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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 to use free software ath9k driver
  • Lenovo Thinkpad W520 running Debian stable
    • Coreboot firmware with disabled Intel Management Engine (ME)
    • FullHD IPS screen
    • Atheros AR928X WiFi card to use free software ath9k driver
    • Better cooling compared too T520/T530, allowing more powerful processors. Has 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 firmware, 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 currently running e/OS
  • Pinephone running Mobian and Phosh shell
    • Nice to try linux mobile, but underpowered to use as my main device

Networking

Software

Linux desktop

Productivity

  • Evolution for mail and contacts, calendar and tasks synchronised with NextCloud GTK3 C
  • Newsflash to read RSS feeds, synchronised with Nextcloud News GTK4 Rust
  • Zim wiki personal notebook GTK3 Python
  • Archi Archimate modelling Swing Java
  • GNOME Calendar nice looking calendar, not as powerful as Evolution yet GTK4 C
  • Okular to open special documents like DjVU and to edit pdf documents Qt C++
  • LibreOffice for documents and presentations C++
  • Xournal to draw diagrams GTK3 C++
  • Calibre to manage ebooks Qt Python
  • Foliate eBook reader GTK4 Node.js
  • JOSM for advanced OpenStreetMap edits Swing Java
  • Gramps to manage a family tree GTK3 Python

Graphics & Photography

  • Ansel photo editor, fork of Darktable GTK C
  • GIMP GTK3 C
  • Inkscape for vector drawings and layouts GTK3 C++
  • Rapid Photo Downloader to download and rename photos into predefined folder structure Qt Python
  • gThumb image viewer with basic editing capabilities GTK3 C
  • Image viewer (eye of gnome eog)
  • Scribus for precise publishing GTK C++

Audio & Video

  • Audacity for simple audio editing Qt C/C++
  • Handbrake to re-encode videos GTK C/C++
  • LosslessCut to cut a section from a video without reencoding TypeScript
  • VLC media player to play videos and streams Qt C/C++
  • Rhythmbox a music player that just works GTK3 C
  • Quotdlibet powerful music player for larger music collection GTK3 Python

Networking

Developer tools

System

Utilities

Linux terminal

  • Autojump to quickly jump to folders by providing parts of the directory name
  • Vim for quick file edits
  • Jq for formatting and parsing JSON C
  • Yq for formatting and parsing YAML, like Jq Go
  • Lynx text web browser C
  • Git if uncertain put it in Git
  • v4l2-ctl for webcam control
  • GnuPG to manage keys
  • Dotfiles setup using git alias
  • Podman for running containers
  • Newsboat commandline news reader that can sync with Nextcloud news (blogpost by Gideon Wolfe) C++ Rust
  • Pipx to install Python-based commandline applications
  • Glow to render Markdown files Go
  • PlantUML to render various diagrams
  • Difftastic for readable diffs Rust
  • Iamb as terminal based client for Matrix chat Rust
  • Libxml2 and its entrypoints xmllint and xsltproc to validate, query and process XML files. C
  • Pandoc to convert documents between formats Haskell
  • Pre-commit framework to easily configure automated checks Python
  • REUSE tool to annotate codebases with copyright and license information according Python
  • Keepass-diff to resolve synchronisation conflicts in KeePass files Rust
  • Amfora as commandline terminal for Gemini protocol Go

Android

  • F-Droid app store
  • Fossify core Android apps
    • Calendar
    • Gallery
    • Contacts
    • Music Player
    • Phone
    • Voice Recorder
  • Launcher

Productivity

  • Firefox for Android
    • Decentraleyes protects against tracking via content delivery networks
    • uBlock Origin to block most adds and other unwanted content of choice
    • ImageBlock
    • Web Archives
    • User-Agent Switcher to consistently trick Microsoft Teams by pretending to be a desktop
    • Privacy Badger to defend your privacy when browsing
    • ClearURLs to remove tracking elements from links
    • NoScript to block the more invasive script permissions
  • Librera pdf reader
  • Markor to edit text files including Zim wiki files
  • QuickWeather for weather forecasts and weather radar images. Used to use Forecastie before.
  • jtx Board to manage tasks via CalDAV protocol
  • Catima for loyalty cards
  • FreeOTP+ for TOTP codes
  • LibreOffice Viewer to view office documents
  • KeePassDX for password files
  • Neostumbler to contribute location data to open location data sets
  • Nextcloud News to read RSS feeds, synchronised with Nextcloud News.
  • Öffi suite of navigation apps
  • OpenFoodFacts to contribute to OpenFoodFacts
  • Fairmail powerful email client
  • OpenKeychain to manage GPG encryption keys
  • openScale to track weight.
  • OsmAnd offline navigation. I recommend to use Wikipedia layers when travelling.
  • Puzzles collection of single player logic games
  • RadioDroid for internet radio
  • Saisonkalendar to get a sense of food that is in season
  • Share my number to us standardised VCARD QR-codes to share content details. Great for networking at conferences.
  • solXpect to get a sense of expected solar energy generation.
  • Sky Map to identify stars.
  • StreetComplete to contribute data to OSM easily and playfully.
  • Tower Collector to collect cell tower location and contribute as open data.
  • Track & Graph to track various data.
  • Transportr for planning public transport. The data from the Deutsche Bahn can be used for trains in the Netherlands.
  • UntrackMe to remove metadata from linked URLs and get the ability to open it in other apps.
  • GPSLogger to record a GPX track of GPS location, which can be used for adding geolocation data to photos.
  • Vespucci for making more complicated OpenStreetMap contributions.
  • ConnectBot to connect to a computer over SSH.
  • Feeder for RSS news feeds. Has the great feature of downloading the entire article into a clean reading view.
  • Giggity to view conference schedules. Also works with conferences of the Linux Foundation, organized using Sched.com.
  • MediLog log medical information.

Graphics & Photography

Audio & Video

  • AntennaPod for podcasts
  • mpv for Android to play any file
  • Newpipe simple client for various video website including PeerTube sites and YouTube. Supports audio streaming and download.
  • Photo Editor photo editor for restricted edits like drawing and filters

Networking

Developer tools

System

Utilities

Linux mobile

To add

Online services

  • Nextcloud
    • Contacts to synchronize contacts across devices
    • Calendar to synchronize calendars across devices
    • News to fetch RSS feeds and keeping a reading state synchronised
    • Polls for simple polls and scheduling a date
    • Tasks for task management according to the CalDav standard
    • Deck for a kanban board
    • Markdown file as an equivalent of an etherpad
    • Shared folders to share photo albums
  • Matrix for federated group chat
  • Mastodon microblogging on the Fediverse
  • OpenStreetMap
  • XMPP for federated chat
  • Jitsi for ad-hoc video calls
  • BigBlueButton for video calls with more features
  • Framadate to schedule a date. Nextcloud polls work as well
  • Cryptpad for collaborative documents
  • Qwant search engine, located in France, dependent on Bing but working on European search index
  • Wikitionary as thesaurus and to aid in translations
  • Openclipart
  • Gemini small internet for content from users
  • Various malinglists for news and interaction
  • IRC for some communities, bridged via Matrix to achieve persistence

Peripherals

  • Keebio Nyquist split keyboard
    • QMK open source firmware
    • SP50 aluminium case
    • Zealios V2 switches, lubricated, tactile but silent

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. Configuration files in alsa-ucm-conf/ucm2/USB-Audio/Behringer.
  • Beyerdynamic DT-797 PV
    • Professional quality corded headset
    • Replaceable parts, for longevity
    • 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.
  • Shure SE215
    • Professional in-ear earbuds
    • Replaceable cable for longevity. Cords with microphone available including Bluetooth variants.
    • Expanding foam earbuds create a good seal