Fundamental
I use Arch Linux on a Penguin Pro.
I use xmonad as my window manager and use Dvorak as my default keyboard layout (although the symbols on my keyboard are QWERTY). I’ve generally had a very good experience with both, although haskell package upgrades seem to frequently require xmonad recompilation, which is annoying. I also use dmenu as an application launcher. Other than that, I have xmobar set up as a status bar to easily keep an eye on CPU and and network usage.
Applications
I generally use urxvt for the terminal (running in daemon/client mode via
urxvtc). I use bash, mostly because it is widely available and so my startup
scripts are easily portable. vim is my editor of choice. I have set -o vi in
my startup scripts to use vim-like keybindings in the terminal. Additionally, I
have added set editing-mode vi can be added to ~/.inputrc to set the editing
mode for all applications built on readline (including python and gdb).
I use firefox and occasionally lynx for web browsing, thunderbird for email,
and newsboat for feeds.
On the occasion that I need a word processor or a spreadsheet, I use LibreOffice. vlc generally takes care of my media playback needs. I use Audacity and the Hydrogen drum machine for fun with audio recording. I’ve had a lot of fun editing photos with the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program).
Appearance
I use unifont and DejaVuSansMono as my console fonts (set in
.Xdefaults). My standard color scheme in vim is gruvbox (modified to
have a transparent background) and I’ve also set my prompt and
LS_COLORS environment variable with similar colors.
I’ve set up the XFCE-dusk as the gtk-theme so that everything has a dark look to match with the text environment.
Fun
By adding fortune -c | boxes -d parchment to my startup scripts, I get a nice
fortune cookie slip when opening a new terminal window.