---
title: "Omacom"
author: "DHH"
url: "https://learn.omacom.io/3/omacom"
---

Vision, Mission & Principles

# Omakase Computing

Omacom stands for Omakase Computing. The word Omakase means "I'll leave it up to you" or "chef's choice" in Japanese.

It's the idea that most people don't actually know what they want, at least not at first. That they're better off getting something beautifully curated and integrated from someone they trust to make competent, tasteful decisions rather than suffer from [the paradox of choice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice).

It's [the same principle](https://rubyonrails.org/doctrine#omakase) that Ruby on Rails was built on.

It doesn't mean there isn't room for substitutions. It doesn't mean you can't develop your own taste and opinions. It just means that when you're starting out, you don't even have to know what all the different options are to enjoy an integrated, cohesive computing experience. 

Once you develop your competence and knowledge, you may well want to tinker and tailor your computing environment to your specific liking. Or not! Plenty of great programmers prefer to stick with a set of well-maintained defaults. But you always have the option.

In some ways, this is anathema to some branches of classic Linux culture. Where there's been a strong belief that everyone should know everything about all of their tools, and that they should preferably configure every last one from them from scratch.

The irony is that this atomized approach is exactly what's allowed Omacom, and Omarchy in particular, to put it all together in a delightfully integrated way! And what's allowing you to make tiny substitutions on the parts where you have a strong opinion without having to give up on the rest of the omakase menu.

Besides, the wonderful thing about Linux is that there's always another option. If you don't like my opinions, my omakase menus, you'll find a hundred other chef's catering to your liking. Isn't that great?

# Doctrine

There are a million different Linux distributions out there. Each with their own mission, vision, and principles. Same too with the Omacom remixes and distributions. There's not a mission here to chase a mass-market. Omacom is intended for developers, designers, and the technically-inclined. Here are our guiding principles.

### Defaults over decisions

It's literally in the name! Omakase! And that means while substitutions are always welcome, I'll first present you with an excellent set of defaults that were all curated together. You should have to make no decisions at all on your first go with Omacom wares. There'll always be a default, it'll always be considered.

Great defaults actually help you make better decisions. Because you'll always have a default to weigh your decision against. Is this actually better? If so, awesome. You're training your own taste and opinions against a known benchmark.

Ultimately, though, defaults are just that. A great place to start. Maybe that's all you need, and then you're done. But it can also be an invitation to dive deeper, develop your own eye, learn all the components, and come up with something personal. 

### Tasteful but not over-the-top

Aesthetics matter. I know that parts of the Linux culture traditionally have always looked with great skepticism at anything that looks too flashy or fancy. To the point that design is occasionally denigrated as unimportant or even in opposition to substance. I consider this to be total nonsense. The pursuit of beauty is a core human yearning. We should embrace the chase with enthusiasm.

But I know how the skepticism arose. There are plenty of software products that favor aesthetics to the point of distraction or at the expense of functionality. That's not the mission here. Aesthetics are important, but as an aid toward a beautiful, cohesive, and productive system. Not as an enemy of it.

Likewise, the unbridled creativity that flows through deeply personal, over-the-top setups, like the bulk of those you can find on [r/unixporn](https://reddit.com/r/unixporn), isn't the target either.

Omacom aims to be tastefully cohesive and casually cool. We don't need to try too hard, but try we should. 

### Keyboard before mouse

The mouse is a fantastic invention. It allowed far more people to become familiar and productive with their computer because it favors discovery over productivity. Learnability is high when you can just browse through menus, point at what you want, and click to get there. Wonderful.

But the mouse is also slow. Navigating your desktop by dragging windows around is never going to compete with the speed of keyboard navigation. Hotkeys take the hyper drive to their destination. The price comes in diminished discovery and decreased familiarity. You actually have to learn how THIS system works.

That's a price we're willing to pay with Omacom. Everything that can be done by the keyboard should be done by the keyboard. It's OK that it'll take longer to learn the system. It's OK to have a manual. It's OK to need to look up hotkeys until they become second nature.  

### Pragmatic commercialism

Omacom is based on a lot of Free Software™ and a lot of open source software, but it is in no way ideological about it. Using Linux, Arch, Ubuntu, Hyprland, and GNOME as the base ingredients allowed me to build systems that are free from excessive monopoly power, but on top of those systems, I celebrate the free market of commercial software with gusto.

This means all Omacom systems include commercial tools when they're the best option. From Spotify to 1password, from Typora to Zoom. It's all welcome. Right next to Pinta, Kdenlive, OBS Studio, and the rest of the open source options.

Omacom will always be open to business. Business users, business software, business involvement.

### Newer isn't better, better is better

There's a lot of churn in computing. Hot trends come, hot trends go. Some times what's hot is hot because it's really better. Other times it's just hot because it is new. It's actually hard to tell the difference until you really give it a try. 

It's easy to become a curmudgeon, never willing to try The New Thing, because you've become so jaded by things that were hot but not better in the past. I never want to become that person. Technology is simply more fun when you're optimistic about the idea that tomorrow's tools could be better than what we have today.

At the same time, I remember an endless parade of the NEW-NEW failing at ultimately being better than what it sought to replace. So like I don't want to become a curmudgeon, I also don't want to become gullible.

Omacom is going to ship what works, what's better. If that's a tool that's been around for twenty years, then that's what'll be in the box. If it's something that just came out last week, that's fine too.

### Let Linux be Linux

In search of acceptance, many Linux distributions and desktop environments have chased familiarity with Windows and Mac designs to a fault. Maybe this made sense at some point, maybe it still makes sense for some markets, but we also need Linux systems that are unapologetically Linux. In their design, in their functionality.

That's what Omacom strives to be: Uniquely Linux. Embracing the terminal as not just the command line for an entire system, but as an application platform in and of itself. TUIs — terminal user interfaces — are a great example of this. Are they a little nerdy? Yes, that's the fun! That's the point! That's the productivity! When you've learned your way around [LazyGit](https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit), you're not going to look for a GUI to wrangle your git commits again.

The same is true for the overall desktop experience. Omarchy embraces hard corners, 80s retro colors, and monospace fonts. It's not trying to ape the latest Liquid Glass trends from Apple, it's not trying to mirror the Windows task bar. It's trying to be confident in its own aesthetic and usability. So shall all of Omacom strive.

# It needn't always be easy

Most of the time, Linux is no harder to use than macOS or Windows — but sometimes it is! Sometimes things really do break! Sometimes you have to ask AI for an explanation of a weird error message. Sometimes there are things that don't work quite right or isn't as polished as you'd hope. That's the journey!

For the technically-minded users that Omacom are targeting, this shouldn't be a deal-breaker. In fact, learning more about your system at one or two layers lower than you would have on a commercial OS can be really rewarding  — even if it can definitely also be frustrating!

That's the price you pay for actually owning your computer. Being able to change just about everything about how it works. You taking control back, but you're also accepting responsibility. It's a package deal.

This is why Omacom isn't for everyone. Most people are happy to trade freedom for safety — or even just a bit of convenience! — and the commercial operating systems are there for them.

But I believe Linux is suitable for a far larger group of technically-minded users than are currently running it. The market for people who are ready to escape the computing comfort crisis, take control of their operating system, and do whatever the hell they please with their own computer is growing.

Omacom is here to help develop that market. Help people who are curious about Linux but unsure how to start on _The Journey_. By meeting them with open arms, shared enthusiasm, and none of the RTFM gatekeeping that sometimes isolate Linux to an uber-nerd island of self-imposed seclusion.

Let's go nerds!

Joining the party

# Omarchy or Omakub?

Omacom has two distro remixes on offer. Here's how to choose:

### Omakub

[Omakub](https://omakub.org) is the beginner-friendly option. It's built on [Ubuntu](https://ubuntu.com), the most popular Linux distribution, and it uses Gnome, a very familiar desktop environment to what you'll find in Windows or on the Mac. It's still geared towards keyboard use with developers in mind, but it's easier to get orientated, if this is your first experience with Linux, and if the idea of needing a text editor to setup your monitor arrangement seems intimidating.

### Omarchy

[Omarchy](https://omarchy.org) is the more advanced option. It's built on [Arch Linux](https://archlinux.org/), which has a reputation for being difficult, and uses a tiling window manager called [Hyprland](https://hypr.land) that's heavy on configuration files and short on GUI affordances. It does ask more of the user, but it's by no means some crazy hardcore nerds-only setup. It is, however, decidedly LINUX!

### Making a choice

I built Omakub when I first switched to Linux. I ran it as my daily driver for over a year. It's an excellent choice for anyone making the switch from Windows or Mac for the first time.

But today I run Omarchy. It's not as familiar, it's more of an acquired taste, but boy, when you acquire the taste for tiling window managers, it's hard to go back to using the mouse to drag windows around. The whole system just flows through your fingertips!

Omarchy is also the more visually appealing and coherent option. Omakub has to express its design through an existing desktop environment that's already quite particular about how things should look. I think it's managed the compromise very well, but with Omarchy, I've been able to take things much further.

If it's not obvious which of the two is right for you, have a look at [the Omakub video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXLra-31Jh0) and then [the Omarchy video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5Mnni7cea8) back to back. You'll get a good taste for both. 

And, hey, the price for either is a fat zero! So it's easy to try one out, see what you think, then change your mind and try the other afterwards. You'll usually spend less than 20 minutes setting each up on a reasonably fast internet connection. You can't really go wrong!

# Good Linux Hardware

Once upon a time, it was a pain to find hardware where everything just worked out of the box with Linux. Those days are long gone. There are now fantastic computer makers, like [Framework](https://frame.work/), [System76](https://system76.com/), and [TUXEDO](https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en), who all specialize in making Linux-compatible systems. And most of the big mainstream PC-maker options work as well (even if they may require some tinkering).

But it also just doesn't matter as much as it once did. Most of the new miniPCs from makers such as [Beelink](https://www.bee-link.com/) and [Minisforum](https://www.minisforum.com/) work great with Linux, even if its not necessarily a big priority for the companies themselves.

We're spoiled for choice these days, but here's what I've used and would recommend:

### Laptops

- [Framework 13](https://frame.work/laptop13): This was my go-to laptop for over two years. It's got a superb keyboard with delicious travel, a 3:2-aspect, matte, 258ppi screen that's ideal for code, it's fully user repairable, and the 61kwh battery got me about 6 hours in mixed use. Highly recommended in both the high-end HX370 version and even the last-gen 7840U. (If the 6 hours of battery sounds a bit light to you, get a [74wh Anker powerbank](https://www.anker.com/products/a1336-20000mah-power-bank?variant=42691854925974) to double that).
- [Tuxedo InfiniteBook Pro 14](https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/TUXEDO-InfinityBook-Pro-14-Gen10.tuxedo): Great matte 3K screen, very large 80wh battery (a third larger than the Framework 13!), dual NVMe drives, built-in ethernet + HDMI, 5xUSB ports, and all in a package weighing just 1.45kg. Only nit is the awkwardly small right SHIFT key on the US ANSI keyboard option.
- [Asus Zephyrous G14](https://rog.asus.com/laptops/rog-zephyrus/rog-zephyrus-g14-2026-gu405/): Amazing 2.8K OLED display that [pops](https://x.com/dhh/status/2013276036566315238) in a way no regular IPS or micro-LED screen can match. Comes with a variety of NVIDIA GPU options, which gives it serious performance for both gaming and smaller local LLM models. Build quality is a notch above Framework and Tuxedo, and on par with a MacBook, while still being user-serviceable for changing SSD, Wi-Fi card, and battery.

### Mini PCs

- [Beelink EQR6 6800U](https://www.bee-link.com/products/beelink-eqr6): Very respectable option for less than $500, comes with 24GB RAM + 1TB NVMe. 
- [Beelink SER9](https://www.bee-link.com/products/beelink-ser9-ai-9-hx-370): Great performance from the HX370, which is the same chip used in the top-end Framework 13, Tuxedo InfiniteBook, and G14. More than enough for almost anyone.
- [Framework Desktop](https://frame.work/desktop): This tiny little beast packs the insane AMD 395+ MAX chip, which with up to 128GB of shared memory, 16 CPU cores, and 40 GPU cores, is just a mad power house of a computer. And yet it's only 4.5L and completely silent. You'll pay for the privilege at around $2,000, but if you just want the best, this is it!

---

## Benchmarks

To help you pick a computer that works for what you need, here are a handful of benchmarks that guide my purchasing decisions.

### HEY App Test Suite
This is the full test suite for [HEY.com](https://hey.com/), which uses a native Ruby setup against MySQL/Redis/ElasticSearch inside Docker.

| Model                  | Score |
| ---------------------- | ----- |
| Apple M2               | 6m6s  |
| Apple M4               | 3m54s |
| AMD 5825U | 2m59s |
| Apple M4 Pro 14c       | 2m49s |
| AMD 7840U (F13)        | 2m43s |
| AMD 8745HS (UM870/SER8) | 2m28s |
| Apple M4 Max 16c       | 2m22s |
| AMD HX370 (F13/SER9)   | 2m5s  |
| AMD 7950X              | 1m23s |
| Intel 14900K           | 1m22s |
| AMD Max+ 395 | 1m21s |
| AMD 9950X              | 1m16s |
| AMD 9955HX   | 1m12s |

### Geekbench 6

#### Single-core

| Model                  | Score |
| ---------------------- | ----- |
| AMD 5825U | 2,082 |
| Apple M1 | 2,345 |
| AMD 7640U        | 2,516 |
| AMD 7840U      | 2,560 |
| AMD 8745HS              | 2,595 |
| Apple M2 / M2 Pro      | 2,588 |
| AMD AI 5 340           | 2,703 |
| AMD HX370       | 2,904 |
| AMD 7950X              | 2,992 |
| Apple M3 / M3 Pro 12c  | 3,142 |
| AMD Max+ 395      | 3,159 |
| Intel 14900K           | 3,257 |
| AMD 9955HX      | 3,370 |
| AMD 9950X              | 3,410 |
| Apple M4               | 3,676 |
| Apple M4 Pro 14c       | 3,860 |
| Apple M4 Max 16c       | 4,054 |

#### Multi-core

| Model                  | Score  |
| ---------------------- | ------ |
| Apple M1 | 8,348 |
| AMD 5825U | 8,727 |
| Apple M2               | 9,690  |
| AMD 7640U        | 10,779 |
| AMD AI 5 340           | 11,734 |
| AMD 7840U        | 11,769 |
| Apple M3 8c            | 12,039 |
| AMD 8745HS              | 12,985 |
| Apple M4 10c           | 13,386 |
| Apple M2 Pro 12c       | 14,295 |
| Apple M3 Pro 12c       | 15,251 |
| AMD HX370              | 15,500 |
| AMD 9955HX    | 19,319 |
| Intel 14900K           | 19,529 |
| AMD 7950X              | 20,138 |
| AMD 9950X              | 22,430 |
| Apple M4 Pro 14c       | 22,532 |
| AMD Max+ 395 (Z3 Flow) | 22,570 |
| AMD Max+ 395 (desktop)      | 25,118 |
| Apple M4 Max 16c       | 25,913 |

### Speedometer 2.1
(Run in Chrome 138 Incognito)

| Model                  | Score |
| ---------------------- | ----- |
| AMD 5825U        | 381 |
| AMD 7840U         | 471   |
| AMD 8745HS              | 506   |
| Apple M2               | 577   |
| AMD HX370              | 622   |
| AMD 7950X              | 633   |
| AMD Max+ 395      | 667   |
| Intel 14900K           | 733   |
| AMD 9900X              | 744   |
| Apple M4 Pro   | 758   |

### Speedometer 3.1
(Run in Chrome 138 Incognito)

| Model                  | Score |
| ---------------------- | ----- |
| AMD 5825U | 24 |
| AMD 7840U        | 27    |
| AMD 8745HS              | 30    |
| AMD HX370     | 35    |
| Apple M2               | 36    |
| AMD Max+ 395      | 37    |
| AMD 7950X              | 37    |
| Intel 14900K           | 40    |
| AMD 9900X              | 44    |
| Apple M4 Pro   | 53    |

Away from Apple

# Exiting the Mac

Switching from macOS to Linux isn't hard. All you need is a PC, an ISO for the Omarchy or Omakub underlying distro, and about 20 minutes to do the install. What _can_ be hard is getting out of the Mac's ecosystem! It's not the software that gets you, it's the services.

So here's a list of replacements that I've enjoyed since switching:

### iCloud Files to Dropbox

Steve Jobs famously tried to buy Dropbox before launching his own file sharing service with iCloud. He claimed that Dropbox was just a feature, and they'd be foolish not to sell him their company for his low-ball offer. Good thing they didn't!

[Dropbox](https://www.dropbox.com/) has been storing my files since launching in 2007, and it's never let me down. It's not tied to a single platform either. There are clients for Mac, Linux, Windows, iOS, Android, and web. It's excellent, worth paying for, and a great alternative to iCloud Files.

Dropbox is an optional install on Omakub and a default install on Omarchy.

### Email + Calendar to HEY

Now this is going to be biased, because I made [HEY](https://hey.com) together with my team at [37signals](https://37signals.com). So of course I'm going to recommend it! HEY is a complete rethink of what an email and calendar service + client should be. It's not just an app that connects to a big tech provider. It's full service, and I'd be honored if you'd [check it out](https://hey.com).

Now there are plenty of options in this space. The 800-lbs gorilla is of course Gmail from Google, and if you're already using that, there's nothing to migrate. All of Google's tooling is web native, so works great on Linux.

Both Omakub and Omarchy have web app shortcuts to HEY. (If you don't want to use it, you can run `web2app-remove HEY`).

### Photos to Google Photos

While you could store your images on Dropbox, it's nicer to have a fully integrated photo solution, and Google Photos is an easy answer. They have an iOS client that makes it trivial to upload your existing Photos library to their servers, and then you can use photos.google.com to access it. 

On both Omarchy and Omakub, you can turn that into a web app you can launch with the app launcher (`Super + Space`) by running:

```
web2app 'Google Photos' https://photos.google.com/ https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/homarr-labs/dashboard-icons/png/google-photos.png
```

### Notes to Obsidian

[Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) is an excellent free note taking app that stores all data in flat Markdown-formatted files. You can put these files in a folder on Dropbox (that's what I do!) or you can pay for the Obsidian sync service, if you need access to your notes on your mobile phone. It's great.

Obsidian is installed by default on both Omarchy and Omakub.

### iMovie/FinalCut/Premiere to Kdenlive

[Kdenlive](https://kdenlive.org/) is an excellent timeline-based video editor that I've been using for quite a while to do all my screencasts and introduction videos. It's got all the basics, it's fast, it looks pretty good, and the output is ace.

I use [OBS Studio](https://obsproject.com/) to record both screencasts and full camera segments that are then put into Kdenlive to compose the final videos. It's an excellent one-two punch for anyone wishing to publish video on the internet.

On Omakub, Kdenlive and OBS Studio are optional extra installs. On Omarchy, they're both installed by default.

### Messenger to Signal + WhatsApp + Google RCS

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE GREEN BUBBLES??? Yes, Apple has cornered the psychology of the out-group with their Messenger design. It's deviously clever!

Yet here you are. Thinking about switching from the Mac to Linux. You're a bit of a renegade, are you not? A bit of a free thinker, yeah? Not the type of person that's going to be held in captivity by the color of your messaging bubbles!

Glad we cleared that up. Because messaging on Linux is great with both Signal and WhatsApp. That's what I've been using. Signal has a native client, WhatsApp runs as a web app. Both of them use first-grade encryption, work on every platform under the sun, and are included by default with Omarchy and Omakub.

Oh, and if you're on Android, you can also get your SMS/RCS messages by using https://messages.google.com/web/conversations. (Which you can turn into a web app with `web2app`).

### Keychain to 1password

You are using a password manager, are you not? Because if you're not, you really must. Password hacks are being announced left and right on the daily. You need a password manager! But if you've just been going with the default on the Mac, you're using Keychain. A great cross-platform alternative is 1password. It's included by default with Omarchy and Omakub.

# Apple Displays on Linux

Apple makes two beautiful, premium displays with the 5K Apple Studio Display and the 6K Apple XDR Display. If you're coming to Linux from the Mac, you might already have one of these, and you might wonder how to get it working on Linux.

First, you need a DisplayPort + USB-A => USB-C cable cable. I can attest that [the one from WJESOG](https://www.amazon.com/WJESOG-DisplayPort-Adapter-Converter-Thunderbolt/dp/B0BNX7MS6N) works great, but there are other options that look identically, and will probably work too. It's a lot more reliable than using USB-C directly (due to Apple's weird DP-Alt mode implementation, which broadcasts 2 different displays, at random, and one is a dummy), and it also gives you both webcam + speaker support on the Apple Studio Display.

Second, you need a way to control brightness, because Apple didn't add any physical switches to do that. In Omarchy, `Ctrl + F1` turns down the brightness, `Ctrl + F2` turns it up, and `Ctrl + Shift + F2` turns it to the max. This just works out of the box. In Omakub, you first have to install the asdcontrol optional install via the Omakub TUI, but then the hotkeys are automatically mapped and the same.

### Alternatives

If you're looking for an alternative to the Apple Studio Display, there are quite a few options now, but the best one looks to be the [Asus ProArt 27" 5K](https://www.asus.com/us/displays-desktops/monitors/proart/proart-display-5k-pa27jcv/). It's half the price of the Studio, and it comes with the matte finish by default.

If you're looking for an alternative to the 6K XDR, there really isn't anything great yet, but Asus has [announced a ProArt 31.5" 6K dispay](https://www.asus.com/displays-desktops/monitors/proart/proart-display-6k-pa32qcv/) for less than a quarter of the price of the XDR. It just isn't shipping yet. And [LG has also announced a new good-looking 6K monitor](https://ifdesign.com/en/winner-ranking/project/lg-ultrafine-6k-monitor32u990a/701718).