As a software engineer, I spend a lot of time using the terminal. The terminal can be an incredibly powerful and effective tool in your everyday workflow. Every action you take is directly at your fingertips - the keys on your keyboard. Learning to use a command-line interface effectively not only boosts your productivity but also makes the experience more enjoyable.

Brandon Rhodes expresses it well in this talk. Every once in a while, it’s a good idea to stop and sharpen your tools. It’s no use mowing a large field of grass with a blunt scythe. Learning how your tools work is essential if you use them day in and day out. You can tailor the configuration to your specific preferences and requirements to get the best out of it.

In this guide, I’ll share my favorite tools and configurations for setting up a new Linux/Unix terminal environment. You can use it as a source of inspiration to set up your own terminal. Here’s some other sources that inspired me on this topic: mischavandenburg, bartekspitza, ThePrimeagen, omerxx, Tech Craft.

Here’s an example of what my terminal looks like with Zsh, Powerlevel10k, tmux and NeoVim:

Basic setup

The following instructions assume you’re using a Linux distribution with the apt package manager, such as Ubuntu or Debian. If you’re using a different distribution with another package manager (like pacman for Arch Linux or dnf for Fedora), simply substitute apt with your system’s package manager in the commands below.

Install and upgrade basic packages

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get --upgrade install \
	zip unzip sed curl wget git htop ncdu tree

Install the Brew package manager to get access to tools that are not available on apt. After installing Brew, run the suggested command to add it to your PATH.

(echo; echo 'eval "$(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"') >> /home/martijn/.bashrc  
eval "$(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

Install the additional packages:

apt-get install build-essential

brew install gcc

Shell theme

Customizing the look and feel of your terminal gives it that personal touch, making it more enjoyable to use. There are several options to customize your shell theme, which will be listed below. First, choose your shell technology: Bash, Zsh, or Fish are the most popular options. I recommend Bash or Zsh because they are supported by most tools we’ll be installing.

Zsh with Powerlevel10K theme (optional)

Use Oh My Zsh to manage the Zsh configuration. First, install Zsh using apt or brew.

brew install zsh

Now install Oh My Zsh.

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Install a nerd font for the terminal to support more icons.

Install the Powerlevel10k theme for Oh My Zsh.

Oh My Bash

Consider skipping Zsh and modifying Bash instead with Oh My Bash

Starship (Bash, Zsh, Fish and others)

Starship supports Bash, Zsh, Fish, and others.

curl -sS https://starship.rs/install.sh | sh

Dotfiles

In Unix, configuration is stored inside dotfiles and .config inside your home directory. You can store them on a Git repository or any other place where you can access them easily. I stored my dotfiles in a public Github repository, so I can clone them to any machine.

Github CLI

Get the GitHub CLI to authorize with private Git repositories.

Install using Brew

brew install gh

Authorize with Github

gh auth login

Get dotfiles

gh repo clone MartijnVanbiervliet/dotfiles

In my dotfiles repository, I’ve included an installer script that will symlink the dotfiles to my home directory. Using parameters to the installer script, you can choose to install only specific parts of the configuration. I recommend setting up your own repository for your personal dotfiles.

chmod +x ~/dotfiles/installer
~/dotfiles/installer

Text editor

Modern code and text editors are ubiquitous. There are dozens to choose from. However, the old-school Vim - introduced in 1991 - still has a large following thanks to its simplicity and keyboard-first approach ¹.

Vim encourages users to abandon their mouse and perform all actions with the keyboard. Although there’s a steeper learning curve, the experience allows you to perform frequent actions faster and more satisfyingly. By not having to remove your hands from the keyboard and staying inside the terminal, there are fewer distractions to your work. Ever since I started learning Vim motions - the default keyboard strokes and combos in Vim - I have fully embraced them in writing and coding. There is a reason why most modern code editors support Vim motions out-of-the-box or with a plugin.

While Vim is powerful in its simplicity, it doesn’t include many essential features found in contemporary code editors - like plugin support, integrated debugging, language servers, and modern graphical interfaces. This is where Neovim comes in - a modern fork of Vim that extends the editor with all these capabilities while maintaining Vim’s core philosophy.

Neovim

Use Brew to install

brew install neovim

LazyVim

LazyVim is a pre-configured Neovim configuration that is easy to use and customize. My personal Neovim configuration, based on LazyVim, is included in my dotfiles (as described in dotfiles). But you can also install LazyVim from scratch. Install LazyVim.

Terminal multiplexer

A terminal multiplexer allows you to create multiple sessions in a single terminal window. A very popular terminal multiplexer is tmux, but there are alternatives such as:

• Screen
• Zellij

Tmux

Install tmux using apt.

sudo apt install tmux

Install the tmux plugin manager. Plugins allow you to add more functionality and configure a custom theme.

git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm

To install plugins, start tmux and install plugins with Ctrl+b I

Here’s some command to get you started:

• To use tmux resurrect, use Ctrl+b + Ctrl+s to save.
• Detach from tmux session: Ctrl+b d
• Attach to tmux session: tmux a

My tmux configuration is part of my dotfiles. It includes the following plugins:

• tmux-resurrect - Save and restore tmux sessions
• tmux-continuum - Auto-save and restore tmux sessions
• tmux-cpu - Display CPU usage in tmux
• catppuccin/tmux - Catppuccin theme for tmux
• christoomey/vim-tmux-navigator - Navigate between tmux and vim splits

Optional

WSLU (If using WSL)

If using Windows Subsystem For Linux, install WSLU to get more tools.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wslutilities/wslu
sudo apt update
sudo apt install wslu

Set BROWSER env to support opening host browser from WSL VM.

echo "export BROWSER=wslview" >> ~/.bashrc

This adds support to open your browser to authenticate with Github CLI. Reference

LazyGit

LazyGit is a terminal UI for Git commands.

brew install lazygit

tldr-pages

Install tldr-pages tldr-pages is a super useful tool for getting a quick glance at how to use a command-line tool. Instead of digging through the man pages, tldr shows - at a glance - what the most prevalent way is to use that command. tldr-pages is a community-driven open-source project that can be used addition to traditional man pages.

Pyenv

Manage multiple Python versions using pyenv. An essential tool for Python developers. It allows you to install and manage multiple versions of Python. This is a must-have if you’re working on Python projects that are based on different versions.

Install with Brew.

Set up the shell environment for Bash or Zsh.

Fzf

Fzf is a command-line fuzzy finder that revolutionizes how you search through files, directories, command history, and more. By simply entering a part of the filename, you can quickly find the file you’re looking for.

Some key features:

• Fuzzy search through files and directories
• Search through command history
• Integration with vim/neovim
• Customizable key bindings
• Preview window for files

Install with:

brew install fzf

Other

Finally, here are some other tools that I find useful, I encourage you to try them out and see if they improve your workflow.

• exa: Modern replacement for ls with color-coding, git integration and tree view support
• ripgrep: Lightning fast search tool that respects .gitignore rules and supports regex patterns
• bat: Enhanced cat command with syntax highlighting, line numbers and git integration
• zoxide: Smart directory jumper that learns from your navigation habits
• entr: File watcher utility that runs commands when files change - great for development
• midnight commander: Feature-rich terminal file manager with dual pane interface
• rsync: Fast and versatile file copying/syncing tool with remote capabilities
• rclone: Swiss army knife for cloud storage - sync files across cloud providers
• btop: Resource monitor with CPU, memory, network and process views
• ntfy: Send push notifications to your devices from command line or scripts