Technology
I'm very fond of using technological tools (whether it is hardware, software or a service) that are open source, ethical and respects the user. Here I present some of the tools I use and want to recommend to others.
Social networks
- Mastodon (social network). This is a decentralized social network that has a lot of the same functionality as Twitter has. "Decentralized" in this context means that the users are spread across many different servers, and anyone can host their own Mastodon server. One of the great advantages of Mastodon is that it can connect to a lot of other social networks that uses the ActivityPub protocol (read more about that here).
- Lemmy (link aggregator/social network). This is a Reddit-like link aggregator, that is used to create communities with specific interests, where people can post links and discussions.
Miscellaneous software
- Nextcloud (cloud services). This is an alternative to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud and other cloud providers. I host my own Nextcloud server, but there are also many providers to choose from, with both free and paid subscriptions. Nextcloud has lots of functionality other than only file storage. The things I use the most is calendar sync, contacts sync and music streaming (enabling streaming your own music collection to all of your devices).
- Digikam (photo management software). This is a powerful tool for managing photo large libraries. It has loads of functionality, including face recognition, metadata editor, map of geotags and more.
- GoldenCheetah (training/workout log/analyzer). Extremely powerful application for analyzing your workout data. Useful for anyone who uses a sports watch to record their workouts (GPS-tracks, heart rate data, power data and more). Have been using this for many years, and no other training software I have tried (and I have tried a lot) offers the same flexibility and functionality.