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Free, Libre, and Open Source Software Leftovers
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HowTo Geek ☛ 5 non-FOSS apps I refuse to give up on Linux
Free and open source software (FOSS) is the default choice when you're running Linux—it is a huge talking point and a very real part of Linux culture. However, while that is an ideal worth striving for, the reality is that some of the best tools available for a given job don't yet have FOSS alternatives.
There are five closed source applications that I always install on my Linux PCs. However, just because they're not FOSS doesn't mean they cost—these options are all free for home use.
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SaaS/Back End/Databases
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Gwen Lofman ☛ To Database or Not To Database
Given the Data Model's unique constraits, I ended up in an analysis paralysis, and just needed to move forward with something. Thankfully, I remembered matklad's tutorial, which was a blast to implement!.
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Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra
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Unicorn Media ☛ LibreOffice 26.2.4 Demotes Skia Rendering for Mac and Windows
The latest LibreOffice maintenance update pushes Skia back to experimental mode on Mac and Windows.
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Content Management Systems (CMS) / Static Site Generators (SSG)
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[Old] Joshua Barretto ☛ Making a static site generator
Maybe you’re a dyed-in-the-wool web developer and you could do all of this in your sleep. If that’s the case, then well done - but I’m not, and yet this all came together in a single 4-hour programming session.
For me, the lesson here is that what the software world needs is better tooling and better languages, not Jesus-take-the-wheel language models. The ease and success of this project is entirely down to the grace and quality of the Rust ecosystem, and the tooling that glues it all together. The libraries, the documentation, the type system, the examples. We should not underestimate the extent to which those things provide velocity as well as assurance, and I truly believe our focus should be on planting enough trees that we can start to see the woods instead of setting fire to the whole forest because it’s in the way of our shiny new road.
Crucially, I understand what I have built. If it breaks, I will know why it has broken. If it has a security flaw, I will have the knowledge needed to fix it. If I want a new feature, I can just implement it. The simple act of fighting with the problem, trying different approaches, and incrementally puzzling my way to a solution was in equal parts fun and educational. I found myself grinning from ear-to-ear on a regular basis as I watched it come together, and I wouldn’t trade that experience for the world - no matter how much Sam Altman wants me to.
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Programming/Development
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Rlang ☛ muttest 0.3.0: Turn surviving mutants into a to-do list
HTML and JSON reporting, and smarter scoring for mutation testing in R.
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