Browsing this wiki

Because the structure of this website is that of a book, the arrows (and arrow keys) are another way to move between "chapters."
Both internal and external links are blue. To distinguish between the two types of links, external links are marked with italics.
The default theme (with JavaScript enabled) is "Ayu." You can use the brush in the upper-left corner to select a different theme.
The integrated search engine uses the Boolean operator "AND." No other logic is supported.

Your expectations

I will emphasize social justice and human rights.
I will not directly link to products from Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft. Even though GitHub is owned by Microsoft, I will still include links to public GitHub repositories.
I will provide resources in free culture (e.g., Creative Commons) and libre software (e.g., Free Software Foundation).
Unless otherwise noted, linked sites will support secure connections over HTTPS.

Where am I?

This site is an expansion to the "resources" page on my main website, serving as a personal wiki and "second brain." I wanted it to be publicly accessible. I will continue using the main website to post current events and a less comprehensive list of recommendations.

It won't replace Joplin's web clipper or saving to wallabag, but I will also post tasks and unfinished reading to this wiki. It's a "brain," after all.

You can also find me on Mastodon. Interested in learning more about it? Start with its wiki page.

Creating this wiki

I tried both mdBook and TiddlyWiki in creating this website. Internal links for a wiki-like experience work well in both. I prefer the appearance, search function, and text formatting (i.e., Markdown versus WikiText) of mdBook.

Hosting this wiki

This website is hosted with GitLab Pages on Framagit.

Licensing

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Referral programs

Libro.fm

Referral link

You'll get one free month of Libro.fm membership, including a free audiobook. I earn a free audiobook after your first monthly payment.

mailbox.org

Receive an additional three months use of mailbox.org in the "basic" tier (3 euros) after an initial deposit. Use the contact information on my main website to request an invitation. I do not receive any compensation for this referral.

TODO

todo.txt

Consider changing my DNS provider and web hosting service.
Go to Bluestockings, "a volunteer-powered and collectively-owned radical bookstore, fair trade cafe, and activist center in the Lower East Side of Manhattan."
Read "Disability and Justice" in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Read about capitalism and digital rights
Sign up for Libro.fm

Big Tech: GAFAM

Alphabet (GOOG)

Gmail

I do have a personal Gmail account, but I am transitioning everything to either my catch-all alias at mailbox.org or my Disroot account. I also use AnonAddy for mailing lists.

After I finish this process, I will delete Gmail and my Google Account, which I use mainly for YouTube.

YouTube

Download videos

youtube-dl is "a command-line program to download videos from YouTube.com and a few more sites."

AllTube is a GUI for youtube-dl

Links

Export YouTube subscriptions in XML format with the subscription manager and add them to a feed reader or private front-end to YouTube.

Note: As of 2020-10-31, it's no longer possible to export subscriptions through the above link. Google Takeout does allow a list of YouTube subscriptions to be exported. Unfortunately, this list is in a format (JSON) unsupported by feed readers or either alternative below.

To manage all videos in a YouTube playlist (i.e., the classic YouTube interface), add &disable_polymer=1 to the end of its URL.

Privacy

FreeTube is "a YouTube client for Windows, Mac, and Linux built around using YouTube more privately." Because subscriptions and watch history are stored locally, no account is required.

Invidious is "an alternative front-end to YouTube," which "does not use any of the official YouTube APIs" or require a Google account to manage subscriptions.

Amazon (AMZN)

Audible

Facebook (FB)

Instagram

Apple (AAPL)

Microsoft (MSFT)

GitHub

GitHub is a platform for developers to "host and review code, manage projects, and build software" in Git repositories.

Outlook

Windows 10

Installing Windows 10

I use MSMG Toolkit to modify Windows image files before installation on a new device.

WindowsSpyBlocker is "an application written in Go and delivered as a single executable to block spying and tracking on Windows systems."

Installing software on Windows 10

Ninite is a proprietary service used to install and update multiple programs at once. This link will download an installer for AdoptOpenJDK, Firefox, Python3, SumatraPDF, and Thunderbird, all open source software.

Scoop uses PowerShell as "a command-line installer for Windows."

Licensing: The Unlicense (Source code)

I don't use Ninite or Scoop to install the following applications:

Cloud computing

Digital Ocean

We make it simple to launch in the cloud and scale up as you grow -- with an intuitive control panel, predictable pricing, team accounts, and more.

I use the smallest DigitalOcean droplet to host CryptPad, FreshRSS, Nextcloud, and wallabag. Installing YunoHost simplified the process.

Heroku

Heroku is a container-based cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS). Developers use Heroku to deploy, manage, and scale modern apps.

I have RSSHub running on a Hobby dyno to generate several feeds. I subscribe to these feeds with FreshRSS.

Hosting a website

Storage and synchronization

Cloud storage

Encryption

hat.sh is a browser-based application "that provides secure file encryption using the AES-256-GCM algorithm from WebCryptoAPI provided by your browser." The developer describes it as "fast, secure and Serverless, the app never uploads the files to the server." You can also download the application for use independent of a browser.

To use it, navigate to hat.sh, select a file and decryption key, and download the encrypted file. You can then upload the file to the cloud storage provider of your choice.

For ongoing encryption and more direct integration with cloud storage, consider an application like Cryptomator.

Online collaboration

Services

Cryptee is "a private and encrypted place for all your photos, documents, notes and more."

CryptPad is "a private-by-design alternative to popular office tools and cloud services" (e.g., Google Drive).

Cryptomator "encrypts your data quickly and easily. Afterwards you upload them protected to your favorite cloud service."

Licensing: GNU General Public License (GPL) v3.0 (Source code)

CryptPad

CryptPad is a private-by-design alternative to popular office tools and cloud services. All the content stored on CryptPad is encrypted before being sent, which means nobody can access your data unless you give them the keys (not even us).

Licensing: GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) v3.0 (Source code)

With its collaborative rich text editor, Markdown-based presentations, and spreadsheet editor, consider using CryptPad as an alternative to Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets, respectively.

CryptPad also has a code editor, kanban system, polls (comparable to Doodle), and whiteboard.

As noted above, all content is encrypted before being sent to the server. Optionally, an additional password can be required to access projects. Registration is not required of any user.

Documentation

Public instances

The following list is based on what I found while browsing the Internet and the hosts of other free services. Every instance is free -- both gratis and libre.

Ethercalc

EtherCalc is a web spreadsheet. Your data is saved on the web, and people can edit the same document at the same time. Everybody's changes are instantly reflected on all screens. Work together on inventories, survey forms, list management, brainstorming sessions and more!

Consider using Ethercalc as an alternative to Google Sheets. Registration is not required.

Public instances

The following list is based on what I found while browsing the Internet and the hosts of other free services. Every instance is free -- both gratis and libre.

Etherpad

Etherpad allows you to edit documents collaboratively in real-time, much like a live multi-player editor that runs in your browser. Write articles, press releases, to-do lists, etc. together with your friends, fellow students or colleagues, all working on the same document at the same time.

Consider using Etherpad as an alternative to Google Docs. Registration is not required.

Public instances

The following lists are based on a list in the GitHub repository's list and a list on Framapad. I went through each of the instances to find out which plugins are supported.

Note: Many of these instances use French as their primary language. Some of the instances with English language support include Disroot,, Framapad, LibreOps, Riseup, Snopyta, and Wikimedia.

Alignment, colors, comments, and style

Alignments, colors, links, and style

Colors, comments, and style

Devol
+ Video calls: Framapad

Colors, style, and tables

Louis-Olivier Brassard

Comments and style

Colors

Style

Basic text formatting

Nextcloud

Nextcloud describes itself as "the most popular self-hosted collaboration solution for tens of millions of users at thousands of organizations across the globe."

Share and collaborate on documents, send and receive email, manage your calendar and have video chats without data leaks. As fully on-premises solution, Nextcloud Hub provides the benefits of online collaboration without the compliance and security risks.

Licensing: GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) v3.0 (server) (Source code)

Documentation

Public instances

The following list is based on what I found while browsing the Internet and the hosts of other free services. Every instance is free -- both gratis and libre. Expanding storage (at cost) is possible with Disroot and woelkli. Expanded storage is also available "upon request" at GGC-Project.

Chapril: 1 GB of storage. The available Nextcloud apps include calendars and tasks, contacts, music, and notes.
Disroot: 2 GB of storage. The available Nextcloud apps include calendars and tasks, contacts, a kanban system, and notes. Disroot's Nextcloud apps also include cloud storage of bookmarks, a feed reader, and a group budget manager.
GGC-Project: 512 MB of storage. The available Nextcloud apps include calendars, forms, and polls.
Opendesktop.org: 5 GB of storage. Nextcloud apps include maps, music, and notes.
wölkli: 2 GB of storage. The available Nextcloud apps include calendars and tasks, contacts, notes, and Nextcloud Talk. Nextcloud Talk supports audio and video calls, chat, "lobbies," and screen sharing. It also integrates with Nextcloud files.

Uploads

Public instances of Firefox Send, "a file sharing experiment which allows you to send encrypted files to other users" (Archived)

DropChapril (1 GB limit)
GGC-Project (1 GB limit)
lambda.dance (2.5 GB limit)

Public instances of Lufi, "a E2E encrypted file sharing software" and abbreviation for "Let's Upload that FIle" (Source code)

Disroot (2 GB limit)
Framadrop (3 GB limit)
Infini (1 GB limit)
Underworld (2 GB limit)

Development and maintenance

#EthicalWebDev

We’ve finally published our new guide for ethical website development and maintenance, Ethical Web Dev! It’s aimed at web developers and maintainers who have a strong understanding of technical concepts, to assist them in bringing the web back to its roots -- a decentralised tool that can enhance fundamental rights, democracy and freedom of expression. The goal of the project, which started more than a year ago, was to provide guidance to developers on how to move away from third-party infected, data-leaking, unethical and unsafe practices.

The Markup: Blacklight

Enter the address of any website, and Blacklight will scan it and reveal the specific user-tracking technologies on the site—and who’s getting your data.

Hosting

The following web hosting services require or support custom domain names.

GitLab Pages

Software as a service
Both this wiki and www.ethanyoo.com are hosted on Framasoft's instance of GitLab.

To publish a website with Pages, you can use any SSG, like Gatsby, Jekyll, Hugo, Middleman, Harp, Hexo, and Brunch, just to name a few. You can also publish any website written directly in plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

NearlyFreeSpeech.NET

With NearlyFreeSpeech.NET, you make a small deposit (as little as $0.25) into your account to start up your hosting service, and then set up and pay for only the services that you need.

Netlify

Options for creating deploys range from connecting a Git repository for continuous deployment to publishing a site folder with drag and drop.

UberSpace

You support our fair treatment: To our suppliers, to our employees, the environment and to you. You also promote the use of green energy because that’s how our servers are running. Sustainability is important to us which is why we like to travel by rail or bike. We are also data-economical and privacy-aware: You only need an email address to use our service.

Platforms and tools

Installing BookStack "will require some knowledge of hosting a PHP web application & database."

Hugo is one of the most popular open-source static site generators.

mdBook is "a command line tool and Rust crate to create books using Markdown (as by the CommonMark specification) files."

The purpose of copyright

Copyright grants a set of exclusive rights to copyright owners, which means that no one else can copy, distribute, publicly perform, adapt, or do almost anything else other than simply view or read the work without permission of the copyright holder.

The "exclusive rights"

Economic rights "allow right owners to derive financial reward from the use of their works by others."
Moral rights "allow creators to take certain actions to preserve and protect their link with their work."

What can be copyrighted?

Literary and artistic works (e.g., paintings and blog posts) that "meet a certain standard of originality"
"Different countries frame the test in different ways, but it is often either considered a test of originality or authorial presence. Generally speaking, this means the work must have been a creation of its creator and not copied from another work."

What can NOT be copyrighted?

Copyright does not protect facts or ideas themselves, only the expression of those facts or ideas. [...] While copyright law gives creators control over their expression of an idea, it does not allow the copyright holder to own or exclusively control the idea itself.

The relationship between copyright and other methods of protecting "intellectual property"

Trademark law generally allows the holder of a trademark "to prevent uses of its trademark by others if the public will be confused," helping both to "protect their reputation" and "the public by giving them a simple way to differentiate between similar products and services"
Patent law "gives inventors a time-limited monopoly to their inventions"

How does a person receive copyright protection for their work?

As a general rule, copyright is automatic the moment a work is created, though some countries require that the work be fixed in a tangible medium before granting copyright. In countries that require fixation, such as the United States, you do not have a copyright until you type your poem, record a song, or otherwise capture your work in a fixed form.

Note that "registration is not required to gain copyright protection."

"Work-for-hire" and other contexts

"This [common law] doctrine generally provides that if you have created a copyrightable work within the scope of your employment, the employer is the owner of, and controls, the economic rights in the copyrighted work. In many civil law countries, such as France and Germany, the law presumes that copyright vests with the employee-author, unless an empoyment contract dictates or implies otherwise."
Depending on the terms of their contract, "independent contractors may or may not own and control copyright in the works they create in that capacity."
"Teachers, university faculty, and learners may or may not own and control copyright in the works they create in those capacities."
If you have co-created a single original work that is subject to copyright, you may be a joint owner, rather than an exclusive owner, of the rights granted by copyright law. Joint ownership generally prohibits one author from exploiting a work without the consent of the others"

What is the public domain?

Global aspects of copyright: "A work might be in the public domain in one country, but not in another one."
"After a set term, the copyright expires and the work enters the public domain for everyone to copy, adapt, and share. Likewise, there are certain types of works that fall outside the scope of copyright." That being said, "moral rights may continue to exist" for such works.
Works can enter the public domain in any one of four ways:
1. The copyright expires (i.e., country-dependent)
2. The work was never entitled to copyright protection (e.g., "official texts of a legislative, administrative, and legal nature" per the Berne Convention)
3. The creator dedicates the work to the public domain (i.e., before the copyright expires) using a legal tool like the CC Zero Public Domain Dedication.
4. The creator "failed to adhere to formalities" in acquiring or maintaining their copyright: rare because "today in most countries, there are no formal requirements to acquire or renew copyright protection."

Exceptions and limitations to copyright

Some limitations and exceptions itemize the specific sector beneficiary of the exception and the conditions in which the exception can be applied.

Education-specific exceptions
Exceptions for people with disabilities (e.g., accessible formats)
"Fair use"

As a general guideline, exceptions [emphasis added] to copyright are free, while limitations [emphasis added] to copyright are subject to payment.

Directories

Directory of open access journals (DOAJ) is "a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals."

JustDeleteMe: A directory of direct links to delete your account from web services.

Resolve a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) name: Your browser will take you to a Web page (URL) associated with that DOI name.

The DOI Handbook is "the primary source of information about the DOI® system."

Guides

Awesome-Cheatsheets

Awesome cheatsheets for popular programming languages, frameworks and development tools. They include everything you should know in one single file.

Guide to DRM-free living

This guide lists any suppliers of digital media provide files free of DRM and do not require the use of proprietary software.

Proxies

Unblockit: "Access your favorite blocked sites!"

Domain Name System (DNS)

DNS resolvers

Introduction to DNS Privacy (Internet Society)

Almost every time we use an Internet application, it starts with a Domain Name System (DNS) transaction to map a human-friendly domain name into a set of IP addresses that can be used to deliver packets over the Internet. DNS transactions can therefore be correlated to the applications we use, the web sites we visit, and sometimes even the people we communicate with.

Protocols

Public resolvers

DNSCrypt: List of public DoH and DNSCrypt servers

PrivacyTools: Encrypted DNS resolvers

DNS over HTTPS (DoH)

dnscrypt-proxy supports DNS over HTTPS.

DNS over TLS (DoT)

Beginning with Android 9, there is built-in support for DNS over TLS (under the name of "Private DNS").

What is DNSCrypt?

DNSCrypt is a protocol that encrypts, authenticates and optionally anonymizes communications between a DNS client and a DNS resolver. It prevents DNS spoofing. It uses cryptographic signatures to verify that responses originate from the chosen DNS resolver and haven’t been tampered with.

dnscrypt-proxy is an implementation of the DNSCrypt specification.

dnscrypt-proxy

dnscrypt-proxy is "a flexible DNS proxy, with support for modern encrypted DNS protocols such as DNSCrypt v2, DNS-over-HTTPS and Anonymized DNSCrypt."

Filtering with dnscrypt-proxy allows for permanent and time-based blocking of advertisements, malware, social media, trackers, etc.

Managed DNS provider

Cloudflare's Learning Center: Resources on cyber-security and how the Internet works

I want to try switching to deSEC which is "a free DNS hosting service, designed with security in mind. Running on open-source software and supported by SSE, deSEC is free for everyone to use."

Cloudflare's security features (e.g., HSTS) are useful since I can't set HTTP headers on GitLab Pages -- although I do use <meta> elements where possible. My web hosting service is something I should consider changing.

Domain name registrar

I have two domain names registered with Porkbun

Pricing on domain names

Email (mailbox.org)

Knowledge base: Using a custom domain (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC)

Knowledge base: Using the Jabber service with a custom domain

mailbox.org

mailbox.org provides ad-free email hosting, an online office, and cloud storage. Custom domain names are supported. It uses open-source software for its base system, serving as an alternative to Gmail and Outlook. The basic plan starts at 1 euro per month.

mailbox.org is the email hosting provider for ethanyoo.com.

Filtering

I use dnscrypt-proxy and uBlock Origin to block advertisements, malware, and trackers.

As NoTracking points out: "Separating ad from tracking filters is not feasible, since ads will also track you.. there is not clear distinction in most cases."

dnscrypt-proxy

dnscrypt-proxy is "a flexible DNS proxy, with support for modern encrypted DNS protocols such as DNSCrypt v2, DNS-over-HTTPS and Anonymized DNSCrypt."

Filtering with dnscrypt-proxy allows for permanent and time-based blocking of advertisements, malware, social media, trackers, etc.

Filters

Lists of lists:

FilterLists is "the independent, comprehensive directory of filter and host lists for advertisements, trackers, malware, and annoyances."

WaLLy3K: The Big Blocklist Collection

The Internet is full of unsavoury content: advertisers wanting to sell you stuff you don't need, trackers extracting and selling your data as if it were oil, and malicious content vying to hijack your favourite device. This collection hopes to help you minimise these issues, and to maintain a more enjoyable online presence, using the wonderful, free and open source utility known as Pi-hole.

Some of the lists I use:

1Hosts

Protect your ‘data’ & eyeballs from being auctioned to the highest bidder.

marktron/fakenews

This is a small attempt to limit my exposure to sites that fall under the umbrella of “fake news.” It blocks sites that willfully and regularly spread clickbait, hoaxes, propaganda and disinformation.

NoTracking/hosts-blocklists

No more ads, tracking and other virtual garbage

Pi-hole

Free culture and free software

Data portability

Free culture

Creative Commons

Open educational resources (OER)

Open Educational Resources (OER Commons): Search resources

Public domain

axet/android-book-reader: Catalogs

Licensing: GNU General Public License (GPL) v3.0 (Source code)

Feedbooks: Discover thousands of public domain books

LibriVox: Free public domain audiobooks

Project Gutenberg: A library of over 60,000 free eBooks

Licensing: Project Gutenberg eBooks may be freely used in the United States because most are not protected by U.S. copyright law. They may not be free of copyright in other countries.

Standard Ebooks: High quality, carefully formatted, accessible, open source, and free public domain ebooks

Licensing: Public domain, GNU General Public License (GPL) v3.0 (Source code)

Wikipedia

Free software movement

The free software movement is a social movement with the goal of obtaining and guaranteeing certain freedoms for software users, namely the freedom to run the software, to study the software, to modify the software, to share possibly modified copies of the software.

Free-culture movement

The free-culture movement is a social movement that promotes the freedom to distribute and modify the creative works of others in the form of free content or open content without compensation to, or the consent of, the work's original creators, by using the Internet and other forms of media.

Open data

Open data is the idea that some data should be freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control.

Open design

The goals and philosophy of the movement are identical to that of the open-source movement, but are implemented for the development of physical products rather than software.

Remix culture

Remix culture, sometimes read-write culture, is a society that allows and encourages derivative works by combining or editing existing materials to produce a new creative work or product. A remix culture would be, by default, permissive of efforts to improve upon, change, integrate, or otherwise remix the work of copyright holders.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that helps overcome legal obstacles to the sharing of knowledge and creativity to address the world’s pressing challenges.

About CC licenses

Wikimedia

Framasoft

From the educational world and now turned towards popular education, Framasoft is above all a network of projects, of which the first, directory https://framalibre.org, dates back to 2001. These projects are run by people working together with the same desire: promote digital freedoms. Respect for the fundamental freedoms of users, guaranteed by legal contracts (the free licenses), is at the heart of the librist movement and ensures that the human remains in control of the digital tool.

Framasoft is responsible for De-google-ify Internet, a project that focuses on providing free and ethical substitutes for corporate services.

Framasoft is also the founder of CHATONS.

CHATONS

CHATONS is a group of "ethical hosters providing FLOSS-based online services" as substitutes for the centralized offerings of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft (GAFAM). It is an alternative to the latter group's specialization in data collection and surveillance capitalism. CHATONS is a Framasoft initiative.

Browse the collective's membership

De-google-ify Internet

Are you looking for a specific tool?

These services are software, but this software is set up on someone else’s computer (on what’s called "servers"). Using services offered by Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft… ("GAFAM") means giving them your data, the parts of your life that you put on the Internet. So it’s a matter of trust.

De-google-ify Internet is a project by Framasoft.

Free software

What is free software?

“Free software” means software that respects users' freedom and community. Roughly, it means that the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. Thus, “free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer”. We sometimes call it “libre software,” borrowing the French or Spanish word for “free” as in freedom, to show we do not mean the software is gratis.

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is "a nonprofit with a worldwide mission to promote computer user freedom."

Current campaigns

The FSF's campaigns target important opportunities for free software adoption and development, empower people against specific threats to their freedom, and move us closer to a free society.

Free software resources

Use these resources to find the free software you need, promote the free software you like, and explain to everyone you know why it's essential to use and support free software.

Various licenses and comments about them

We try to list the most commonly encountered free software license on this page, but cannot list them all; we'll try our best to answer questions about free software licenses whether or not they are listed here.

Software Freedom Conservancy is "a not-for-profit charity that helps promote, improve, develop, and defend Free, Libre, and Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects."

Licensing

Creative works

Creative Commons

Software

MIT License

Mozilla Public License (MPL)

GNU General Public License (GPL)

GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL)

Some of the software I use is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) v3.0:

The GNU Affero General Public License is a modified version of the ordinary GNU GPL version 3. It has one added requirement: if you run a modified program on a server and let other users communicate with it there, your server must also allow them to download the source code corresponding to the modified version running there.

GNU General Public License (GPL)

The licenses for most software and other practical works are designed to take away your freedom to share and change the works. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change all versions of a program--to make sure it remains free software for all its users.

Some of the software I use is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) v3.0:

Bitwarden (browser extension, CLI, desktop, mobile, web) (Source code)
Cryptomator (Source code)
Greenshot (Source code)
KeePassXC (v2.0 or v3.0) (Source code)

Some of the software I use is licensed under the older GNU General Public License (GPL) v2.0:

[Kleopatra] (v2.0 or later) (Source code)
[Notepad++] (Source code)

LibreOffice allows secondary licensing under the GPL v2.0, GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) v2.1, AGPL v3.0, or any later version of those licenses.

GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL)

Some of the software I use is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) v3.0:

The choice of license makes a big difference: using the Lesser GPL permits use of the library in proprietary programs; using the ordinary GPL for a library makes it available only for free programs.

[PeaZip] Source code)

MIT License (Expat)

The Free Software Foundation recommends against using the term "MIT License." It is ambiguous in that both the Expat License and X11 License are referred to as "the MIT License."

Some of the software I use is licensed under the Expat License:

Joplin (browser extension, desktop, mobile)
Mark Text
wallabag (browser extension and server)

Mozilla Public License (MPL)

LibreOffice is licensed under the Mozilla Public License v2.0 but allows for secondary licensing.

Syncthing is the only application I regularly use that is licensed solely under the Mozilla Public License.

Open source

Why Open Source misses the point of Free Software

The two now describe almost the same category of software, but they stand for views based on fundamentally different values. For the free software movement, free software is an ethical imperative, essential respect for the users' freedom. By contrast, the philosophy of open source considers issues in terms of how to make software “better”—in a practical sense only. It says that nonfree software is an inferior solution to the practical problem at hand.

We in the free software movement don't think of the open source camp as an enemy; the enemy is proprietary (nonfree) software. But we want people to know we stand for freedom, so we do not accept being mislabeled as open source supporters. What we advocate is not “open source,” and what we oppose is not “closed source”. To make this clear, we avoid using those terms.

Most of the programs I use are licensed as free software.

Git

Git is "a free and open source distributed version control system," used for tracking the source code to software.

Chacon, S., & Straub, B. (2020). Pro Git (2nd ed.). Apress.

git-annex

git-annex allows managing files with git, without checking the file contents into git.

git-crypt

git-crypt enables transparent encryption and decryption of files in a git repository. Files which you choose to protect are encrypted when committed, and decrypted when checked out.

GitHub Student Developer Pack

That's why we created the [[GitHub Student Developer Pack|https://education.github.com/pack]] with some of our partners and friends: to give students free access to the best developer tools in one place so they can learn by doing.

Documentation

Gitea

GitHub

GitHub is a platform for developers to "host and review code, manage projects, and build software" in Git repositories.

GitLab

Hardware

Displays

I have used an HP Pavilion 23xw since August 2016.

Mechanical keyboards

I have an Anne Pro mechanical keyboard with Gateron Brown switches, a CM Storm QuickFire Rapid with Cherry MX Brown switches, and a Plugable mechanical keyboard with Outemu Blue switches.

Mice

I have used a *Logitech G602 and Logitech MX Anywhere 2S since October 2018.

Life

Audio

Awesome lists

What is an awesome list?

Awesome Checker Services

List of links to the various checkers out there on the web for sites, domains, security etc.

Awesome Command Line Apps

A curated list of useful command line apps, in celebration of the TUI.

Awesome CS Courses

This list is an attempt to bring to light those awesome CS courses which make their high-quality material i.e. assignments, lectures, notes, readings & examinations available online for free.

Awesome Humane Tech

While many innovative technology inventions are improving our lives, there is increasing awareness on negative impacts that come with these trends, such as large-scale privacy invasion, surveillance capitalism, and tech monopolies.

Awesome OSINT

A curated list of amazingly awesome open source intelligence tools and resources. Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is intelligence collected from publicly available sources.

Awesome-Selfhosted

Self-hosting* is the practice of locally hosting and managing applications instead of renting from SaaSS providers.

Awesome WSL

An Awesome collection of Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) information, distributions, and tools.

Backpacks

I currently use accessories from:

I currently use backpacks made by:

I find reviews on Carryology, Matterful, and Pack Hacker.

Digital detox

Detoxify.app will "generate a fake app to replace any addictive app."

Reddit: NoSurf Activities List

Naturally not every activity on this list will appeal to you or get you excited. Instead of expecting this list to be perfectly tailored to your interests, it's best to think of it as a source of inspiration, and a symbol of possibility.

Wikipedia: Digital detox

Over the past decade technology and social media have become an integral aspect of everyday life, and thus the decision to refrain from using technology or social media has become a conscious lifestyle choice reflecting the desire for selective and reversible disconnection.

Online learning

Computer science

TODO: GitHub Learning Lab

Codecademy: Catalog

Curated programming resources (GitHub)

This page is meant to help solve that problem -- to present a curated list of resources for people who are either new to programming, new to a particular topic, or want to advance their skills past the beginner stage. This page doesn't try and list every single resource available, but instead links to resources that are guaranteed to be high-quality.

r/learnprogramming: Frequently asked questions

Welcome to /r/learnprogramming. This is a list of some of the most frequently asked questions on this subreddit.

National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN): Learning Center

As part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), the Learning Center for Child and Adolescent Trauma offers Free Online Education.

Various subjects

Coursera

Build skills with courses, certificates, and degrees online from world-class universities and companies.

Bookstores

#ShopLocalBookstores

This holiday season is crucial for bookstores weathering the financial challenges of 2020, but you can make the choice to shop local, invest in your community, and ensure a brighter, book-filled future.

TODO: Bluestockings

When we’re open, we carry over 6,000 titles on topics such as feminism, queer and gender studies, global capitalism, climate & environment, political theory, police and prisons, race and black studies, radical education, plus many more!

TODO: Libro.fm

When you make the #AudiobookSwitch from Audible to Libro.fm, you’ll support your local bookstore and get two audiobooks for the price of one when you start your membership. That’s two audiobooks for $14.99 when you use the code SWITCH.

Miscellaneous

Philly AIDS Thrift

Our goal is to sell the lovely, useful, interesting, amusing, and sometimes mysterious stuff generous people donate to our thrift store and then distribute the proceeds to local organizations involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Performing arts

Colonial Theatre

The theatre is owned and operated by the Association for the Colonial Theatre (ACT), a nonprofit corporation, which re-opened the theatre in 1999. The Colonials programming includes art and independent films seven nights a week, classic films, programs for young audiences, live concerts, and community events.

FringeArts

FringeArts is Philadelphia’s home for contemporary performance, presenting progressive, world-class art that expands the imagination and boldly defies expectations.

Recommendations

Books Feeds Hardware Podcasts

Books

Rogers, C. (2016). Intellectual disability and being human: A care ethics model.

Intellectual disability is often overlooked within mainstream disability studies, and theories developed about disability and physical impairment may not always be appropriate when thinking about intellectual (or learning) disability.

Snowden, E. (2019). Permanent record.

Snowden, E. (2019). Permanent record. [Audiobook].

Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.

Stevenson, B. (2014). Just mercy: A story of justice and redemption.

Stevenson, B. (2014). Just mercy: A story of justice and redemption. [Audiobook].

Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.

Feeds

About Feeds: What is a feed?

It’s like subscribing to a podcast, or following a company on Facebook. You don’t need to pay or hand over your email address. You get the latest content without having to visit lots of sites, and without cluttering up your inbox. Had enough? Easy: unsubscribe from the feed. You just need a special app called a newsreader. This site explains how to get started.

RSS-Bridge is "a PHP project capable of generating RSS and Atom feeds for websites that don't have one. [...] Important: RSS-Bridge is not a feed reader or feed aggregator, but a tool to generate feeds that are consumed by feed readers and feed aggregators"

Public instances of RSS-Bridge

Similarly to RSS-Bridge, RSSHub generates feeds, or "routes," for use with a feed reader.

Demo instance of RSSHub
My public instance of RSSHub

I run FreshRSS (installed with YunoHost on a Digital Ocean droplet) as a feed aggregator and reader. I use Readrops as an Android client. Readrops supports FreshRSS, Nextcloud News and local accounts.

I also recently (2020-11-14) deployed Miniflux on Heroku.

Podcasts

Note: The XML files might be served over the HTTP protocol (i.e., not secured with HTTPS).

Beyond Prisons

Beyond Prisons is a podcast on justice, mass incarceration, and prison abolition. (XML)

Dear Hank & John

Hosts John and Hank Green (authors and YouTubers) offer both humorous and heartfelt advice about life’s big and small questions. (XML)

Healthcare Triage

Healthcare Triage is a series about healthcare hosted by Dr. Aaron Carroll who explains healthcare policy, medical research, and answers a lot of other questions you may have about medicine, health, and healthcare. (XML)

It's Going Down

Searching for a revolutionary anarchist, anti-fascist, and autonomous anti-capitalist alternative to the far-Right and the neo-liberal center? Looking to learn more about grassroots revolt and social movements across North America? (XML)

Know Your Enemy

A leftist's guide to the conservative movement, one podcast episode at a time, with co-hosts Matthew Sitman and Sam Adler-Bell. (XML)

On the Media (Publishes transcripts)

Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear. (XML)

Out of the Blocks

Out of the Blocks is a uniquely immersive listening experience that emerges from a mosaic of voices and soundscapes on the streets of Baltimore. (XML)

Prison Radio

Prison Radio records and broadcasts the voices of prisoners, centering their analyses and experiences in the movements against mass incarceration and state repression. (XML)

Reveal (Publishes transcripts)

At Reveal, we pour the necessary time and resources into unearthing original stories that hold people and institutions accountable for the problems they’ve caused or benefited from. (XML)

Song Exploder

Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. (XML)

StoryCorps (Publishes transcripts)

Stories of the human heart. A candid, unscripted conversation between two people about what's really important in life: love, loss, family, friendship. (XML)

This American Life (Publishes transcripts)

This American Life is a weekly public radio program and podcast. Each week we choose a theme and put together different kinds of stories on that theme. (XML)

Twenty Thousand Hertz (Publishes transcripts)

A lovingly crafted podcast that reveals the stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds. (XML)

We Live Here

A podcast sharing stories about race and class from St. Louis and beyond. (XML)

Wireframe (Publishes transcripts)

Wireframe reveals the stories behind user experience design and how it helps technology fit into our lives. (XML)

Themes

CGP Grey: Your Theme

CGP Grey: Your Theme on Invidious

The broadness of a theme allows its meaning to change. You started out wanting to read more books, but maybe as you went on, you realized academic papers are where it's at. Or that reading reading just doesn't work for you and listening reading is the way to go. You're still on theme.

The Theme System

Instead of resolutions, we set an overall idea of how we would like to approach each year or season. This becomes almost like a guiding principle for our work and/or personal lives for that period. For example, we both have used the theme ‘The Year of Less’. For Grey this meant a year of less travel and less commitments; for Myke it meant starting no new projects for a year.

Watches

Markup

HTML

Living standard

MDN Web Docs: HTML

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the most basic building block of the Web. It defines the meaning and structure of web content. Other technologies besides HTML are generally used to describe a web page's appearance/presentation (CSS) or functionality/behavior (JavaScript).

Markdown

CommonMark spec

Markdown is a plain text format for writing structured documents, based on conventions for indicating formatting in email and usenet posts. It was developed by John Gruber (with help from Aaron Swartz) and released in 2004 in the form of a syntax description and a Perl script (Markdown.pl) for converting Markdown to HTML.

Markdown Guide: Tools

Zettlr: Documentation

pandoc

pandoc is a tool for converting files between markup formats.

Licensing: GNU General Public License (GPL) v2.0 or later (Source code)

Plain text

Operating systems (OS)

I use Android, Debian, and Windows 10 on a daily basis.

Android

Blokada is a free app for blocking advertisements, trackers, and malware.

Licensing: GNU General Public License (GPL) v3.0 (Source code)

F-Droid is "an installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform." Fossdroid is an alternative web front-end to F-Droid.

Blokada

Blokada is a free and open source app for blocking advertisements, trackers, and malware.

F-Droid

F-Droid is "an installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform." Fossdroid is an alternative web front-end to F-Droid.

GNU/Linux

What is GNU/Linux?

In a GNU/Linux system, Linux is the kernel component. The rest of the system consists of other programs, many of which were written by or for the GNU Project. Because the Linux kernel alone does not form a working operating system, we prefer to use the term “GNU/Linux” to refer to systems that many people casually refer to as “Linux”.

What's in a name?

People who know they are using a system that came out of the GNU Project can see a direct relationship between themselves and GNU. They won't automatically agree with our philosophy, but at least they will see a reason to think seriously about it. In contrast, people who consider themselves “Linux users”, and believe that the GNU Project “developed tools which proved to be useful in Linux”, typically perceive only an indirect relationship between GNU and themselves. They may just ignore the GNU philosophy when they come across it.

I use the following software on GNU/Linux:

Debian

I use Debian with KDE Plasma.

My /etc/apt/sources.list

# bullseye is 'next-stable'
deb https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/debian/ bullseye main contrib non-free
deb-src https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/debian/ bullseye main contrib non-free

deb https://mirrors.dotsrc.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib non-free
deb-src https://mirrors.dotsrc.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib non-free

# Add 'bullseye-updates' (recommended updates) and 'bullseye-backports' after bullseye is current 'stable'

# Zotero
deb https://github.com/retorquere/zotero-deb/releases/download/apt-get/ ./

# linux-surface on GitHub\
# deb [arch=amd64] https://pkg.surfacelinux.com/debian release main

Live images with proprietary firmware!

Theming

dotfiles

dotfiles: Tutorials

Kernel

hostnamectl: Print system hostname and related information with hostnamectl status

uname: Print kernel name and release with uname -sr

YunoHost

I used YunoHost to install CryptPad, FreshRSS, Nextcloud, and wallabag.

YunoHost is an operating system aiming for the simplest administration of a server, and therefore democratize self-hosting, while making sure it stays reliable, secure, ethical and lightweight. It is a copylefted libre software project maintained exclusively by volunteers.

Licensing: GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) v3.0 (Source code)

Documentation

Windows 10

Installing Windows 10

I use MSMG Toolkit to modify Windows image files before installation on a new device.

WindowsSpyBlocker is "an application written in Go and delivered as a single executable to block spying and tracking on Windows systems."

Installing software on Windows 10

Scoop uses PowerShell as "a command-line installer for Windows."

Licensing: The Unlicense (Source code)

I don't use Ninite or Scoop to install the following applications:

Ninite

Scoop

Scoop uses PowerShell as "a command-line installer for Windows."

scoop install Audacity [Bitwarden](/security/Bitwarden.md) Bitwarden-CLI BleachBit Bulk-Crap-Uninstaller Calibre-normal Caprine Cyberduck dnscrypt-proxy dupeGuru empty-recycle-bin [Git](/Git/) [GitHub](/Git/GitHub.md) Hourglass [Hugo-extended](/Static_site/Hugo.md) ImageGlass Inkscape InnoUnp [KeePassXC](/security/KeePassXC.md) Krita nano [Nextcloud](/cloud/Nextcloud.md) Nodejs PowerToys pshazz Qalculate Shotcut simplewall Spytify SyncTrayzor Vivaldi VLC WinDirStat WiXToolset XCA Xournalpp Zettlr

Ethics of care (care ethics)

Caring labor

Disability

Lists of organizations

Riseup: Radical servers

Anti-capitalist, anti-hierarchy, autonomous, feminist, or radical server projects, revolutionary collectives which provide free or mutual aid services to radical and grassroots activists.

Progressive organizations

Internet standards

Progressive

The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) does work related to the death penalty and how "racial disparities in our criminal justice system are a legacy of our history of racial injustice." I recommend a memoir written by Bryan Stevenson, founder of the EJI.

The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.

Public Citizen's areas of advocacy include the climate crisis, corporate accountability, and Medicare for All.

Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people -- not for big corporations.

The Roosevelt Institute focuses on four major issue areas: Corporate power; education, jobs, and worker power; climate and economic transformation; and progressive thought.

The Roosevelt Institute is a think tank, campus network, and nonprofit partner to the FDR Library, working together to move the US toward a new economy and democracy by the people, for the people.

The Urban Justice Center's initiatives include Freedom Agenda, "dedicated to organizing people and communities directly impacted by incarceration to achieve decarceration and system transformation," Mental Health Project, which "advocates for low-income New Yorkers living with serious mental health concerns," and Surveillance Oversight Technology Project (S.T.O.P), which "highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color."

We provide a platform for dynamic advocates to fuel social change, leading the way for a just, fair, and decent society. By incubating the next generation of advocates, we ensure a better future for vulnerable communities.

Political theory

Privacy as a human right

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

Mass surveillance

Opsahl, K. (2013, June 7). Why metadata matters. Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Metadata provides enough context to know some of the most intimate details of your lives.

Protecting your privacy

r/privacytoolsIO: Test your privacy

Metadata

Opsahl, K. (2013, June 7). Why metadata matters. Electronic Frontier Foundation.

What they are trying to say is that disclosure of metadata -- the details about phone calls, without the actual voice -- isn't a big deal, not something for Americans to get upset about if the government knows. Let's take a closer look at what they are saying:

They know you rang a phone sex service at 2:24 am and spoke for 18 minutes. But they don't know what you talked about.

They know you called the suicide prevention hotline from the Golden Gate Bridge. But the topic of the call remains a secret.

They know you spoke with an HIV testing service, then your doctor, then your health insurance company in the same hour. But they don't know what was discussed.

They know you received a call from the local NRA office while it was having a campaign against gun legislation, and then called your senators and congressional representatives immediately after. But the content of those calls remains safe from government intrusion.

They know you called a gynecologist, spoke for a half hour, and then called the local Planned Parenthood's number later that day. But nobody knows what you spoke about.

Sorry, your phone records -- oops, "so-called metadata" -- can reveal a lot more about the content of your calls than the government is implying. Metadata provides enough context to know some of the most intimate details of your lives.

Protecting your privacy

Guides

Defend Our Movements: Digital self-defense knowledgebase

An online, collaborative source of questions / answers, resources, links and other information about protecting your data—brought to you by the MediaJustice, May First Movement Technology, and diverse movement technologists and activists.

Surveillance self-defense: Tips, tools, and how-tos for safer online communications

We’re the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an independent non-profit working to protect online privacy for nearly thirty years. This is Surveillance Self-Defense : our expert guide to protecting you and your friends from online spying.

Services and tools

PRISM Break

PrivacyTools

switching.software

PRISM Break

Recommendations by platform

Help make mass surveillance of entire populations uneconomical! We all have a right to privacy, which you can exercise today by encrypting your communications and ending your reliance on proprietary services.

PrivacyTools

PrivacyTools "provides services, tools and knowledge to protect your privacy against global mass surveillance."

Reddit

switching.software

switching.software is "a grassroots website, that is trying to let people know about ethical and easy-to-use alternatives to well-known websites, apps and other software."

Replacements

Services

Tools

Services

CryptPad

CryptPad is a private-by-design alternative to popular office tools and cloud services. All the content stored on CryptPad is encrypted before being sent, which means nobody can access your data unless you give them the keys (not even us).

Licensing: GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) v3.0 (Source code)

With its collaborative rich text editor, Markdown-based presentations, and spreadsheet editor, consider using CryptPad as an alternative to Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets, respectively.

CryptPad also has a code editor, kanban system, polls (comparable to Doodle), and whiteboard.

As noted above, all content is encrypted before being sent to the server. Optionally, an additional password can be required to access projects. Registration is not required of any user.

Documentation

Public instances

The following list is based on what I found while browsing the Internet and the hosts of other free services. Every instance is free -- both gratis and libre.

Ethercalc

EtherCalc is a web spreadsheet. Your data is saved on the web, and people can edit the same document at the same time. Everybody's changes are instantly reflected on all screens. Work together on inventories, survey forms, list management, brainstorming sessions and more!

Consider using Ethercalc as an alternative to Google Sheets. Registration is not required.

Public instances

The following list is based on what I found while browsing the Internet and the hosts of other free services. Every instance is free -- both gratis and libre.

Etherpad

Etherpad allows you to edit documents collaboratively in real-time, much like a live multi-player editor that runs in your browser. Write articles, press releases, to-do lists, etc. together with your friends, fellow students or colleagues, all working on the same document at the same time.

Consider using Etherpad as an alternative to Google Docs. Registration is not required.

Public instances

The following lists are based on a list in the GitHub repository's list and a list on Framapad. I went through each of the instances to find out which plugins are supported.

Note: Many of these instances use French as their primary language. Some of the instances with English language support include Disroot,, Framapad, LibreOps, Riseup, Snopyta, and Wikimedia.

Alignment, colors, comments, and style

Alignments, colors, links, and style

Colors, comments, and style

Devol
+ Video calls: Framapad

Colors, style, and tables

Louis-Olivier Brassard

Comments and style

Colors

Style

Basic text formatting

Nextcloud

Nextcloud describes itself as "the most popular self-hosted collaboration solution for tens of millions of users at thousands of organizations across the globe."

Share and collaborate on documents, send and receive email, manage your calendar and have video chats without data leaks. As fully on-premises solution, Nextcloud Hub provides the benefits of online collaboration without the compliance and security risks.

Licensing: GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) v3.0 (server) (Source code)

Documentation

Public instances

Chapril: 1 GB of storage. The available Nextcloud apps include calendars and tasks, contacts, music, and notes.
Disroot: 2 GB of storage. The available Nextcloud apps include calendars and tasks, contacts, a kanban system, and notes. Disroot's Nextcloud apps also include cloud storage of bookmarks, a feed reader, and a group budget manager.
GGC-Project: 512 MB of storage. The available Nextcloud apps include calendars, forms, and polls.
Opendesktop.org: 5 GB of storage. Nextcloud apps include maps, music, and notes.
wölkli: 2 GB of storage. The available Nextcloud apps include calendars and tasks, contacts, notes, and Nextcloud Talk. Nextcloud Talk supports audio and video calls, chat, "lobbies," and screen sharing. It also integrates with Nextcloud files.

Tools

AnonAddy

LibreSpeed

PrivateBin

searx

Discourse

Mastodon

You can find me on Mastodon, a federated microblogging platform with features similar to Twitter.

I chose todon.eu as my home server, "a leftist and anti-authoritarian Mastodon server for progressives, socialists, anarchists, activists, environmentalists, vegans, anti-racists, anti-fascists, anti-capitalists, pirates, LGBTQIA+, human rights activists, etc."

For help choosing an instance, try this website.

Matrix

PeerTube

Raddle

Security

Consumer Reports: Security Planner

Answer a few simple questions to get personalized recommendations of free and open-source software.

OnlineSOS

OnlineSOS is a non-profit organization connecting people with information and tools to take action in the face of online harassment.

Wamsley, L. (2020, October 13). Your technology is tracking you. Take these steps for better online privacy. National Public Radio.

She and other experts make a distinction between privacy and security when it comes to your data. Security generally refers to protecting against someone trying to access your stuff — like stealing your credit card number or hacking your accounts. Privacy is more often used to talk about keeping your movements from being tracked for purposes of advertising or surveillance.

Cloudflare

Encryption

Schneier, B. (2015, June 23). Why we encrypt. Schneier on Security.

This is important. If we only use encryption when we’re working with important data, then encryption signals that data’s importance. If only dissidents use encryption in a country, that country’s authorities have an easy way of identifying them. But if everyone uses it all of the time, encryption ceases to be a signal. No one can distinguish simple chatting from deeply private conversation. The government can’t tell the dissidents from the rest of the population. Every time you use encryption, you’re protecting someone who needs to use it to stay alive.

OpenPGP

GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) is "a complete and free implementation of the OpenPGP standard as defined by RFC4880."

OpenPGP is "the most widely used email encryption standard. It is defined by the OpenPGP Working Group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a Proposed Standard in RFC 4880."

OpenPGP in Thunderbird: HOWTO and FAQ

This article provides detailed information for users of Thunderbird who want to send and receive encrypted and digitally signed email messages using the OpenPGP standard. This feature is commonly known as end-to-end encryption (e2ee), and makes communications safer against being spied on by third parties. Thunderbird 78 has built-in support for two encryption standards, OpenPGP and S/MIME.

My public key is available for download. The fingerprint is: 1D2EED2F9D906875C4F4DAD2068C9178672BA80E

Password managers

Bitwarden is a cross-platform, self-hostable and open source password manager.

KeePassXCis a cross-platform, offline, and open source password manager.

Bitwarden

Bitwarden is a free and open source password manager.

Why should I trust Bitwarden with my passwords?

Documentation for the Bitwarden command-line tool

KeePassXC

Self-hosting

Awesome-Selfhosted

Self-hosting is the practice of locally hosting and managing applications instead of renting from SaaSS providers. This is a list of Free Software network services and web applications which can be hosted locally.

Find more awesome lists!

Services: Gratis and libre

Framadate is "an online service for planning an appointment or making a decision quickly and easily. No registration is required." It's a free alternative to Doodle.

Licensing: CeCILL-B (Source code)

Chapril

Colibris

Disroot

Hostux

librehosters

librehosters is "a network of cooperation and solidarity that uses free software to encourage decentralisation through federation and distributed platforms. Our values connect transparency, fairness and privacy with a culture of data portability and public contributions to the commons."

Browse the network's membership

Ouvaton

Picasoft

sans-nuage.fr

Snopyta

Tools

DNS Leak Test

Test to determine the server being used to resolve your DNS queries

Estipaper

Fun tool to get a rough time estimate for written work

FreeTSA

freeTSA.org "provides a free Time Stamp Authority. Adding a trusted timestamp to code or to an electronic signature provides a digital seal of data integrity and a trusted date and time of when the transaction took place."

FreeTSA also offers an NTP server and no-log resolvers supporting DNSCrypt(/DNS/resolvers/DNSCrypt.md) or DoT.

Is it down?

Free service to check if a site is down

NTP Pool Project

The pool.ntp.org project is a big virtual cluster of timeservers providing reliable easy to use NTP service for millions of clients.

OpenStreetMap

Free crowdsourced alternative to Google Maps

URL shorteners

42l

GitHub

Disability justice

Economic justice

Media justice

Race, racism, and racial justice

Disability justice

Sins Invalid

Sins Invalid is a disability justice based performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color and LGBTQ / gender-variant artists as communities who have been historically marginalized. Led by disabled people of color, Sins Invalid’s performance work explores the themes of sexuality, embodiment and the disabled body, developing provocative work where paradigms of “normal” and “sexy” are challenged, offering instead a vision of beauty and sexuality inclusive of all bodies and communities.

Economic justice

Media

Race and racism

Software

Browser extensions

I use the following browser extensions on Firefox.

For convenience and functionality

For privacy and security

The Debian repositories also include a uBlock Origin package for Firefox. Installing the extension through addons.mozilla.org does still work.

uBlock Origin

Licensing: GNU General Public License (GPL) v3.0 (Source code)

uBlock Origin is NOT an "ad blocker": it is a wide-spectrum blocker -- which happens to be able to function as a mere "ad blocker". The default behavior of uBlock Origin when newly installed is to block ads, trackers and malware sites -- through EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Peter Lowe’s ad/tracking/malware servers, Online Malicious URL Blocklist, and uBlock Origin's own filter lists.

addons.mozilla.org for use with Firefox

Documentation

Ferdi

Ferdi is "a messaging browser that allows you to combine your favorite messaging services into one application."

Licensing: Apache License 2.0 (Source code)

FreshRSS

FreshRSS (official demo) is "a self-hosted RSS feed aggregator like Leed or Kriss Feed."

Licensing GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) v3.0 (Source code)

Documentation

Greenshot

Greenshot is "a light-weight screenshot software tool for Windows."

Licensing: GNU General Public License (GPL) v3.0 (Source code)

Kleopatra

Gpg4win (GNU Privacy Guard for Windows) is "encryption software for files and emails," supporting both OpenPGP and S/MIME.

Licensing: GNU General Public License (GPL) v2.0 (Source code)

It contains Kleopatra, a certificate manager for OpenPGP and X.509 certificates.

Licensing: GNU General Public License (GPL) v2.0 or later (Source code)

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is a free alternative to Microsoft Office.

Licensing: Mozilla Public License v2.0 (Source code)

LibreOffice allows secondary licensing under the GNU General Public License (GPL) v2.0, GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) v2.1, GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) v3.0, or any later version of those licenses.

Mozilla

Firefox

I use Firefox as my default browser on both desktop and mobile devices.

Thunderbird

I use Mozilla Thunderbird as my desktop email client on both GNU/Linux and Windows 10.

As of Thunderbird 78, there is built-in support for both OpenPGP and S/MIME.

I use the following keywords to warn me when I might have forgotten an attachment or link: attach, attached, attaching, attachment, cover letter, CryptPad, document, Drive, Google, letter, LibreOffice, link, ODT, PDF, PowerPoint, send, sending, slides

Notepad++

Notepad++ is "a free (as in “free speech” and also as in “free beer”) source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages."

Wikipedia: Controversies

Licensing: GNU General Public License (GPL) v2.0 (Source code)

PeaZip

PeaZip) is a "free file archiver utility, based on Open Source technologies of 7-Zip, p7zip, Brotli, FreeArc, PAQ, Zstandard, and PEA projects. Cross-platform, full-featured but user-friendly alternative to WinRar, WinZip and similar general purpose archive manager applications, open and extract 200+ archive formats."

Licensing: GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) v3.0 (Source code)

[Documentation](https://peazip.github.io/peazip-help-faq.html]

[7-Zip](https://www.7-zip.org/] is another [free](/free/software.md] alternative to something like WinRAR. Scoop uses 7z.exe, which is found in both 7-Zip and PeaZip.

Syncthing

Syncthing is "a continuous file synchronization program. It synchronizes files between two or more computers in real time, safely protected from prying eyes."

Licensing: Mozilla Public License (MPL) v2.0 (Source code)

Documentation

Web clippers

Joplin requires the [browser extension](./extensions/] and a desktop installation of Joplin.

wallabagger requires the browser extension and a server-side installation of [wallabag.

Zotero Connector requires a desktop installation of Zotero or a free account.

wallabag

wallabag is "a self hostable application for saving web pages: Save and classify articles. Read them later. Freely."

I use wallabag and its browser extension every day.

Licensing: MIT License (Expat) (server) (Source code)

Documentation

Zim

Zim is "a graphical text editor used to maintain a collection of wiki pages. Each page can contain links to other pages, simple formatting and images."

Pages are stored in a folder structure, like in an outliner, and can have attachments. Creating a new page is as easy as linking to a nonexistent page. All data is stored in plain text files with wiki formatting. Various plugins provide additional functionality, like a task list manager, an equation editor, a tray icon, and support for version control.

I used Zim a lot more before switching to mdBook. I also like Zim as an alternative to TiddlyWiki.

[[Licensing:|Licensing]] GNU General Public License [[(GPL)|GPL]] v2.0 (Source code)

Static site generators

I use Hugo to create my main website.

I tried TiddlyWiki before settling on mdBook to generate this site.

Static site generators are often part of "the Jamstack."

What is a static site generator?

The greatest difference between a static site generator and a traditional web application stack, is that instead of waiting until a page is requested and then generating its view on demand each time, a static site generator does this in advance so that the view is ready to serve ahead of time. And it does so for every possible view of a site at build time.

Hugo

Hugo is the world’s fastest static website engine. It’s written in Go (aka Golang) and developed by bep, spf13 and friends.

Documentation

Jamstack (or JAMstack)

JavaScript:

Dynamic functionalities are handled by JavaScript. There is no restriction on which framework or library you must use.

API:

Server side operations are abstracted into reusable APIs and accessed over HTTPS with JavaScript. These can be third party services or your custom function.

Markup:

Websites are served as static HTML files. These can be generated from source files, such as Markdown, using a Static Site Generator.

mdBook

mdBook is "a command line tool and Rust crate to create books using Markdown (as by the CommonMark specification) files. It's very similar to Gitbook but written in Rust.

mdBook outputs the files used by this site.

TiddlyWiki

TiddlyWiki is "a unique non-linear notebook for capturing, organising and sharing complex information." The "notebook" consists of what are called tiddlers. These tiddlers use WikiText, which is "designed to be familiar for users of MarkDown, but with more of a focus on linking and the interactive features."

Using TiddlyWiki as a static site generator

Install Node.js with apt-get install nodejs or an installer from the website.
Install TiddlyWiki with npm install -g tiddlywiki
Run tiddlywiki --version to verify that TiddlyWiki was installed. Expect the output of this command to be a version number. Released on April 15, 2020, the current version is 5.1.22.
Change directories (i.e., cd) to the one in which you want to store your wiki. Run tiddlywiki myfirstwiki --init server

This command will create a new folder -- named "myfirstwiki" -- containing the components required to run a local server.
In the same directory, run tiddlywiki myfirstwiki --listen to start the TiddlyWiki server.
Open a browser and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8080/ or http://localhost:8080/ to start editing the wiki.
Back in the terminal, press control+C to close the local server.
Change directories to your wiki's folder (e.g., cd myfirstwiki). Run tiddlywiki --build index and open the new "output" folder to find an index.html file.
Publish index.html for a single-page website!
Install updates to TiddlyWiki with npm update tiddlywiki

I adapted these instructions from the GitHub repository for TiddlyWiki5.

Systems

Black Lives Matter

Capitalism

Surveillance capitalism

Wikipedia: Surveillance capitalism

Surveillance capitalism is an economic system centred around the commodification of personal data with the core purpose of profit-making. Since personal data can be commodified it has become one of the most valuable resources on earth. The concept of surveillance capitalism, as described by Shoshana Zuboff, arose as advertising companies, led by Google's AdWords, saw the possibilities of using personal data to target consumers more precisely.

Federation

Incarceration

Solitary confinement

Socialism

Writing

Joplin

Joplin is "an open source note taking and to-do application with synchronisation capabilities." It displays both the Markdown input and its rendered output. You can export notes in HTML, Markdown, or PDF.

It allows for end-to-end encryption of notes, which means that notes will be illegible on the server used for synchronization. Encryption is not enabled by default.

I use Joplin and its web clipper every day.

Licensing: MIT License (Expat) (Source code)

Documentation on searching in Joplin