Choosing Open Source Software

Biography – What software do I use?

My typical working day starts by logging into my laptop which runs Fedora Linux distribution with the Gnome Desktop Environment. I usually have open Firefox web browser, Gnome Terminal Emulator, Zotero reference manager, Evince PDF viewer.

Anaconda manages the different Python modules that I use in my research. I write most of my code with Vim. Libre Office handles all of my spreadsheet, presentation, and document writing needs.

Mobile

Operating Systems

The base android operating system is open source, but in order to function properly requires many additional proprietary google components, which are packed with tracking. To gain control of your phone, consider install Lineage OS, /e/ OS, or buying the fairphone which can be bought with /e/ OS pre-installed https://www.fairphone.com/en/2020/04/30/keeping-your-data-safe-with-e-os.

There are other open source alternatives to android for mobile phones. For example PureOS for librem phones and dozens of operating systems available for pinephone, although in both cases the operating systems are still under development and not as stable as might be desired for day to day use.

Apps

I use microG, AuroraStore, FDroid to enhance my de-googled open source android experience.

microG is an open source replacement for the proprietary google services, allowing notifications, location settings, and many other useful functions to continue.

FDroid is an open source app store for open source apps. With its ‘repo’ functionality, you can install apps from different software distributors. Newpipe and Izzyondroid are two popular repos that I use, so that I can access even more open source apps.

AuroraStore provides access to apps on the google playstore, which is handy for any apps (including many open source ones) not available on fdroid.

Desktop

Operating Systems

How to choose a Linux distribution… https://librehunt.org