It’s Been a Year
So, my last post was about me switching to Linux for a couple of reasons, to be honest. One reason was to embrace my inner hipster and try something new. Another reason was the recent Microsoft recall news. I always thought the switch would be pretty difficult, but it’s been over a year now, and I barely use Windows anymore—mostly just for gaming.
My Journey with Linux
When I wrote that last post, I was a total newbie. I didn’t even mention what desktop environment I would be running on Arch Linux! Alright, so I’m still rocking the same OS I chose when I made the switch back then. I initially started with Cinnamon as my DE, but very quickly switched over to KDE.
Why I Love KDE Plasma
KDE Plasma has been a blast! Quite literally—it’s very customizable, fast, and supports Wayland quite well in the latest Plasma versions. Honestly, it’s so easy to use, but I’m probably a bit biased. I’m relatively tech-savvy, so some things might be more obvious to me than to the average user. Still, for example, SteamOS is using KDE as a basis, and that’s a pretty broad consumer item. Of course, 90% of the users probably don’t even explore the Linux environment, but it does mean something.
Discovering Obsidian
Another thing I’ve been very hooked on this past year is Obsidian—the note-taking app.
Why Obsidian Works for Me
Yeah, a note-taking app has taken over my life. Honestly, I could spend hours talking about it, but I’ll try to keep it short. So, for starters, what makes it so good is, without a doubt, the community behind it. There’s so much information on how to get started and, more importantly, how to build a system that works for you. Yeah, a system. There’s a lot behind it, but the main idea (for me at least) of using Obsidian is to keep the least amount of information in my brain at any time. If there’s anything I need to remember or do, I jot it down. If there’s something I want to keep track of, I jot it down. It’s very easy to do.
Tracking My Game Backlog
For example, something I always wanted to do was keep track of my game backlog and completion times. I’m a bit of a data freak, and I enjoy 100%’ing some games, so I used to take notes or save important links to keep things handy. With Obsidian, everything is streamlined.
I have this table that is built automatically for every completed game. A couple of things are happening here (like using the DataView plugin, QuickAdd to add entries, and a custom script to grab data from IGDB), but the final result looks like this:
How I Organize My Game Data
This is what I have stored for each game individually. I primarily keep track of important dates—when I started playing, when I finished it, and when I completed it. I also keep track of a personal score, just to stay organized. Some important links are added as well, like trophy guides. The rest is added automatically by QuickAdd with a custom script to scrape metadata from IGDB.
Conclusion
Overall, it’s been an exciting year with Linux, and I don’t see myself switching back anytime soon!