I bought one of those usb to dvi converters for a white polycarb macbook that only had one external monitor connector.
While you couldn't run a game with it, it worked great for work. They seem to have some embeded video card.
(mine is no longer availble . But this looks similar: https://www.newertech.com/products/vidu3dvia.php)
Thanks for the tip! This sounds like it might work for me.
I've come to love the ultrawide 34" format @3440x1440 for "I want things side by side". Most of these can work as multiple monitors and split the screen if you plug in two cables, but you'll obviously have zero gap between them.
Same, that's what I have been using for GIS work, media production, and some light coding. Only thing I regret is not being able to play Xbox games at 21:9 (unless you know of a way).
For dev work though, typically I need see multiple things simultaneously: input (IDE/editor), output (console/browser) and instrumentation (debugger etc.)
I'm one-monitoring these days (WFH) because my laptop can't output to more than 1 display without a docking station -- I had left mine at the office. The context switching is tiring to say the least. I'm making do by tiling my windows but with a 24" display, there's just not enough room.
I think the author's setup works because he's using a 31" monitor and a tiling window manager. Most window managers don't tile as nicely.
That said, there are tools like Terminator and tmux, which are always useful.