I’ve been thinking about doing this exact thing recently. I was so delighted to run across this post and WriterDeck.org.

After reading through this, I installed Ubuntu 26.04 on my Rapsberry Pi 4 B and did this exact thing using Sway:

tldr:

  • I installed console-only Debian on an old laptop (no desktop OS at all)
  • I added some packages to make it work better for writing:
    • network-manager for connecting to hotspots while I’m away
    • kmscon for custom fonts and more than 16 colors in the tty
    • tmux for a nice status bar and rudimentary screen tiling, as well as acpi and light for battery and backlight details, respectfully
    • neovim as my editor and vim-vimwiki to give myself a personal wiki
    • syncthing to sync and backup my work

It’s time to talk about my writerdeck by Veronica Explains