This is my first post using Hugo, a static site generator, with the PaperMod theme. I migrated from a self-built Svelte-Kit based JAMStack. This gave me an opportunity to use a simpler to manage stack of getting content out there. I got to dip my toes into the world of a front-end web developer.

Why did I switch?

I quickly learned front-end is not for me. I don’t have an eye for colors and style. The result was a not-very beautiful layout compared to some of my inpsirations. What I really cared more about was creating content. I think the level of extra maintenance with a self-built platform (we can ignore how much there actually was) was just enough friction to get me not writing. I also had to hand create every Markdown file and I didn’t have much energy/interest to get that automated and running.

I could have persisted, but my energy and time has shifted for developing. I have a 1-year old son who I have to chase around so time to just tinker with something I’ve lost interest in is just not very compelling! I know I can learn and make it easier, but then my challenge is I am just no longer interested. And that is ok with me. I am stil on a journey to learn new things.

Using Hugo

I converted a few weeks ago to Hugo and I got to use the CLI, but I forgot most of them since them. Simply put here’s a very crash course of how I do things.

Creating a new post (example)

hugo new content/blog/migrating-to-hugo.md

Generating the html files

hugo

Creating a local server you can browse to

hugo server

What else have I been doing?

I have been tinkering with homelabbing and diving into Nix and NixOS. I plan to have another post that talks about my entire journey through Linux and how I landed at Nix and NixOS. I am still wading through (and will eternally be) my nightconcept/dotfiles and have been migrating to a Nix-based at nightconcept/dotfiles-nix.

I have also officially started working as a software engineer at Garmin in October 2023. I have not moved companies, but I move all the way to the other side of campus. That said, I feel like I have even less desire to program outside of work. I do however have a stronger attraction for programming-adjacent activities such as learning all sorts of IT and DevOps things.