This is a page I made for the software I use, and think might be useful for others in finding better programs. I’m only going to write about programs I have used for a while and tested to be true.

My ‘Philosophy’ in choosing good software

The software must run well on slow hardware with minimal resources, most users over-estimate the amount of power required to complete simple tasks. So, i usually only seek “Minimal” and efficiently written software with enough features to get the work done. If the software is slow to run, even on my main computer, it doesn’t get to stay. also, most importantly, I ONLY use FOSS (Free and Open Source Software). No exceptions. Period.

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Basic Software

Operating System

I currently use Arch-Linux (because of it’s up-to-date packages,aur and simplicity) and Gentoo (on my super old laptop because it’s very slow and needs to be efficient). (warning: These OS’s require somewhat of a beforehand Unix environment knowledge to work with them smoothly. I don’t recommend any of these operating system to users without intermediary knowledge in them.)

Here are the operating systems I’ve used and think might fit you:

Linux Mint My parents use it, It’s the best OS for those who aren’t interested in becoming an Unix-System-Manager for an IT company. It works with other technology out of the box I recommend it to anyone who asks “What operating system is the_best/should_I_use”

Shell

I use zsh as a shell, with a slight modification of Luke smith’s .zshrc It practically has all of the features of other shells with extra plugins for auto-completion and syntax highlighting.

Programming

I use vim with some plugins as an IDE and use

1. Shell scripts (for simple automation), and
2. GCC & GDB (for a bit more in-depth programming)

Other

• htop to easily manage proccess’s
• tmux since 1 tty is never enough
• tar,gzip,bzip to backup/send files
• cups to take printouts of documents
• rsync to manage files locally and remotely
• openssh to connect to other systems

Utilities

Documents & E-Books

I use zathura for pdfs
koreader and vim for viewing all other documents
and create/edit them with groff or LaTeX
or Libre-Office suite for more complex documents
I also use Calibre to manage my eBooks collection.

Audio

Vlc & mpv to listen to them.
ffmpeg to record audio from my mic.
yt-dlp To download local mp3 files of my favorite music (if it’s not being sold as mp3)

Images

sxiv to view them. and DarkTable since i use a real camera to take pictures. krita if i wanted to draw on a screen.

Videos

Vlc to view them.
usually ffmpeg to record my screen,
(or OBS to do more complex screen capture)
kdenlive if i ever wanted to edit them

E-Communication

1. mutt, a minimal email client.
2. weechat for irc and xmpp chatrooms. (use xmpp/matrix/irc/mastodon/Misskey.\ Anything except proprietary software such as whatsapp/telegram/discord)

Browser

I usually have three browsers:

1. elinks when i’m on a tty
2. netsurf for my general browsing (it’s very fast)
3. firefox-esr when a website doesn’t work on first 2.
   (Note: Firefox usually comes with sub-par default settings, which requires modifiying user.js, about:config, and more hardwork to make it fully private. It is still the best usable browser compared to all other demonic corporation spyware&bloatware browsers such as google-chrome or edge.)
4. tor to bypass isp/government censorship or dmca-takedowns

RSS

newsboat if i’m on a tty,
or QuiteRSS if I have a mouse

Downloading Clients

1. cURL for simple urls
2. qbittorent for torrents
3. yt-dlp for downloading YouTube videos

Password manager

1. keepass-xc

Refrences to find other such software

1. The suckless website’s list of programs that “rock” – Generally minimalist programs
2. A more comprehensive (and gradient) list of minimalist software
3. The FSF’s Free Software Directory – Emphasis on libre software.
4. Install Gentoo wiki recommendations – A good mix of programs for novices and advanced users.