Daily open-source software guide

I've found that lots of people are writing extensive lists of tools they use to get things done, whether open source or not. I've decided to do it in a slightly different way - by imagining a day of my life, when I'm using various open source tools to do things that most of the people use proprietary software for.

I believe that using FOSS software results in a more healthy lifestyle and approach to technology, as the software will not try to manipulate you into consuming more content. The only thing driving you while using free & open source software is you own curiosity and will.

Waking up

Not a lot of software here, mostly hardware like the fridge and some cutlery. I've decided to leave this phase in case I come up with some software examples in the future.

Transit to work/University

You can always read a book instead. But I get it, you're here for the software, so here we go:

Instead of scrolling through social media, use an RSS reader and find some interesting blogs to follow. I also recommend keeping a list of webrings or other pages that are run by people or small organisations, not companies/corporations.

Work/University

Searching for information on the internet

Use DuckDuckGo or SearX. They won't track you or suggest any targeted content. I am hosting my own SearX instance here.

Creating a slideshow

• The quick way: write them in markdown and use pandoc to convert them into a presentation (I recommend using the revealJS slide show)
• The longer but more customizable way: use beamer (try the Metropolis Theme for a sleek, minimal look)

A need for something Excel-like (and spreadsheets in general)

• Just use the python interpreter (or ipython if you wanna get fancy) for quick calculations.
• Try Jupyter Lab if you're working on something bigger

Time spent at home

Internet Surfing (the old school way)

Wiby is a search engine, which indexes only minimalist websites. It's great for finding hand-crafted sites and old gems from before the FAANG age.

Merveilles Webring Search Engine - indexes the sites made by people from Merveilles.

I highly recommend searching for niche movies/music/art in those web engines, as they will lead you to more in-depth articles than Google/Bing/etc.

Watching videos

If you want to step away from YouTube (which is a good thing, if you want to fight online monopoly), use Odysee. It doesn't have any ads and website loads faster than Youtube.

If you really need to watch something on YouTube, use Invidious - an alternative frontend to YouTube, which, in my experience works faster than YouTube itself. The interface is also less bloated and you're not tracked in any way.

VPN/Networking

• Get a VPS and install WireGuard. It's definitely more work than using something like Tailscale or ZerotierOne, but it will pay off in networking & server administration skills.

Cloud drive

• Nextcloud is surprisingly easy to setup and maintain

Taking Notes

• GitJournal works wonders as a markdown-based notes tool that you can integrate with your existing git workflow