Six Android apps I swapped for open-source, year-one verdict
I have been running a de-Googled Android phone (a phone that has been set up without Google’s apps and services, or with Google’s apps stripped out) for about a year. The de-Googling…
Software
Articles about software applications and tools
204 articles
DuckDuckGo’s four power features that outlast the privacy pitch
I switched to DuckDuckGo years ago for the privacy pitch, then stayed for the power features. The privacy story is the reason most people try it, but the bang shortcuts, the email…
An open-source swap that makes Nextcloud feel heavy
I have been running Nextcloud for years, mostly because it was the default answer to self-hosted file management. But every time I used it, I felt like I was running an entire…
A 200-line container turned my Obsidian vault into a wiki
I have been running the same Obsidian vault across three machines for two years and hating the sync step every time. Then a 200-line Docker container replaced the entire syncing rig, and…
A self-hosted clipboard that doesn’t phone home
Copy and paste is the most fundamental thing we do on computers all day long. Yet somehow, making it work across devices has remained this surprisingly complex problem. Apple has Universal Clipboard,…
PowerShell scripts that finally ping you when done
I have written more PowerShell scripts than I can count, and for years every one of them ended the same way: the script finished, the prompt came back, and I had no…
Self-host e-signing before you upload another contract
Every time I upload a contract to a cloud signing service, I am trusting a company I cannot see with documents that might matter deeply to my business or my life. The…
Make an AI book summary answer a question, not replace a book
A useful book summary should have a job to do. “Tell me what this book says” is broad enough to produce a tidy answer that feels complete while leaving the reader no…
The Adobe alternative is easy to announce and hard to maintain
A software suite becomes a real alternative when people can depend on it after the announcement has faded. The launch story here is unusually large: according to XDA’s report, a Reddit user…
Before installing Ungoogled Chromium, vet the build
Ungoogled Chromium is not just a browser download. It is also a choice about who packaged the build, how current it is, and what browser conveniences you are prepared to lose. The…