I tried a highly-customized Hyprland desktop that’s meant for Linux pros – and didn’t hate it
I tried a highly-customized Hyprland desktop that’s meant for Linux pros – and didn’t hate it
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ml4w-hyprland-custom-desktop-easy-setup-minutes/
Publish Date: 2026-03-18 15:38:00
Source Domain: www.zdnet.com
Jack Wallen / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- ML4W is a great Linux distro to start with Hyprland.
- ML4W is a rolling release distro, based on Arch.
- ML4W includes GUIs to help you customize the desktop.
Hyprland is taking the Linux community by storm. One of the many reasons for this is that the tiling desktop is extremely customizable. If you do a search for Hyprland dotfiles, you’ll find a world of customizations you can use or serve as a base for your own crazy-cool desktop.
What are dotfiles?
Hyprland dotfiles are configuration files that are used to customize the Hyprland desktop environment. These files can control various aspects of the Hyprland look and behavior, so you can personalize your experience without starting from scratch.
These files remind me of customizing the AfterStep desktop I used to work with during my early days of Linux. I used to spend hours at a time customizing my Linux desktop. Nowadays, I’m not so keen on taking that much time out of my already busy day to create a Linux desktop I can be proud of. Now, I use desktops that allow me to tweak them with simpler GUIs (such as those found on System76’s COSMIC desktop).
Also: How to install Arch Linux without losing your mind
Some dotfiles have a central file, hyprland.conf, that references other files, such as window.conf. Each of those referenced files configures a different aspect of Hyprland, and all live in ~/.config/hypr/. If you’re not used to customizing without a GUI, this could very quickly get confusing.
But the siren song of Hyprland is powerful, and I long to answer it. So… I turned to a distribution that aims to make customizing Hyprland a bit easier. That Arch-based Linux distribution is ML4W, which stands for My Linux For Work. With ML4W, there’s a GUI specifically designed to change the Hyprland settings without having to open a text-based configuration file. With this app, you can tweak a ton of…
