Things I use.
In general, I prefer tools which are leightweight and fast and do one
thing well. If I have to choose between two tools for a job, I will opt
for the one which is more lightweight, has fewer dependencies, or which
(being an OpenBSD user, see below) is part of OpenBSD base.
- OpenBSD
-
After having used various Linux distributions for many years, I feel
like I have finally found my (close to) perfect operating system. It is
small, clean and simple, and perfectly suits my needs. It just
feels right.
More information on OpenBSD can be found on my OpenBSD page.
- Tools in
/usr/bin
-
So many tasks can be handled by the tools in
/usr/bin, like
grep(1), cal(1), less(1), find(1), sed(1), or tmux(1) (see below) – to
name just a few – that often there is no need for any other tools.
- nvi
-
I was a Vim user for many years,
but recently Vim started to feel too bloated to me. Therefore, I
switched to nvi and never looked back since then. It turns out that
many features I once thought were indispensable are in fact very easy to
live without. For instance, read this
if you think you can't do without syntax highlighting (as I did), and this
if you think it is a drawback that (n)vi lacks all the features Vim has
to offer (read it even if you don't). The only thing I really miss is
Unicode support, which is why I have to revert to nvi-iconv instead of
being able to use the default version, vi(1), from OpenBSD base.
More information on the vi editor can be found on my vi
page.
- cwm
-
I have used many different window managers in the past, most recently xmonad, which I was quite fond of (not
the least because it is written in Haskell). cwm(1) is part of OpenBSD base,
and I didn't even know it before I switched to OpenBSD. Finally a
window manager which is simple, minimalistic, effective and unobtrusive.
- Firefox
-
While Firefox is big and somewhat bloated, it works well and is not from
Google.
- unclutter
-
Small tool which hides the mouse pointer from the screen when it has not
moved for a given time – simple and convenient.
- ksh
-
I spend a lot of time in the terminal, and OpenBSD's default shell ksh(1) delivers everything I
need. Part of OpenBSD base.
- tmux
-
Since I spend a lot of time in the terminal, a terminal multiplexer is a
must, and tmux(1) is the
obvious choice. Part of OpenBSD base.
- MuPDF
-
A fast and lightweight viewer for PDF files with vi-like keybindigs.
- feh
-
A fast and lightweight image viewer.
- FFplay
-
I rarely need a media player, but if I do, I will use FFplay from the FFmpeg multimedia framework.
- Anki
-
Anki is an application for memorizing things like words of a foreign
language. It employs the spaced repetition method for optimizing
memorization. It has a ton of dependencies, and I would certainly prefer
a command-line tool, but Anki seems to be the best choice available.
- sct
-
sct is a small tool which sets the color temperature of the screen.
This makes it possible to have warmer screen colors at night, when the
surroundings are dark. It is similar in functionality to f.lux and Redshift, but much smaller and with
much less dependencies. Created, somehow fittingly, by OpenBSD
developer Ted Unangst.
- Ledger
-
Ledger is a double-entry accounting system for the command line. I use
it mostly for tracking larger transactions.
See also plaintextaccounting.org.
- Asciidoctor
-
Asciidoctor is a very fast text processor for the AsciiDoc markup
language written in Ruby. It has great documentation and can directly
generate PDF as output. I haven't used traditional text processors in a
long time, mainly for two reasons: First, there is no separation of form
and content whatsoever, which implies that content written in some text
processor is always bound inextricably to the text processor itself.
And second, they are much too complex and bloated for my taste, and in
almost every case employ a GUI. Having used LaTeX a lot during my studies
of physics – doubtless the best markup language and typesetting
system for mathematical documentation –, it was also my first
choice for creating other forms of documentation (like letters) for a
long time. LaTeX is not really lighweight though, and while it is
practically indispensible for creating mathematical and physical
documentation, it is overkill for my typical purposes these days.
Therefore, I have come to use AsciiDoc in most situations, which
involves little markup at all.