Today I am #ThursdayThankful for the #NGinX #FreeSoftware web server project.
It turns out that #SoftwareFreedom is essential: When a #corporate owner decides they will dismiss freedom for users and developers, the #RightToFork the project under a different name, gives much-needed continuity and allows the community to continue.
Our handheld computers with cameras are very convenient for snapping a photo and sending it where we want to use it.
But in passing the photo through multiple stops, some of which we don't control, we invite surveillance and analysis of our photos.
#ScrambledExif can't entirely avoid that but I am #ThursdayThankful for its automated stripping of metadata (that I rarely need, and certainly don't want collected by "platforms" and other snoops) before saving the file.
https://f-droid.org/packages/com.jarsilio.android.scrambledeggsif/
This month and last, I have been building several new machines for various friends as well as workplaces, and dealing with selective transfer of lots of files, across unreliable networks while the machines are powering on and off.
Every one of these is ad hoc and custom, there is no existing infrastructure to support this. So I am #ThursdayThankful for the #FreeSoftware rsync utility. https://rsync.samba.org/
Interruptions? Network lag? Restart part-way? Change the set of files? All handled.
A terminal multiplex, analogous to a movie cinema multiplex, has multiple simultaneous interfaces within one terminal window.
A terminal is usually the text-only window with the shell prompt. By using a terminal multiplexer within that, you can manage several virtual terminals, using keyboard inputs.
I am #ThursdayThankful for GNU Screen https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/, though many will rightly say TMux is a great alternative. Both of them are useful way beyond multiplexing!
Everyone deserves privacy: from their government, from their ISP, from their employer, from arbitrary strangers, etc.
The general advice to use a trustworthy #VPN for personal use, has become only more urgent recently.
So I'm #ThursdayThankful for the #WireGuard project, @wireguardvpn, which has done the solid foundational #FreeSoftware work of a much easier and flexible VPN layer that many providers build upon.
Long ago, I would dread trying to connect #Bluetooth devices because of pain trying to get it working.
Over time, without me noticing any big changes, it has become so much smoother.
I am #ThursdayThankful for the tireless work of the #BlueZ project, for bringing convenient device connections to my computers.
Normal English text contains a great many characters that don't come on the ordinary keyboards I use.
And occasionally I want to write a name or phrase which doesn't use English orthography, right there in my English-language text.
That's why every operating system needs a good #FreeSoftware Input Method Engine, and a good stock of Input Methods to choose from so you can quickly switch to a different writing system and then back again.
I am #ThursdayThankful for #IBus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_Input_Bus
Quite often I need to do a little simple processing on video files. I'm #ThursdayThankful for #Shotcut video editor https://www.shotcut.org/
Maybe my TV episode, downloaded from "distributed cloud storage", is in super-fat high resolution, way more than my HTPC can store. Easy: re-encode at a sane resolution, decimate the storage requirement.
Or maybe a video (download using #YoutubeDL) has a segment I want to snip out and show to people. Easy tools to snip and export.
Many more uses!
We should all be using (and all systems that need password credentials should support) unique, truly random, multi-word memorable passphrases.
When I need to generate a new passphrase, I am #ThursdayThankful for the simple 'xkcdpass' tool. So named because it is the "XKCD password generator" https://github.com/redacted/XKCD-password-generator/
which, in turn, is because of the cartoon [XKCD 936](http://xkcd.com/936/) that explains why these are more secure than last century's short passwords.
Whether it was the months-long lockdowns in recent years, or just an evening to relax and browse what media we've downloaded:
I am #ThursdayThankful for the #Kodi project. https://kodi.tv/ @Kodi
We can manage media as files in folders, or use the metadata to browse and queue. The interface is beautiful on a big screen, and everything is sensible with a remote control.
Enjoying media without #SurveillancePlatform or #DigitalRestrictionManagement cuffs.
bignose
