Favorite software

So, while I don't like

that this gemlog is hosted via, I do occasionally like to write about other tech stuff.

I have a core set of software I like on all my computers. The first is an open source OS. I have PCs with OpenBSD and Linux. My main laptop is a Thinkpad x201 running Gentoo, my studio PC is an x86 tablet hooked to a 43" monitor and runs Mint Linux (mostly because when I set it up that was the already existing thumbdrive I had, and I was certain that whatever funky hardware existed in that tablet, an Ubuntu based distro would handle it with ease). When I was employed, I had a Windows 10 laptop issued by the company. I was friends with IT and so my account was a local admin on that laptop. I installed the WSL and it made this a lot more tolerable.

the software

Vim. I have used vim since the 90s. The Windows document .ico on vim.org was made by me.

I have tried emacs recently

but went back to vim.

Muscle memory has a real power. I reflexively [esc]:wq[return] in editors. My ~/.vimrc has things I use all the time such as

> ,d

for current date, latexlivepreview (off by default, even when writing latex), a key combo that runs a general compilation script, etc.

TexLive. I do not use an Office suite. I write documents in latex and compile to PDF.

sc-im. I use this for spreadsheets, such as my job hunting. I typically save as csv (which is why I use sc-im over sc). In the case of my job hunt, I convert that file to Org mode via sed to have my hunt on my phone (more on this below).

Org mode. During my foray into emacs usage, I fell in love with org mode. I use

VimOrganizer

for this duty. I keep a number of files going in org mode, and doing so in vim makes me happy.

Remind. I use remind for my calendar needs. I am very familiar with the syntax and it has a lot of power for repeat events, etc.

Dropbox. While I am not really a big fan of letting my data live on foreign servers, Dropbox having a Linux client, and a wide number of applications that utilize the service, makes it very handy. I have scripts that are triggered by Gnu direvent that monitor directories in my ~/Dropbox.

One of those scripts monitors my main remind file, uses sed to convert it to org mode, and places that org mode file in another directory. My phone syncs the org mode file via an app named Orgzly, which has a widget that is on the main screen of my android phone. Thus, I get notifications via my remind file.

Speaking of sed, I typically use it for everything. The atom feed for this gemlog is created with a sed script. There is truly nothing more one needs to parse, well, anything.

Firefox and Thunderbird round out the list. Not much to say here. I have mutt installed on RPoJ (the Raspberry Pi of Judgement) as a backup.

Speaking of RPoJ, I consider that RPi 3b+ to be my main PC. It is plugged into my router and accessible via ssh. I am ssh'd into it right now from an iPad Pro with a bluetooth keyboard. RPoJ always has a tmux session running with an ssh session running to each of the other RPis in their own tab. So I am in the tab connected to RPoA (the Raspberry Pi of Anguish, which is the gemini server) writing this in vim. The other PCs I consider ephemeral, but RPoJ is forever. Even then, I do not want to lose data when the uSD card fails (and it will).

Git. While I do have external drives connected to RPoJ, I keep a number of private git repos going to back up things I do not want to lose. Music files, etc. are backed up locally, but my documents, dotfiles, etc. live in repos. This is a pretty ubiquitous thing to do, so not use rehashing.

There you go, my favorite software.