Uses

I am always looking for interesting software and hardware to use. I like to learn from others what works for them, which is why I also share what works for me.

The /uses page is a common way of sharing what you use. Here is a selection of things I use:

Hardware

Laptops

Lenovo Thinkpad T530 running Debian stable
- Coreboot firmware with disabled Intel Management Engine (ME)
- FullHD IPS screen upgrade
- Atheros AR928X WiFi card
Lenovo Thinkpad W520 running Debian stable
- Coreboot firmware with disabled Intel Management Engine (ME)
- FullHD IPS screen
- Atheros AR928X WiFi card
- Better cooling compared too T520/T530, allowing more powerful processors. Compes with 4 RAM slots, for up to 32GB RAM.
- I helped with initial Coreboot enablement in search of a powerful Coreboot device.
- W520/W530 have discrete graphics card, requiring non-free firware, which needs to be initialized to use the VGA port, so not ideal.
Dell Precision 3561 with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (upgraded from 22.04 LTS)
- Not recommended: fwupd firmware updates fail, laptop randomly awakes from sleep draining battery to zero, keyboard starts to malfunction, grey paint wears off.

Mobile

Fairphone 4 (2022) running Fairphone Android OS
Samsung S9 running e/OS
Pinephone running Mobian and Phosh shell
- Nice to try linux mobile, but underpowered to use as my main device

Networking

TP-Link WD4300 as accesspoint running OpenWRT
Netgear WNDR4300 as accesspoint running OpenWRT
Turris Omnia as modem and router running OpenWRT

Software

Linux desktop

Debian stable
GNOME shell
Firefox
- Save Page WE
- uBlock Origin
- Vimium
- Privacy Badger
- Wayback Machine
- Custom search engine keywords for typical search engines
- Booksmarks clean up to remove bookmarks that no longer work
- I don't care about cookies to automatically deny cookies
Evolution
Spacemacs Emacs distribution for programming and editing text
- Magit a powerful Git interface
Dino for XMPP chat
Fractal
Newsflash
Cameractrls
Zim wiki
KeePassXC
Ansel, fork of Darktable
GIMP
Archi
Audicity
Tuba
Black Box
GNOME Console
Frog
FreeTube
Bleachbit
GNOME Calendar
Calibre
Foliate
Gear Lever to install AppImage of Ansel photo editor
gThumb
LibreOffice
Okular
Pika Backup
Inkscape
Rapid Photo Downloader
JOSM
Meld
Handbrake
LosslessCut
VLC media player
Image viewer (eye of gnome eog)
Thumbnailer setup for Nautilus preview for RAW images
Gramps

Linux terminal

Autojump to quickly jump to folders by providing parts of the directory name
Vim for quick file edits
Jq
Yq
Lynx text web browser
Git if uncertain put it in Git
v4l2-ctl for webcam control
GnuPG
Dotfiles setup using git alias
Podman for running containers
Newsboat commandline news reader that can sync with Nextcloud news
Pipx to install Python-based commandline applications

Android

F-Droid app store
Firefox
- Decentraleyes
- uBlock Origin
- ImageBlock
- Web Archives
- User-Agent Switcher
- Privacy Badger
- ClearURLs
- NoScript
Librera FD pdf reader
Wi-Fi Matic to disable WiFi when on the road
Fedliab
Markor to edit text files including Zim wiki files
QuickWeather (and Forecastie)
Conversations
jtx Board
AntennaPod
QR & Barcode Scanner
Fossify apps
- Calendar
- Gallery
- Contacts
- Music Player
- Phone
- Voice Recorder
OpenCamera
Catima
Airguard
Buran
Element
DAVx5
Diskusage
Exodus
FreeOTP+
ICSx5
GPS Cockpit
Launcher
KeePassDX
LibreOffice Viewer
Material files
mpv
Neostumbler
Newpipe
Nextlouc News
Offi
OpenFoodFacts
Fairmail
OpenKeychain
openScale
OsmAnd~
Photo Editor
Port Authority
Puzzles
RadioDroid
Saisonkalendar
Scrambled Exif
Screen Time
Sensor Readout
Share my number
sloXpect
Sky Map
StreetComplete
Suntimes
Syncthing
Tracker Control
Tower Collector
Track & Graph
Transportr
UntrackMe
Voyager Lemmy client
WiFiAnalyzer
GPSLogger
Vespucci
Share to Clipboard
AnySoftKeyboard
Currencies
ConnectBot
Element
Feeder
Giggity
MediLog

Linux mobile

To add

Online services

Nextcloud
News
Contacts
Calendar
Two-Factor TOTP Provider
Polls
Markdown file as an equavelent of an etherpad
Matrix
Mastodon
OpenStreetMap
XMPP
Jitsi
BigBlueButton
Framadate
Cryptpad
Qwant search engine
Wikitionary
Openclipart

Peripherals

Audio

Behringer U-Phoria UMC204HD
- Great audio interface with option of direct talkback monitoring and multiple output options
- Stereo audio design is more complicated for mono use. Modern Pipewire and Alsa can switch to a dual mono mode.
Beyerdynamic DT-797 PV
- Professional quality corded headset
- Great audio playback, equivalent to Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO
Philips TAA4216 Bluetooth headphone
- More durable than expected, although USB port cover flap made of flexible plastic broke.
- Earcushions can easily taken off and be rinsed off, making me wear it everywhere.
- Audio quality not sufficient for audio calls, only for mediocre quality playback.
Sure SE215
- Professional in-ear earbuds with replaceable cable for longevity
- Expanding foam earbuds create a good seal