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Puru
Puru

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๐Ÿ If I Got a New Mac, Here's What I'd Install First as a DevOps Engineerย ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿ’ป

Introduction

Whenever I get a new Mac, the first thing I do is set it up with the apps and tools that make my workflow smooth. These apps help me stay productive, organized, and ready for whatever comes my way. Here's my go-to list of must-have installs:

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Essentials for Work and Dev

  • ๐ŸŒ Arc โ†’ My Safari/Chrome replacement for a cleaner browsing experience.
  • ๐Ÿ“บ Warp โ†’ My favorite replacement for the built-in Terminal.
  • ๐Ÿ“บ Alacritty โ†’ Another solid Terminal option.
  • โ†”๏ธ Easy+Move+Resize โ†’ Easily move and resize windows like on Linux.
  • ๐Ÿณ Docker Desktop โ†’ For all things Docker.
  • ๐Ÿ“Š iStat Menus โ†’ Keeping an eye on system performance.
  • ๐Ÿถ k9s โ†’ A terminal UI for interacting with Kubernetes clusters.
  • ๐Ÿš Fish โ†’ My shell of choice, replacing bash and zsh.
  • ๐Ÿ“บ Zellij โ†’ My preferred Tmux replacement.
  • ๐Ÿ“‚ exa โ†’ An enhanced ls command replacement.
  • ๐Ÿ“ฆ Homebrew + Nix โ†’ Package managers to handle everything.
  • ๐ŸŒˆ kubecolor โ†’ Makes kubectl outputs more readable.

Code Editors and Tools

  • ๐Ÿค– Cursor (๐Ÿ“™ Checkout My Book) โ†’ VS Code replacement powered by AI.
  • ๐Ÿ“ Sublime Text โ†’ My all-time favorite for quick note-taking or file editing.
  • ๐Ÿ™ GitHub Desktop with GH CLI โ†’ For managing Git repositories easily.

macOS Enhancements

  • ๐Ÿ”Ž Raycast โ†’ Replaces Spotlight, streamlines productivity.
  • ๐Ÿ”˜ ChatGPT โ†’ My AI assistant on macOS.

Creative and Visual Tools

  • ๐ŸŽจ Pixelmator Pro โ†’ Photoshop for Mac.
  • ๐ŸŽฅ GIPHY Capture โ†’ Simple GIF creation tool.

Productivity Boosters

  • โœ๏ธ Day One โ†’ Daily journaling for tracking life and work.
  • โšซ๏ธ Obsidian โ†’ Powerful note-taking app.
  • ๐Ÿ”ต Trello โ†’ Organizing projects and tasks.

Miscellaneous

  • ๐ŸŒ Flux โ†’ Reduces eye strain by adjusting screen brightness at night.
  • โฌ‡๏ธ Motrix โ†’ The best download manager Iโ€™ve found.
  • ๐ŸŸฃ OrbStack โ†’ Lightweight Linux VM on Mac.
  • ๐ŸŸ  Multipass โ†’ Another VM option for running Linux.
  • โฏ๏ธ VLC โ†’ My go-to video player.
  • ๐Ÿฆ™ Ollama โ†’ Run LLMs (Large Language Models) locally.

Summary

These are my personal picks, and Iโ€™ve found them incredibly useful. If you found this list helpful, please give it a thumbs up, and let me know if there are any apps or tools you think I should try out! ๐Ÿ™Œ

๐Ÿค LinkedIn (@ptuladhar3) | X (@tuladhar) | GitHub (@tuladhar)

๐Ÿ‘ Did you found it helpful? If so, please give it a star โญ๏ธ and feel free to create an issue or submit a PR for any apps you'd like to include! ๐Ÿ™Œ

Top comments (7)

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bugf1x3r profile image
Agustรญn Clemente โ€ข

Great content here! Thanks for sharing.
As an 8-hour-a-day developer, I can share one more tool: BatFi. It helps me to take care of the battery and use energy directly from the power line once the battery reaches a predetermined threshold. It's been 4 months since I got my MacBook Pro and I have 50 power cycles.

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ptuladhar3 profile image
Puru โ€ข

Is it open-source? How do I download it?

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martinbaun profile image
Martin Baun โ€ข

As a new Mac user, I highly appreciate this resource! Might I also suggest Goleko to manage your projects, Id love to hear what you think.

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ptuladhar3 profile image
Puru โ€ข

Thanks Martin, really glad you found it useful. Is there an open-source self-hosted option for Goleko?

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martinbaun profile image
Martin Baun โ€ข

Currently no, but we're working on it! :)

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citronbrick profile image
CitronBrick โ€ข

I would suggest Vivaldi a Chromium based browser with mouse gestures, that gives you the experience of using a wand.

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ptuladhar3 profile image
Puru โ€ข โ€ข Edited

I have used Vivaldi in the past, but I recommend Arc at this moment, and it's Chrome-based as well.