Here’s a list of the software I use on a near-daily basis. I prefer FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) where possible, or software with permissive lifetime licensing.
- Browser: Vivaldi. Privacy-respecting, feature-heavy, fast Chromium-based browser. Freeware, 95% open-source (the remaining 5% is UI and brand identity).
- Email client: Thunderbird. FOSS.
- Text editor: Typora. Writes in Github-Flavoured Markdown, exports almost seamlessly to .html, .doc and .pdf with the help of (open-source) Pandoc. One-time payment for a lifetime license.
- Code editor: VS Code. Freeware.
- Static Site Generator: Astro. Permissive MIT License. See colophon for more details.
- Graphic design & publishing: I use the fantastic Affinity Suite by Serif. It’s a one-time payment for a lifetime license to Publisher, Photo and Illustrator software that rivals Adobe.
- Video editing: DaVinci Resolve. Freeware.
- Audio editing: Audacity. FOSS.
Self Hosted Software
I have a little computer in my house (a Raspberry Pi 4), connected to the internet and running an operating system called YunoHost, with a collection of web services that replace things you might use every day, like a search engine, or a cloud storage platform to backup and sync files on your computer.
Why bother? For one thing, it saves me money — I don’t have to pay Google for extra Google Drive storage if I’m hosting it myself. It also protects my privacy. Hosting my own search engine means Microsoft can’t track the websites I visit and use them to target ads at me.
But most importantly (to me), it means I’m in control of the tools I use. Amazon can’t delete an e-book from my account halfway through me reading it; Netflix can’t take my favourite show off my own streaming service. If there’s an update to a piece of software that breaks one of my workflows, I get to decide whether I install that update or not.
If you’re interested in learning more, or taking any of these services for a spin, email me and I’ll create you an account, for free. Here’s what I’m running at the moment:
- Search Engine: SearXNG. Metasearch engine which aggregates results from 70+ other search providers. Gives great results with no ads, no tracking and no AI.
- File Syncing: Syncthing. Like Dropbox or Google Drive, but without size limits (besides the server storage capacity) and no tracking.
- RSS reader: FreshRSS. I follow 100+ blogs, comics and serialised web stories through this. If you’re not familiar with RSS, imagine your podcast feed, but for articles!
- Recipes: Tandoor. Has decent import functionality, so you can skip the SEO-bait essay that precedes the recipe on every blog nowadays.
- E-book library & reader: Kavita. Looking for a better alternative as the reading UI is pretty awful.
- PKM: SilverBullet. Primarily useful for making short notes on my phone.