"Online" documentation should be offline

Thu 30 January 2025

I'm noticing a troubling trend among FOSS projects, even terminal-only utilities: no manpages (or a 1-paragraph useless one), barely any help screens, and a link to a wiki site like a github page or "readthedocs."

The thing is, the whole ethos behind so many terminal utilities is a hearkening back …

Category: Tech
Tags: 100DaysToOffload   BSD   Computing   Ethics   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   FreeBSD   Linux   Non-religious post   Polemic   Productivity   UNIX  

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"Ableism" and the Linux Aristocracy

Tue 07 January 2025
This is Part IV of the series, "Don't use what works for you."

Being an armchair FOSS advocate, there are a lot of anti-FOSS arguments I've become quite used to seeing and answering. Some of them are honestly just pretty dumb:

eloquent_FOSS_apologia();

Well, I just don't CARE about that!

Well …

Category: Ethics
Tags: 100DaysToOffload   Computing   Ethics   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   Life   Linux   Non-religious post   Philosophy   UNIX  

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A 2025 Resolution

Mon 30 December 2024

1920x1080. That's it. Goodnight, folks!

[phonograph-needle-rip.wav]

Wait, WAIT.

My actual resolution is to use RSS feeds as my primary source of diversion on the go, vs. Pavlovically checking the Fediverse every five minutes, or even worse, getting stuck in an hours-long YT Shorts brainrot watching spree.

If you're looking …

Category: Tech
Tags: Computing   Entertainment   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   Hobbies   Life   Non-religious post   Non-technical post   Productivity  

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How I Watch YouTube

Fri 06 December 2024

I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, TuxJam the other day, and they were discussing ways to watch YouTube without the annoyances that Google has added to the experience, namely ads and the inability to download videos for later viewing (also, YouTube stopped letting you listen to videos …

Category: Tech
Tags: Computing   Entertainment   Ethics   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   Linux   Non-religious post   PeerTube   Podcasts   Productivity   UNIX   Unix Tips   Video  

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Laptops: A Romance

Sat 30 November 2024

As I wrote in yesterday's article, I have a soft spot in my heart for laptops. They exist in this incredibly sweet spot where convenience and agency/freedom converge in the very best way, possible. I bought my first laptop in 1995 with my very hard-earned money, but let's start …

Category: Tech
Tags: ADHD   Computing   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   Hobbies   Life   Linux   Non-religious post   Productivity   Retrocomputing   UNIX   WritingMonth  

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My Odd Relationship with Minecraft

Mon 25 November 2024

Unlike most young people, and not unlike many of my GenX peers, I haven't played much Minecraft.

I got into it a little bit with my cousin's kids when they were young around 2010, and I even played it a little bit on my own at the time, but the …

Category: Entertainment
Tags: ADHD   Computing   Entertainment   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   Gaming   Hobbies   Life   Non-religious post   Non-technical post   WritingMonth  

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My Every Day Carry, Part V: What's on My Phone?

Sun 24 November 2024

In Part IV, I discussed wristwatches. In this article, I'm jumping back into my pocket, so to speak, with a look at what's on my phone itself.

This was a rather exhausting article to write, because I have a lot of apps on my phone. I have even been ridiculed …

Category: Tech
Tags: Computing   Ethics   Federated Services   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   Non-religious post   PeerTube   Podcasts   Productivity   Translation   WritingMonth  

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What is FOSS?

Sun 24 November 2024
Note: This article was originally written last December, and was sidelined because I didn't feel it was finished. Reading through it this morning, I realized reason that I never "finished" it is because the next step would've been to write a 1280-word chapter, which is no small feat. But honestly …

Category: Tech
Tags: BSD   Computing   Content Warning   Ethics   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   FreeBSD   Linux   Non-religious post   Philosophy   UNIX   WritingMonth  

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My Every Day Carry, Part IV: So, I Kinda Helped to Start a Cult

Tue 19 November 2024

In Part III, I discussed fountain pens, and how they revolutionized writing for me.

I thought I was done with my EDC series, until a toot from my FediFriend OrbitalMartian reminded me of one more every-day carry …

Category: Tech
Tags: Computing   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   Hobbies   Informal post   Non-religious post   Non-technical post   Productivity   QuickPost   WritingMonth  

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My Every Day Carry, Part III: Fountain Pens are Awesome!

Tue 19 November 2024

In Part II, I went over the items in my backpack. In this installment, I will talk about a single item in detail: fountain pens.

Growing up, I really disliked writing by hand. It was very uncomfortable, and my handwriting was extremely messy, to the point that my classmates would …

Category: Tech
Tags: Computing   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   Hobbies   Informal post   Non-religious post   Non-technical post   Productivity   QuickPost   WritingMonth  

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