Mastodawn

I just got done giving the opening keynote at the 2026 Editors Conference in very lovely Halifax, NS!

This was the debut of my next book project, too! Goal 3, initiate. Read more about my next book at my FOSS Academic blog.

https://fossacademic.tech/2026/05/22/goal-3.html

It was a bit nerve-wracking to debut a new book in front of a room full of editors, but I was gratified with the positive response and insightful critiques.

#FOSSacademic #editors2026 #bookstodon

The Age of Content (Goal 3 Initiate!)

With my latest book, Move Slowly and Build Bridge, complete, Goal 2 of this blog is completed, as well. Goal 2 was a big reason I started this blog. I wanted to write a book about FOSS in an open way, and I think I achieved that with my book about Mastodon and the fediverse. But now I need a new goal.

FOSS Academic

Robert W. Gehl 6d ago

The latest FOSS Academic post is "Against Interpreting Prompts: Susan Sontag on Generative AI":

https://fossacademic.tech/2026/05/17/sontag-on-ai.html

It's written for all of you clamouring for my read of "Against Interpretation" in the age of generative AI. You're welcome! Plus, I talk about a fake musical band.

#FOSSacademic #generativeAI #aesthetics #art #criticism

The Age of Content (Goal 3 Initiate!)

With my latest book, Move Slowly and Build Bridge, complete, Goal 2 of this blog is completed, as well. Goal 2 was a big reason I started this blog. I wanted to write a book about FOSS in an open way, and I think I achieved that with my book about Mastodon and the fediverse. But now I need a new goal.

FOSS Academic

Robert W. Gehl Apr 20

wait, what, Zotero? Zotero version 8 was released a few months ago and today I see they've released Zotero 9. The latest FOSS Academic post is a short note about Zotero -- including changes to my workflow since version 8 came out.

https://fossacademic.tech/2026/04/20/zotero-9-what.html

#FOSSAcademic #Zotero #AcademicChatter

The Age of Content (Goal 3 Initiate!)

With my latest book, Move Slowly and Build Bridge, complete, Goal 2 of this blog is completed, as well. Goal 2 was a big reason I started this blog. I wanted to write a book about FOSS in an open way, and I think I achieved that with my book about Mastodon and the fediverse. But now I need a new goal.

FOSS Academic

Robert W. Gehl Feb 26

The latest FOSS Academic post is an early review of Zotero 8, the latest from @zotero . TL;DR version: I might just use this version to do a lot more 'synthetic' note taking, a practice I had been doing in Zettlr with Markdown files.

https://fossacademic.tech/2026/02/26/zotero-8-review.html

I've been using Zotero since 2009 and I can't imagine doing my job without it. Kudos to the team at Digital Scholar!

#zotero #FOSSAcademic

The Age of Content (Goal 3 Initiate!)

With my latest book, Move Slowly and Build Bridge, complete, Goal 2 of this blog is completed, as well. Goal 2 was a big reason I started this blog. I wanted to write a book about FOSS in an open way, and I think I achieved that with my book about Mastodon and the fediverse. But now I need a new goal.

FOSS Academic

Robert W. Gehl Feb 1

The latest FOSS Academic post is: New Nextcloud with Possible Digital Sovereignty

https://fossacademic.tech/2026/02/01/new-nc.html

I discuss setting up a new Nextcloud instance on Canadian public infrastructure, moving away from my previous US-based host. I talk about the "how" of that migration (it was pretty easy, actually) and the "why" (I no longer will send Canadian money to a US firm). But how "sovereign" is the Digital Research Alliance?
#FOSSacademic #Canada #digitalsovereignty

The Age of Content (Goal 3 Initiate!)

With my latest book, Move Slowly and Build Bridge, complete, Goal 2 of this blog is completed, as well. Goal 2 was a big reason I started this blog. I wanted to write a book about FOSS in an open way, and I think I achieved that with my book about Mastodon and the fediverse. But now I need a new goal.

FOSS Academic

Robert W. Gehl Jan 28

Lastest FOSS Academic post is: Fresh New Look, Same Great Flavor!

I worked with @are0h to update the blog. Ro supplied the CSS and a cool new logo and I continue to supply the hand-crafted Python site generation. The result? Some more of that FOSS Academic Lifestyle Dream.

https://fossacademic.tech/2026/01/26/new-look.html

#FOSSAcademic

The Age of Content (Goal 3 Initiate!)

With my latest book, Move Slowly and Build Bridge, complete, Goal 2 of this blog is completed, as well. Goal 2 was a big reason I started this blog. I wanted to write a book about FOSS in an open way, and I think I achieved that with my book about Mastodon and the fediverse. But now I need a new goal.

FOSS Academic

Robert W. Gehl Jan 6

Latest FOSS Academic post is: Oops! All Microslop. Or, Trying to Write with Microsoft.

https://fossacademic.tech/2026/01/06/oops-all-microslop.html

It's a post in which I see what it's like for me to try to create a blank document with York University's Microsoft 365 subscription.

TL;DR version is: it's all about Copilot, and starting a blank Word doc is actually kinda... hard.

The post is a bit long, but it does have a lot of screenshots + a dash of anger.

#FOSSAcademic #Microsoft #generativeAI #YorkUniversity

The Age of Content (Goal 3 Initiate!)

With my latest book, Move Slowly and Build Bridge, complete, Goal 2 of this blog is completed, as well. Goal 2 was a big reason I started this blog. I wanted to write a book about FOSS in an open way, and I think I achieved that with my book about Mastodon and the fediverse. But now I need a new goal.

FOSS Academic

Robert W. Gehl Dec 21

Latest FOSS Academic post is -- you guessed it -- a 2025 year in review post. Thrill to the fact that I'm using much of the same FOSS to do my work as I always have! Feel the chills as I talk about #generativeAI and how terrible it is! Above all, join me in living the FOSS Academic Lifestyle Dream!

https://fossacademic.tech/2025/12/21/year-in-review.html

Replies to this post will appear as comments on the blog thanks to the magic of #ActivityPub!

#FOSSacademic

The Age of Content (Goal 3 Initiate!)

With my latest book, Move Slowly and Build Bridge, complete, Goal 2 of this blog is completed, as well. Goal 2 was a big reason I started this blog. I wanted to write a book about FOSS in an open way, and I think I achieved that with my book about Mastodon and the fediverse. But now I need a new goal.

FOSS Academic

Robert W. Gehl Nov 9, 2025

The lastest FOSS Academic post is a whiny, weedy gripe session where I talk about being nervous about installing new Linux distros:
https://fossacademic.tech/2025/11/09/contained.html
Basically, between Snaps, Flatpaks, Wayland, and Secure Boot, installing a fresh Linux distro on a machine isn't quite as fun as it used to be. But, what can I do? Switch to Microsoft?

Hell, no!

#fossAcademic #linux #gripes

The Age of Content (Goal 3 Initiate!)

With my latest book, Move Slowly and Build Bridge, complete, Goal 2 of this blog is completed, as well. Goal 2 was a big reason I started this blog. I wanted to write a book about FOSS in an open way, and I think I achieved that with my book about Mastodon and the fediverse. But now I need a new goal.

FOSS Academic

Robert W. Gehl Aug 26, 2025

Latest FOSS Academic is I DID IT! I DID IT! I re-implemented my static blog generator in Python and moved it off #Github onto my own hosting!

https://fossacademic.tech/2025/08/25/reimplemented.html

What's that? You want an archive and previews of posts? Done. Tags? Handled! Atom feed? Generated. (https://fossacademic.tech/feed.xml)

What about comments, you say?

Respond to this post and they shall appear on my blog, I say unto you.

I did it! Yay!

#FOSSAcademic #Python

The Age of Content (Goal 3 Initiate!)

With my latest book, Move Slowly and Build Bridge, complete, Goal 2 of this blog is completed, as well. Goal 2 was a big reason I started this blog. I wanted to write a book about FOSS in an open way, and I think I achieved that with my book about Mastodon and the fediverse. But now I need a new goal.

FOSS Academic