I wanted to have a separate laptop where I only use the terminal for my use cases. At the moment I am somewhat confident using the terminal, but I think limiting myself to tty only would build my confidence even more. Any tips?
EDIT: I am already using nvim and I already have installed a minimal distro (Arch). I just need advice on how to actually run this system effectively.
If you haven't set up this laptop yet, then I'd suggest installing a server-oriented distro like Debian, AlmaLinux, or Ubuntu Server. Those have minimal install options that come without a desktop environment installed, as most servers do not need one. If you'd like to make the install harder for yourself, this might be a good excuse to give Arch Linux or Gentoo a try, as those have the option of a fully manual install. If you'd like, you can install a desktop environment afterwards using the package manager.
If you already have a Linux with a graphical desktop installed, you can configure the system not to automatically start it with
sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target. (Do not do this on your main device!) You can re-enable it withsudo systemctl set-default graphical.target.Regardless, you can then start a graphical session using
startx, or whatever command is more appropriate for your desktop environment (gnome-sessionto start GNOME on Wayland,startplasma-waylandto start KDE Plasma), or bysudo systemctl starting your login screen manager (sddm, gdm, lightdm, etc).