env

Journey: Ubuntu → Debian → macOS
After years of working primarily on Linux (Ubuntu first, then Debian), I’ve now fully settled on macOS (Tahoe) as my daily development environment.
This setup reflects a balance of Unix familiarity, performance, and developer ergonomics without sacrificing control.

Philosophy

• Declarative over imperative
• One tool over many
• Explicit signals over magic
• Local-first AI

macOS (Tahoe)

This document captures what I installed, why I installed it, and how everything fits together, so the environment is:

• Reproducible
• Minimal yet powerful
• Language-agnostic
• Friendly to polyglot + AI-assisted workflows

System Overview

• OS: macOS Tahoe
• Architecture: Apple Silicon (ARM64)
• Shell: Zsh
• Package Manager: Homebrew
• Version Manager: Mise
• Containers & Docker: OrbStack
• Prompt Engine: Oh My Posh
• Fonts: JetBrains Mono Nerd Font
• AI Runtime: Ollama (Metal / GPU)

Homebrew (Foundation)

Homebrew is the base package manager for everything else.

Post-Install Highlights

• /opt/homebrew/bin added to PATH via /etc/paths.d
• Portable Ruby installed
• Homebrew analytics enabled (aggregate only)

Shell Setup

echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

Docs: https://docs.brew.sh

Git

brew install git

OrbStack (Containers & Docker)

brew install orbstack

Features:

• Fast Docker & Kubernetes
• Native macOS integration
• Low resource usage
• CLI tools: orb, orbctl

Mise (Unified Toolchain Manager)

brew install mise
eval "$(mise activate zsh)"

Cleanup

mise prune --tools
mise cache prune

Docs: https://betterstack.com/community/guides/scaling-nodejs/mise-vs-asdf/

Fonts & Terminal

brew install --cask font-jetbrains-mono-nerd-font

Terminal:

• Font: JetBrains Mono Nerd Font
• Size: 12

Prompt - Oh My Posh (Custom Peru Theme)

brew install jandedobbeleer/oh-my-posh/oh-my-posh

Upgrade

brew upgrade jandedobbeleer/oh-my-posh/oh-my-posh
brew cleanup

Theme - Peru Custom

Initialize with .zshrc:

eval "$(oh-my-posh init zsh --config ~/.config/oh-my-posh/peru-custom.json)"

Ollama (Local AI Runtime)

Installed via DMG from the official website.

• Uses Metal API
• Runs LLMs locally
• No Docker required

Java (via Mise)

mise use -g java@21

macOS Integration

sudo mkdir /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/21.0.2.jdk
sudo ln -s ~/.local/share/mise/installs/java/21.0.2/Contents \
  /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/21.0.2.jdk/Contents

Clojure

mise use -g clojure@1.12.4

Node.js

mise use -g node@24.12.0

Python + UV

mise use -g python@3.14.2
mise use -g uv@latest

Optional Mise Setting

[settings]
# python.uv_venv_auto = true

Python Environment Awareness (Zsh Hook)

autoload -Uz add-zsh-hook

_check_python_env_state() {
  if [[ "$PWD" == */.venv/* ]]; then
    return
  fi

  if [[ (-f pyproject.toml || -f requirements.txt) && ! -d .venv ]]; then
    printf "[!] Python project detected, virtual environment (.venv) not found\n"
    printf "[>] Create one with: uv venv --seed\n"
    return
  fi

  if [[ -d .venv ]]; then
    if [[ -z "$VIRTUAL_ENV" ]]; then
      printf "[!] Python virtual environment exists but is NOT active\n"
      printf "[>] Activate with: source .venv/bin/activate\n"
    elif [[ "$VIRTUAL_ENV" != "$PWD/.venv" ]]; then
      printf "[!] A different Python virtual environment is active\n"
      printf "[>] Active venv  : %s\n" "$VIRTUAL_ENV"
      printf "[>] Project venv : %s\n" "$PWD/.venv"
      printf "[>] Fix: deactivate && source .venv/bin/activate\n"
    fi
  fi
}

add-zsh-hook chpwd _check_python_env_state

Project-Level Mise Config

[tools]
python = "3.14.2"

The file must be trusted for activation.

Consolidated .zshrc

Default location: ~/.zshrc

### Homebrew ###
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

### mise ###
eval "$(mise activate zsh)"

### Oh My Posh ###
eval "$(oh-my-posh init zsh --config ~/.config/oh-my-posh/peru-custom.json)"

# Added by Antigravity
export PATH="/Users/anuj/.antigravity/antigravity/bin:$PATH"

# Alias
alias gst="git status"

# Hooks
autoload -Uz add-zsh-hook

_check_python_env_state() {
  ## Check for existing venv directory - do nothing
  if [[ "$PWD" == */.venv/* ]]; then
    return
  fi

  ## Case 1: Python project but no venv
  if [[ (-f pyproject.toml || -f requirements.txt) && ! -d .venv && "$PWD" != */.venv/* ]]; then
    printf "[\u0021] Python project detected, virtual environment (.venv) not found\n"
    printf "[\u003E] Create one with: uv venv --seed\n"
    return
  fi

  ## Case 2: venv exists but not active (VIRTUAL_ENV-based only)
  if [[ -d .venv ]]; then
    if [[ -z "$VIRTUAL_ENV" ]]; then
      printf "[\u0021] Python virtual environment exists but is NOT active\n"
      printf "[\u003E] Activate with: source .venv/bin/activate\n"
    elif [[ "$VIRTUAL_ENV" != "$PWD/.venv" ]]; then
      printf "[\u0021] A different Python virtual environment is active\n"
      printf "[\u003E] Active venv  : %s\n" "$VIRTUAL_ENV"
      printf "[\u003E] Project venv : %s\n" "$PWD/.venv"
      printf "[\u003E] Fix: deactivate && source .venv/bin/activate\n"
    fi
  fi
}

### Add the hook
add-zsh-hook chpwd _check_python_env_state

Consolidated Mise Config

Default location: ~/.config/mise/config.toml

[tools]
clojure = "1.12.4"
go = "1.25.5"
java = "21"
node = "24.12.0"
python = "3.14.2"
uv = "latest"

[settings]
# Let Mise detect and automatically use the venv that uv creates
# Requires trusted project level mise.toml
# Might get clingy if you want to deactivate
# python.uv_venv_auto = true

[env]
GIT_AK = "/Users/anuj/data/workspace/git/anujsrc"

Ubuntu (2024 and earlier)

Dev Environment for Ubuntu that sets up these tools-

• zsh
• Liquid Prompt
• vim
  • All the base Vim plug-ins for Clojure
• emacs-25
• Screen
• Solarized Theme
• Inconsolata and Hermit fonts

Usage

Run setup.sh

Disk Partitions

A typical single HDD partitions can be done as shown below-

Utilities

Here are some of the utilities-

• Setup Docker
• Setup Virtualbox
• Setup Vagrant
• Setup Nvidia-Prime-Bumblebee
• Setup Tensorflow
• Build Emacs25
• Restart Network

Checklists and Cheatsheets

Here are some of the checklists and references that are always handy-

• Ubuntu-16.04 Installation Notes
• Emacs Quick Reference
• Docker/Vagrant/VirtualBox Quick Reference

Secure boot and VirtualBox Component Signing

VirtualBox requires the components to be signed and key to be enrolled with to
work with Secureboot. To do so, first generate the keys using the command-

openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout MOK.priv -outform DER -out MOK.der -nodes -days 36500 -subj "/CN=Descriptive name/"

Above command will generate two files MOK.priv and MOK.der. To sign
VirtualBox components execute the script
sign-vboxmods.sh
in the same folder where the MOK.* files have been generated. Once you have
signed the components, you need to enroll the key (only once) as shown below-

sudo mokutil --import MOK.der

Now, reboot the machine, enrol the key from the manager screen and probe the
component as shown below-

sudo modprobe vboxdrv

Kernel Upgrades and DKMS Key Issues

If you update your kernel, you need to make sure that all your DKMS modules are installed.
Run build-dkms-modules.sh to fix one of these issues-

% dkms status
bbswitch, 0.8, 4.4.0-59-generic, x86_64: installed
bbswitch, 0.8, 4.4.0-62-generic, x86_64: installed (WARNING! Diff between built
and installed module!)
bbswitch, 0.8, 4.4.0-64-generic, x86_64: installed (WARNING! Diff between built
and installed module!)
nvidia-375, 375.39, 4.4.0-59-generic, x86_64: installed
nvidia-375, 375.39, 4.4.0-62-generic, x86_64: installed (WARNING! Diff between
built and installed module!) (WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!)
(WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!) (WARNING! Diff between built
and installed module!)
nvidia-375, 375.39, 4.4.0-64-generic, x86_64: installed (WARNING! Diff between
built and installed module!) (WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!)
(WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!) (WARNING! Diff between built
and installed module!)

Nvidia and Secure Boot with Debian-12 (Bookworm)

Follow the steps mentioned in the following wiki pages to setup signed Nvidia drivers and CUDA with Secure Boot:

• Nvidia Graphics Driver
• Sign Modules with Your Keys