually ordered a couple of stickers a few days ago, one with a G of Google and a Open
Source logo to stick to the device.

Written Thu View Upvotes

Andrew Greimann, author of the Poem project

10.4k Views Upvoted by Stan Hanks, building "the Internet" since 1981, now building web-scale
companies

This question is a fun one! :) The real first thing, of course, is to put a proper flavor of
Gnu/Linux (i.e. Slackware, Debian, Gentoo) or a *BSD on it (although my main Mac runs
OS X). The second is to pop more memory in (in scenarios where its not soldered), and to
optimize the cooling system so that it doesn't overheat when you throttle it up with kvm,
xen, or that big project that needs to compile. Which sometimes means BIOS mods or
settings for fan speeds, extra paste, or any internal chassis modifications that one can find
once you have the whole machine apart in front of you. :) Such is bliss.
For example, one fun thing I used to do on the the PowerPC notebook models that allowed it
was to carefully remove the metal plate glued underneath the keys on the pop-out keyboards
to get more air (and remove the glue odor). And exchanging the key caps and shell parts on
Macs is also really fun to do, then and now. But, the Clamshells were the best -- you could
make the Apple glow (or even make it transparent if you removed the plates).
As of now (or any time) though, the coolest customizations are mods (or hacks, since its in a
playful sense). For instance, an EliteBook allows you to use the Upgrade Bay to slide in an
optical drive or a second hard drive. The cheaper models don't... but the way around that is
to mod it. Simply buy a optical to disk connector, take the computer apart, and pop an extra
hard drive on the inside. Then, use hot glue or whatever you wish to place the optical drive
fin/door on the outside. Alternatively, buying a pre-made caddy on eBay works as well. And
this is seriously useful, because my files can sit on one disk, with the OS on the other in case
something, like say, a not-ready-yet upgrade, were to go wrong beyond the usual night of
fixing it manually. You can also flip the screen around by re-routing the display cable and
make a big tablet out of your project if you really wanted to.
But the biggest ones are (un)surprisingly what you can accomplish between you, your
computer, and whatever software you've got in front of you -- which is why I happen to love
a solid, configurable Gnu/Linux personally. For example, by running jobs and processes in
parallel inside the shell, installing fancontrol and/or lm_sensors for more grip over fan
speed, or passing certain flags inside /sys and /proc, you can get a lot more out of the
system than with outer mods alone.
And, well... I have painted and sanded notebook shells before, but in the end, I think it looks
many times uglier than if I had left it alone -- so for the most part, I don't do this anymore
like I used to (and who knows, I might again!). Some hardware enthusiasts really love what
they can do though, and really take it seriously. And there's people that know, live, and love
their hardware with passion. :)

But anyway, there's my input on this because I just couldn't resist -- just one of several fun
stories and tips posted in this thread. :-)

Ivo Gregurec
5.5k Views Upvoted by Stan Hanks, building "the Internet" since 1981, now building web-scale
companies

It's not really for programmers nor something you can do on your own as a weekend project
but it is certainly the coolest modification of a laptop:

The company Modbook Pro has 10+ years of experience in turning MacBooks into tablets.
We're talking about pre iPad era so basically these were the first commercial tablets.
But this is not just a tablet it is a mobile work station for a creative professionals - it has a
stylus with 2048 levels of pressure over the 15" retina display, powerful configuration and
full functionality of OS X.
Too bad that Apple haven't been going in that direction :(

Gilles Castel, I write in js and python

4.3k Views

I'm going to talk about the inside. This is how it looks:

I use the Arc theme with Numix icons, Zsh shell (Oh My Zsh with the agnoster theme) in a
transparent terminal.
Oh My Zsh can come in very handy when working with git repositories:

I have very good syntax completion (gifs) and I have syntax highlighting too.

I've also installed

thefuck
.

This is a program that tries to correct your commands. When I press

esc esc
, the program suggest a corrected command. For example (screenshot) I typed
1.

touch /test/blah/blah/test.py <ENTER>

Which didn't work. Then I pressed

esc esc enter
. Now it suggests to make the directory and touch the file. The problem now is that I don't
have the permissions. I press
esc esc enter
again, and it suggests to use
sudo

I have also some handy aliases:

1.

alias ytmp3='youtube-dl --extract-audio --audio-quality 0 --audio-format

mp3 ' # works for playlists too

2.

alias update='sudo apt-get update'

3.

alias upgrade='sudo apt-get upgrade'

4.

alias aptinstall='sudo apt-get install -y'

5.

alias ..='cd ..'

6.

alias ...='cd ../../../'

7.

alias :q='exit' # vim user :)

8.

...

Tmux is an awesome terminal multiplexer which I use a lot.

Other things that make my life better:

Like a lot of other programmers use flux, I use Redshift to reduce eye strain.
Printscreen invokes shutter which saves the screenshot in a folder and puts it
on my clipboard.

Ctrl-Printscreen invokes a script that records a gif from my desktop.

Variety shows me a new desktop wallpaper every day. It tries to fit my

taste.

I mapped extra mouse buttons to switch between virtual desktops

Chrome extensions:

User agent switcher (Thanks Paul Olaru) for switching to IE 10 to get

back the old editor on Quora.

Stylebot

Vimium for vim shortcuts to navigate the web at light speed

New tab redirect

o
o

Block list from Google

I wrote my own new tab page, that lets me open webpages in a few keystrokes. qdfytc shows
me the following and opens Quora, Drive, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Codepen a few
milliseconds after I pressed the keys.

Written 6h ago View Upvotes

Rok Kralj
23.6k Views Upvoted by Stan Hanks, building "the Internet" since 1981, now building web-scale
companies

I have done a huge amount of customization to my laptop. It is a 6 year old HP probook and
we get along very well together. Let me tell you some examples:

As a geek, I want the latest and greatest. I have replaced HDD with a SSD, added
the best possible processor (core2 duo T9600) and added 8 GB ram.

I have replaced thermal pads with thermal paste and copper shims, making it
really cool.

I have sanded off all the glossy surfaces.

Most laptop screens, especially in the past came with a disgusting blue tint. I
have used ColorHug color calibrator to correct this shortcoming.

I have a lot of stickers that remind me of the events we have attended

together. :)

I have made my own USB device which is a LED with flexible cable to illuminate
the keyboard.

I have removed the CD/DVD drive to shed off some unnecessary weight.
From software standpoint:

I have made a script that allows you to set the CPU temperature ranges when
different fan speeds turn on (strelec/HP-4510s-fan-control ). This enabled me a more
silent operation at the cost of a few degrees higher temperatures, since the heat
dissipates faster, the bigger delta T is.

I have made a laptop alarm clock. The laptop is able to wake up from sleep at a
precise hour in the morning and starts playing random music on the disk and a text-tospeech engine tells me the current weather and the amount of minutes I have been
been oversleeping.

Using Gentoo Linux, I have compiled the kernel without the drivers for all the
stuff I don't use. So instead of putting a sticker over my webcam, I have just removed
the drivers.
Bonus (process of the upgrade):

Updated Feb 6 View Upvotes

Gerard Soldevila

7.7k Views Upvoted by Stan Hanks, building "the Internet" since 1981, now building web-scale
companies

Similarly to Gerry Kavanagh, I updated my old MacBook white from 2008 and gave it a new
life, by:

Replacing the CD drive with: support + 2.5" HDD (which I unmounted from an
External HDD I had)

Replacing the original HDD by an SSD disk

Replacing the RAM memory in order to upgrade from 2Gb to 4Gb

Changing the battery (which was completely dead)

Installing a lightweight Linux distribution (Xubuntu)

Here are some pictures of the process:

Surprisingly, installing Xubuntu turned out to be the most complex part of the process, due
to limitations in boot mechanism and UEFI system.
Today, almost 3 years after the upgrade, the laptop continues to work like a charm
Written Feb 5 View Upvotes

Sruti Srinivasa Ragavan, Can write code.

557 Views

I usually get good enough hardware, for my needs -- often not much customization needed
there.
I get a good shell / case. No scratches, eh!
As for the software stuff, nothing particularly cool, just necessities. But I obsess over them.
Here are the rituals in order:
1.

Get Evernote, evernote clearly and clipper browser extensions, among other
utilities.

2.

My favorite dev tools like windiff, cygwin (for windows machine), git, github, ftp
client, etc.. I use Install or Update Multiple Apps at Once for Windows.. Cant yet find
one for mac.

3.

Sync bookmarks (collected since 2008)

4.

Fix my dotfiles: something like.. paulirish/dotfiles. But I like my aliases better :)

5.

Create a new drive, set default directories for data files to that partition for data
-- super useful especially when I have a dual boot machine.

6.
7.

Install IDEs, fix key mappings.

Write scripts for start of day -- I usually call this dowork or startwork -- that
pulls repos, builds, runs tests, deploys to local server, etc.. I come in, run this and all is
ready while I grab breakfast / brew my morning coffee, and fill my water bottle (I did
this on every project I worked on, in the past)
Written 11h ago View Upvotes

Paul Tomblin, Computer programmer since 1981. Mostly familiar with Unix/Linux
environments.
3.4k Views Upvoted by Stan Hanks, building "the Internet" since 1981, now building web-scale
companies

I had a Powerbook G4 Titanium that I decorated with reproductions of airline stickers from
the golden age of air travel. A friend made the central ring with the art-deco style fonts.

Then I upgraded to a 17" Powerbook G4, I got a custom skin. It's a picture of the Snowbirds
and I took it to an airshow and got the Snowbirds pilots to sign it. Unfortunately I don't have
a picture of it with the signatures.

When I got a newer MacBook Pro 17", I made another skin for it:

Yes, I like the Snowbirds. My newest laptop doesn't have a skin, just a small sticker from
Epic Kayaks.
Written Thu View Upvotes

Sen, An adventurer lost in the megastructure that people call the internet.
6k Views Upvoted by Stan Hanks, building "the Internet" since 1981, now building web-scale companies

At the companies I've been at, everyone's issued with an MBP which is often more than
enough for our jobs. So the only customising anyone does is superficial.
Most everyone has stickers all over it like those souped up race cars.
Come to think of it, I don't actually know of any professional programmer in my social circle
that doesn't use a macbook (pro/air/new) whether issued or personal. Even the
linux/windows folks use macbooks.
Written Feb 6 View Upvotes

David Ecale, Computer Systems Analyst/Prgrammer with OS Experience from IBM.

UNIVAC & CRAY
220.7k Views David is a Most Viewed Writer in Computer Programmers.

First, "BUY THE RIGHT LAPTOP!" Yup, just the right laptop makes things easy. Here's an
example:

1) Dell Precision M6300 (from eBay for $125):

A) 2.4GHz dual core CPU
B) High-End NVIDIA Graphics Card
C) 4GB RAM
D) Dual-Band WiFi
E) Bluetooth

F) Customizable: Slide out Disk Caddy. ... So, I have separate Caddys with HDDs. They are
loaded with:
F1) Win10
F2) Win7pro
F3) UBUNTU
F4) Debian
F5) Fedora
F6) WinVista
F7) Nope, no WinXP for this one, yet. ...

A simple power off, swap HDD & Caddy, power on & reboot & there's a totally different OS!
Really cheap, too, as the Caddys cost about $3.00 each & the HDDs cost $25~$75 each
(according to speed & capacity)!

PS. The letter/stamp sheet holder on the right in the picture is an old Slot-1 Pentium II CPU
with an attached heat sink! //Who says that old technology is totally useless in the modern
world. There's always another application out there somewhere!//

My complete setup:

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Daniel Dvorkin
3.2k Views Upvoted by Stan Hanks, building "the Internet" since 1981, now building web-scale
companies

Matt Mullenweg got a custom lid for his Macbook where they carved out the WordPress logo
instead of the Apple : Special WordPress Macbook Air
Written Wed View Upvotes

Foo Fii

3.2k Views

Like many other have said I'll start by buying the right laptop which should be:
Screen:
I think this is the vital part of the laptop and that it's a life-teaching lesson that I've learned
while I've bought different laptops:
1- At least 15'. No way to work many hours a day in a smaller one... (at least for me)
2- Full HD (1980x1080). It's vital to use IDEs like eclipse in which you have many frames
inside a window. Lower resolutions become annoying because you have to SCROLL a lot of
(vertical an horizontally)
3- Matte. Because you will move it and, if you are going to work in a laptop, eventually, one
day, you will want to work in a pub with a cold beer and you'll realize that you can't do it
comfortably in a glossy one.
Keyboard:
Much more important than you think: they are not the same....
For example the one that is in the ASUS gaming series uses the 'End' button as 'power
switch', so you haven't 'end' button :O.
In my personal point of view I tend to buy keyboards with backligth because are much more
usable with poor illumination.
CPU/GPU/Memory:
Something not-too-bad.... An actual CPU (i3, i5, 5xxx, 6xxx...) and a standar GPU (if any, a
940?)
After buying a laptop:
1- If it don't have one, remove the DVD-ROM (which you will NEVER user, seriously) and
put a SSD with a caddy in its place to load OS and most-used applications. You will save A
LOT OF time. Think that the laptop disk usually are low-rpm-energy-saving-HDD disks...
SSD saves more energy and its much more fast....
2- If you aren't going to develop .net: LINUX. I think that its much more productive... I use
ubuntu.
This points for me are MUST... from that point on as you like...
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Answers that need improvementWhy?

Bob Castleman
Don't any of you guys have a Bedazzler?
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ROmano. COppola
1.
Written 10h ago
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Paul Olaru, False certainty is worse than no certainty.

My Linux system can have the same high resolution on both the internal and external screen
and duplicate. Scaling too. With no display damage.
Written Thu
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Dennis J Frailey, Semi-Retired Software Engineer, specialist in management issues

The coolest way is to do something on your own, something that you thought of yourself
that is useful to you and wasn't copied from somebody else just to look cool.
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Abdullah Zameek
By customize, you mean software-wise, I guess they probably use something like Arch Linux
to 'build' an environment that suits their needs.
I'm not a programmer but I'm guessing there are some programmers who do this kind of
thing but I do know programmers who use their laptops just the way they are without any
modification. I guess it probably comes down to personal taste and whether or not their
setups are efficient enought for the work they do.
Written Feb 5
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Anonymous
Laptops are not very easy to customize, but instead desktops are usually personalized with
LED lights, and other sorts. Laptops might be customized with stickers. But if you mean the
OS, programmers usually use linux, as skins can be downloaded or created to make it easier
to use, or to make it just plain cool.
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