Updated 11-Jul-2026 It is important, if one believes in anti-trust, to take whatever small personal actions one may take, as a consumer. For example, migrating off the large monopoly platforms when possible. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter -> Mastodon ($10/year donation) and Eurosky. Gmail, etc., email -> Migadu ($19/year fee) (referral code) Github -> Gitea Google News ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 MuseScore is a free and open source music notation application. Is MuseScore 4 a Sibelius killer? Installing MuseScore on Linux MuseScore 3 is available through standard software channels such as apt in Debian. MuseScore 4 (a substantial upgrade) is distributed as an appimage (as of March 2023, and may be available in Debian ... Read more
Updated 16-Dec-2025 Note: to be honest I'm a bit lost with my configuration. I've had a bit of trouble but it looks like it is ultimately due to the USB interface I'm using to connect HDDs and sharing them. In any case, Samba is working, but I'm not too sure about what kind of mapping ... Read more
Updated 21-Jul-2026 See also Ebooks and where to buy them which discusses DRM from each ebook seller. Kindle and Kobo ebook readers Calibre Ebook Library, De-DRM, Conversion Jailbreak Kindle KO Reader open source ebook reader NOTE: Calibre is pronounced Caliber, for US English speakers. Calibre document library system Calibre is an ebook management tool. It ... Read more
Updated 20-Jun-2026 The Fediverse is a disparate set of social media services across many implementations, with two core elements: They use open protocols to communicate across services and instances, creating a federation of users and uses. They are primarily distributed and decentralized. This decentralization (and federation) is not in the sense of a blockchain with ... Read more
Updated 15-Aug-2026 Mammoth vs. Mastodon Mastodon is software for microblogging. It is a server and comes with a web client (though not required). There are myriad web and native clients for various operating systems. I use the web client in deck multi-column mode (akin to tweetdeck, though less configurable and single account), and Moshidon as ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Install a repository to manage Zotero via apt. Install Chrome Zotero connector
Updated 03-Aug-2025 In January, 2022, a German Court Fined a Website Owner for Violating the GDPR by Using Google-Hosted Fonts. The fine was 100 Euros, but could be much higher, based on German law. The lesson here is to self-host all content (including Google Fonts), and/or stop using Google Fonts.
Updated 17-Sep-2025 Typing in English Typing Club The key to this is to not register, and then use the basic instructions. My then-7 year old became quite proficient only using this site, and then transitioning to copywork typing and dictation typing. Typing in Thai Typing in Thai (Lanna Innovation) provides information on sites and such. ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Windows NT and VMS: The Rest of the Story
Updated 03-Aug-2025 The Linux Mark The Linux Mark is a protected (reserved) mark and beyond fair use, requires a sublicense for its use. The Debian Logo and Trademark The Debian Logo and Debian trademark are protected (reserved) and require licenses (or may not be used) in certain ways.
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Balena Etcher is software to flash Operating System images to USB drives and SD cards. It works well. Normally it is offered as an AppImage, but it is also possible to add the Balena Etcher github repository and install as a .deb file from there. Installing Balena Etcher on Debian with apt Debian ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Beneath every window-based Desktop Environment (DE) there is a windows manager. And beneath the windows manager, is a display server protocol such as X.org, Mir, and Wayland. When choosing a Desktop Environment, one can simply choose a windows manager and then add various other utilities such as menus, panels, search interfaces, configuration interfaces, ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Previously named Gimp Print, Gutenprint is a high quality package of printer drivers for CUPS on Linux, Macintosh OS X, and other POSIX-compliant operating systems. This project also maintains an enhanced Print plug-in for GIMP 2.x from the same code base. Gutenprint includes a large number of printer drivers for Canon, Epson, Lexmark, ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 In Linux, a standard shortcut is to use Alt + F7 and then drag the window back onscreen. Obviously some small bit of the window needs to be visible, but that is almost always the case. This works with Openbox and LXDE.
Updated 28-Aug-2026 Playing internet radio from the command line is quite a thing, especially the excellent Soma FM. Unfortunately there are some problems of late with various clients including: Symphonium (Android) and Navidrome (Debian server/web client) Uscheck, my favorite until this issue in October, 2021 Rocky Madden, who also suffers from the problems of October, ... Read more
Updated 12-Jul-2026 See also Audiobooks - Mono in a Stereo World OBS Studio Podcast Platforms Podcasts Introduction OBS (Open Broadcaster Studio) Studio is a popular, open source multiplatform broadcasting and recording control panel. Note: use of deb-multimedia apt source Currently I prefer to use the excellent 3rd-party apt repository dmo.sources, aka deb-multimedia as follows: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dmo.sources ... Read more
Updated 11-Jul-2026 Snake games are quite popular. The first widely played snake game is of course snakes and ladders which originated in 2nd century CE India. The game was imported into the UK in the 1890s and made its way to the US as chutes and ladders, snakes apparently too scary for small children. Snake ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Diagrams.net -- previously draw.io -- is a neat web/web 2.0 diagram editor. It supports Google Drive and also VSCode integration. Currently I usually just use Inkscape and draw whatever I need by hand. It is usually faster, and can embed as an SVG or simply output a PNG file. However, if one does ... Read more
Updated 11-Jul-2026 Play The Oregon Trail (1990) Online at Archive.org I Designed The Oregon Trail, You Have Died of Dysentery - The lead designer of The Oregon Trail explains his team's process for creating the most successful educational computer game of all time.