👋 A Little Backstory

Hey! I’m Prajjwal — a CS undergrad who enjoys tweaking systems as much as solving algorithms. I started out, like most Linux beginners, with the reliable and beginner-friendly Ubuntu. It was great. Simple, familiar, and stable.

But the more time I spent with Linux — tweaking settings, building projects, diving into DSA, and exploring window managers — the more I craved performance, minimalism, and control.

So began my journey: Ubuntu → Fedora → KDE → Hyprland.

This post isn’t a tutorial. It’s a personal experience — the why behind every switch, what I loved, what I struggled with, and where I finally felt at home.

🟠 Why I Switched from Ubuntu to Fedora

Ubuntu is where I learned the ropes. But as I grew, so did my needs:

I wanted more cutting-edge packages without waiting for PPAs.
I needed a system that played nicely with Wayland.
I wanted fewer pre-installed packages and more clean control.

That’s where Fedora came in. It felt faster, leaner, and more dev-friendly. Plus, the community is welcoming and the defaults are sane. For someone like me — who likes getting under the hood — Fedora just clicked.

🖥️ The KDE Era: Customization Heaven

After settling into Fedora, I moved from GNOME to KDE Plasma. Why?

✨ Theming and animations were top-tier.
🔧 Almost everything was customizable.
📋 Built-in clipboard manager, file indexing, and tiling extensions.

KDE gave me a full-featured desktop that looked great and worked even better. For a while, I was obsessed — tweaking global themes, crafting workflows, setting up dual monitors, and feeling like a power user.

But then I stumbled upon something lighter, cleaner, and oddly beautiful...

⚡ Enter Hyprland: Minimal, Fast, and Fully Mine

I won’t lie — my first few hours with Hyprland were confusing.

There was no settings GUI. No minimize/maximize buttons. Just a blank screen and a config file.

But that’s where the magic started.

What made Hyprland stand out:

🪶 Lightweight: RAM usage dropped, boot time was near-instant.
🪟 Tiling window management felt surprisingly natural after a few days.
🌈 Wayland-native animations were sleek and responsive.
🎯 Absolute control: every keybinding, behavior, and effect was mine to define.

I customized:

Contrast and gamma for my anti-glare ASUS display using wl-gammactl
Workspaces, gaps, blur, and window rules
A sleek Waybar with increased font size and styling
Added an application tray using eww and custom modules

And honestly? It made coding, multitasking, and even daily browsing feel smoother and more intentional.

🔧 Tools I Use Daily

Just to give you a glimpse of my workflow:

OS: Fedora (latest release)
WM: Hyprland (Wayland)
Shell: Bash + Kitty terminal
Editor: VS Code + Neovim
Browser: Brave
Extras: Git, DSA practice in C++/Python, personal scripting

💭 Final Thoughts

This journey taught me more than just tech. It taught me how every layer of a system shapes how we work.

Ubuntu gave me a start. Fedora gave me freedom. KDE showed me possibilities. And Hyprland? It made me fall in love with Linux all over again — through simplicity, speed, and soul.

If you’re a developer who loves tinkering and wants to build a desktop experience that reflects you, I’d say give Hyprland a shot. It’s not just about aesthetics. It’s about building your own environment — from the ground up.

🌐 From Ubuntu to Fedora — And Why I Fell in Love with Hyprland