GNU/Linux Leftovers

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Feb 08, 2026

• Desktop/Laptop

  • Make Use Of ☛ I tried the god mode of productivity apps on Linux and my workflow changed forever

    I love to be as efficient as possible and always look out for apps that make me more productive. Over the years, I had built a substantial productivity stack, but I hit a tipping point when, despite having Notion, Todoist, Google Calendar, and a separate text editor, I still managed to miss a deadline. It was only then that it occurred to me how much time I was wasting on context switching.

    My search for better productivity led me to Org-mode inside GNU Emacs, and in just a few minutes, I finally had a single plain-text system tracking tasks, notes, deadlines, and even time spent on projects. My 45-minute daily planning session across multiple productivity tools suddenly became a five-minute session in a single Emacs buffer.

• Applications

  • ZDNet ☛ Forget VirtualBox - I discovered a better, more reliable VM manager for Linux

    I'm a long-time supporter of VirtualBox. Over the years, I've written probably hundreds of articles about it for various publications and spun up thousands of virtual machines. VirtualBox has been integral to my ability to cover Linux.

    But recently, I had to wave off the virtual machine manager because I'd had enough.

  • HowTo Geek ☛ These are the 3 coolest Linux apps you should try this weekend

    It's the weekend again, which means I'm here with another set of Linux apps I think are worth installing. The free and open source software I found this week includes an audio editor, a game maker, and Bash replacement.

    I always try to find a common thread with these app roundups, and this week I think they all are apps that take an existing thing and make it better. Distorted and low-quality audio clips, the Sonic the Hedgehog game series, and the Bourne Again Shell are all getting fixes and remixes today.

• Distributions and Operating Systems

  • ZDNet ☛ After decades on Linux, FreeBSD finally gave me a reason to switch operating systems

    I'm not gonna lie: I don't give FreeBSD (or any of the BSDs) the attention they deserve. The reason for that is simple: I'm a Linux guy.

    But isn't FreeBSD Linux? It looks like Linux, it smells like Linux…

    That is not the case here.

    FreeBSD is a Unix-like operating system that is descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution. The first version of FreeBSD was released in 1993 and was developed from 386BSD, one of the first fully functional and free Unix clones on affordable hardware. Since its inception, FreeBSD has been the most widely used BSD-derived operating system.

    FreeBSD maintains a complete system: kernel, device drivers, userland utilities, and documentation. This is in contrast to Linux, which only provides a kernel and drivers while relying on third parties for system software.