Help: How to Use a Dual‑Monitor Arch Linux Wayland Setup to Build a Writing Portfolio

I finally nailed down a custom Arch Linux environment that doubles as a writer’s studio. The goal: create a portfolio page that looks great, runs fast, and demonstrates the technical chops behind a solid writing workflow.

Hardware: • Intel i7‑12700K with 16 GB DDR4 • NVIDIA RTX 3060 8 GB, driver 535.104.05 • Dell UltraSharp U2720Q + HP ENVY 27, 4K @ 60 Hz • Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1 TB NVMe for OS and scratch disk

Software stack: • Arch Linux 2024.02‑base (kernel 6.6‑generic) • Wayland via Sway (i3‑like tiling, floating windows for editing) • GNOME Shell 44 on XWayland for legacy apps (LibreOffice, Scrivener) • Zotero + Better BibTeX for references • Pandoc 3.1 for .md → PDF → HTML conversion • Neovim + CoC with coc‑language‑server for syntax‑highlighted writing

Set‑up steps (high‑level):

1. Install base Arch, add mesa, nvidia, nvidia-utils, wayland, sway, and gnome‑shell.
2. Configure /etc/mdev.conf to load NVMe controller on boot.
3. Create ~/.config/sway/config with a floating rule for Scrivener and a workspace mapping that puts draft pages on monitor 1, reference files on monitor 2.
4. Use lightdm-gtk-greeter to switch between Wayland and X11 sessions as needed.
5. Set up a .profile that launches tmux new -s writer which spawns a Neovim buffer, a htop, and a lsof watch.
6. Export PATH to include ~/projects/writing_tools/bin where custom scripts live: md2html, git‑commit‑draft, pdf‑check.
7. Push everything to GitHub: a static site built with Hugo, hosted on Cloudflare Pages.

Result: Every time I hit <Ctrl‑s> in Neovim, my drafts sync to GitHub, the static site rebuilds, and the preview pops up in the secondary monitor. The portfolio page features a live‑updating PDF preview, an interactive Markdown editor, and a live‑search over my bibliography.

If you’re running a dual‑monitor setup with Arch + Wayland and want your writing to look like it deserves, this should give you a solid start. Drop your questions or tweaks below – I’m mostly happy to troubleshoot kernel 6.6‑generic or Sway tiling headaches.

TL;DR: Kernel 6.6 + Wayland + Sway + GNOME on XWayland + Neovim + Pandoc = a writer’s dream machine.