I thought it was pretty cool to leverage unique dev environments with Nix direnv so I could code remotely via any SSH connection.

But I found something even cooler: I could mount that entire setup into a more GUI & user-friendly interface via Zed IDE’s ‘Open Remote…’ feature, which improved connection stability and kept Zed’s ‘super fast and responsive’ feel. Even when opening a terminal, the whole Nix direnv environment was automatically activated.

“YAY! Awesome ninja-coded software, here we go!”

Until it so happened that “AI RULES AND CODING IS DEAD” rhetoric started dominating the world of LinkedIn and other social platforms.