For XMPP clients, see XMPP Clients: Conversations, Dino. Preamble Note that after a year of using Snikket, I've installed Prosody (on which it is based) and find it to be more flexible, and more-or-less straightforward. Prosody is also super-easy to integrate with coturn for audio and video calls. Note that Movim and Jitsi Meet are ... Read more
While there is something to be said for actual self-hosting a server (at home or mobile), having a low-cost spot on the Internet is good for not having to worry about one's own personal connectivity at any given time, for services to work. By services, this could include: Web server (Caddy) Email server (Mox) File ... Read more
Ungoogled Chromium for Debian This is meant to help with selecting and installing a chrome-based browser, with minimal tracking and other cruft. I've given up on Firefox as being too corrupt, and technically inferior. Yes, Chromium is a Google project, but the open source nature has produced two viable browser options for all desktop platforms: ... Read more
I've avoided Flatpaks and Snaps for a long time, but now see three uses for Flatpaks (though none yet for Snaps). The main issues have to do with the size of files, security stuff, and simply being not as convenient as using apt repositories. But when some folks can't keep those things stable (or offer ... Read more
Updated 02-Mar-2026 For XMPP server, see Prosody, which works lovely and is super-easy to integrate with coturn for audio and video calls. Note that Movim and Jitsi Meet are two additional items that can be integrated as well. Preamble I've used Signal for the past number of years as a chat / videocall app, having ... Read more
Android hardware At this point, I feel that Chromebooks are non-starters. Either Android or Linux (Debian) are the proper OSes of choice, and decent hardware that can support these platforms. We have moved to Samsung devices from Xiaomi, which has much more intrusive application spam, advertising, and tracking. We still use Mi Band and Mi ... Read more
Updated 11-Dec-2025 Reaper is the DAW I've decided on based on a combination of functionality and affordability. Reaper is not open source, but it does have a reasonable and affordable license. I'm fine with supporting them, up until enshittification (which isn't 100% guaranteed in any case). See also Generative AI in Music The main thing ... Read more
Updated 04-Mar-2026 I have several different thoughts on AI music. Note: Over the past 4 months November 2025 - February 2026) I have created over 6 hours of songs in a variety of genres, and this music has and is enjoyed by my friends and family. Overall a positive experience. Copyright and infringement Generative A.I. ... Read more
Turns out there are a large number of games that can be played on Linux, without crap like WINE (though some still use it). 0ad A great open-source game that has had continued ongoing development. Downloadable via apt: sudo apt install 0ad -t trixie-backports Roblox Roblox can be installed via flatpak (sadly) using a tool ... Read more
Roblox is the only reason my children run Windows on their computers. What an annoying operating system, which regularly tries to sneakily install and configure more bloatware and suveillance. Well, the wait is over to axe these operating systems and install Linux (namely, Debian Trixie 13). Roblox can be installed and used by emulating Android ... Read more
This is about the Kobo Clara BW 6". Some Issues Some settings are hard to reach (or very hard to reach) without some customization (using Nickelmenu). For example: Dark mode requires: More > Settings > Reading Settings > Dark Mode (compare with Kindle which is Swipe Down > Dark Mode Restarting the device reuqires holding ... Read more
Good morning judges and audience members. My name is Benjamin McNeill. I am a representative 4th grade student from Tessabaan Hangdong Prachkomsangsan. Today I am honored to present briefly on the subject: My learning journey with AI. What is a journey When first informed of this topic, it took a bit of time to understand ... Read more
Updated 26-Sep-2025 A regular expression (shortened as regex or regexp), sometimes referred to as a rational expression, is a sequence of characters that specifies a match pattern in text. Usually such patterns are used by string-searching algorithms for "find" or "find and replace" operations on strings, or for input validation. See also regex101 for helpful ... Read more
Updated 23-Aug-2025 This is an ongoing collection of Open Source stuff. Some of this I haven't used but have heard about enough to become interested, and therefore want to keep track of it in some way. Some of this stuff I use daily, and prize highly (some I use daily and prize moderately -- looking ... Read more
Updated 16-Dec-2025 Note: v.2.x.x has been released: Syncthing (deb) Syncthing Fork (Android) can use Obtanium for ease of install Syncthing is a continuous file synchronization program. It synchronizes files between two or more computers in real time, safely protected from prying eyes. Your data is your data alone and you deserve to choose where it ... Read more
Fail2ban is a security service that monitors the logs of common services (usually sshd and nginx). It uses a filter to identify an abnormality, then passes the IP address of the intruder to a firewall program (iptables or ufw, commonly). Files and configuration Install Fail2ban with sudo apt install fail2ban. The context for this configuration ... Read more
Updated 03-Oct-2025 Note: It's out, and looking good. Backports repositories now available. Trixie is release 13 of Debian GNU/Linux. It will be officially released likely sometime in August. It is common to answer the question: When will Debian (number) be released? with When it is ready. And so, an exact date cannot be predetermined, until ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 The venerable Neofetch hasn't been updated since 2020 (and was archived last year). Fastfetch is it's reasonable replacement (with a bit more info). Fastfetch is available in apt repositories and also from the git repository (latest editions). Fastfetch was last updated 18-July-2025 and gets ongoing support. The version in apt lags a bit ... Read more
Updated 06-Jan-2026 The One UI 7 and One UI 8 battery indicator -- One UI 7 is now available in Asia -- which is part of the Android 15 release for various Samsung devices, in a word, sucks. In dark mode it is the bright pill-shaped blob with dark numbers providing the percentage left. In ... Read more