Free Software (and Software in General)

Yes, I said it: free software, not open source. Still, I'm not dogmatic about it, and often I use the term "FOSS" (free and open source software), since clearly the two have significant overlap. One will also frequently see "FLOSS" ("Free/Libre and Open Source Software"), but I don't think that really adds anything to the meaning.

I've got ideas about software that don't relate to whether it's FOSS, though they are much less important. So I've accumulated all my thoughts about software here.

• FOSS I Wrote or Maintain: Here's a complete (I think) list of FOSS that I either wrote, maintain, or both. Nothing earth-shattering, but many useful tools.
• Tutorials
• Mutt and Friends: Tools in the Email Toolchain: Here I share a bit of my personal mutt setup, and sing the praises of some tools which mutt can work with.
• Using Mutt and Abook with Email Groups: mutt and abook are amazing programs; here's an easy way to get them to work together seamlessly with email group lists, as well as with individual addresses.
• Abook: A Tutorial: Abook is a fantastic piece of software, but unfortunately the documentation is sparse at best. An attempt to help mitigate (certainly not solve) that problem.
• Glorious Pipes! An Ode to the Unix Command Line: A brief spasm of enthusiasm for the glories of piping and the pure joy of the Unix command line.
• On Text and Its Tools: A brief rumination on text and the tools that we use to deal with it in the computerized age.
• The Power of sed: A short script which saved me hours of work, and how a stream editor (sed) made it all possible.
• The Keyboard and the Mouse: Some thoughts on the (generally) best way to interact with a computer.
• The Importance of Undefined Behavior: A brief cautionary tale about keeping an eye out for undefined behavior when writing in C.
• OpenBSD: Installation and Initial Thoughts: I install OpenBSD on my desktop, and have a few thoughts about the process of installation and setup. Spoiler: it's actually pretty easy and great!
• Why I Write in C: I write a lot of code in C. (A lot for an amateur who works in a non-computer field, at least.) Why C? Why not some of the fancy New Shiny? Read here to find out!
• A Tale of PDFS: My code for the makebook script formerly used pdftk internally; now it uses qpdf. Why (in brief) I made that switch, and what the results have been in terms of makebook's speed.
• Flame Wars
• The Best Terminal Emulator: st, the suckless terminal: This is it! At last, the long dispute is resolved for everyone!
• vi vs. emacs? vi, of course!: Yet again, I solve an age-old question beyond any further dispute!
• Browser Wars: Continuing the tradition begun with vi vs. emacs and The Best Terminal Emulator, I solve yet another interminable technology flame war. About the only thing predictable about it is that the winner is not IE.