Software that I ❤

mod:Sunday, August 10, 2025

I bounce between Mac, Windows, and Linux daily — and honestly, the tools matter more than the OS at this point. Great software is great software, and I’ve been lucky enough to build a career on top of things that other people built well.

This is the stuff I actually reach for. Not a “best of” list, not sponsored, not comprehensive. Just software that makes me better at what I do — or at least makes the work more fun.

Software Development

IDE

JetBrains Rider

Cross-platform .NET IDE. Fast, smart, and doesn’t need Visual Studio’s weight to get the job done.

IDE

Visual Studio

The OG. Heavy, but when you need the full .NET debugging experience, nothing else comes close.

editor

VS Code

Extension ecosystem is unmatched. Somehow Electron done right.

editor

Neovim

Vim reborn. Lua config, LSP native, and a plugin ecosystem that won’t quit. :wq is a lifestyle.

AI

Claude Code

AI pair programmer in your terminal. It’s writing this page right now.

version control

Git

The version control system that won. Love it or hate it, you can’t ship without it.

version control

lazygit

Terminal UI for git that makes interactive rebases feel like cheating.

JSON

jq

sed for JSON. Once you learn the syntax, you’ll pipe everything through it.

database

JetBrains DataGrip

SQL IDE that actually understands your schema. Autocomplete that works across joins.

database

DBeaver

Universal database tool that actually works. Connect to anything, query everything.

database

SSMS

Microsoft SQL Management Studio. If you’re in SQL Server land, you already know.

database

PostgreSQL

The database that keeps getting better. Extensions, JSON support, and rock-solid reliability.

containers

Docker

“Works on my machine” became “works on every machine.” Changed how we ship software.

Infrastructure

orchestration

Kubernetes

Container orchestration that makes you mass produce YAML for a living.

orchestration

K3s

All of Kubernetes in a single binary. Perfect for homelab, edge, and production deployments.

IaC

Terraform / OpenTofu

Infrastructure as code. OpenTofu if you prefer the open-source fork without the license drama.

networking

Tailscale

WireGuard-based mesh VPN that just works. Connect everything without opening a single port.

observability

Grafana

Dashboards for everything. Pairs with Prometheus, Loki, Tempo — the whole observability stack.

Kubernetes

k9s

Terminal UI for Kubernetes. Makes cluster management feel like a video game. Way faster than raw kubectl.

Kubernetes

Lens

The Kubernetes IDE. When you want to point and click your way through a cluster without shame.

it's complicated

Cloudflare

You love them. You hate them. Your DNS is already there. Their edge network is everywhere, their pricing is unbeatable, and their product sprawl is terrifying. Stockholm syndrome as a service.

Shell & Terminal

shell

Bash

The shell that’s been there since before you were born. Simple, portable, everywhere.

shell

Zsh

Bash’s cooler sibling. Tab completion, globbing, and plugin support that actually makes the terminal enjoyable.

prompt

Starship

Cross-shell prompt written in Rust. Fast, pretty, and infinitely configurable.

multiplexer

tmux

Terminal multiplexer. SSH into a box, detach, come back tomorrow. Your session is still there.

coreutils

eza

Modern replacement for ls. Colors, git status, and tree view out of the box. Written in Rust, obviously.

Utilities / Apps

macOS

AltTab

Why does macOS think a minimized window is an inactive window and not let you switch to it? This fixes that.