Uses

The core of my digital setup is my notebook running Debian and GNOME. By far the most important applications are the browser and the terminal (and inside of that, it is mainly vim, fish and git). My computer setup is automated and documented in my dotfiles if you would like to know more. This is how it looks like:

These are the GUI applications I use on my devices:

Firefox/LibreWolf

My main and favorite browser is Firefox. I sometimes get very annoyed at the decisions Mozilla makes. This is why I switched to LibreWolf on Linux: Firefox, but with the annoying things removed (I consider this a different default configuration and not a different browser). For web development I often use Polypane. On iPhone and iPad I’m using Firefox.

Domain Registry & DNS

Since December 2023, I use porkbun as my domain registry and deSEC for DNS hosting. I’m happy with both. deSEC is a really great service that is free to use, has powerful features, and is based on open source. I’m using Anschrift.net for the address in DNS records and Impressum entry. To verify DNSSec is set up correctly for all domains, I used this tool.

Homepage

My web hosting (including this site) runs on Uberspace. I’ve been there for many, many years and love it. It is build using Bridgetown. It does not set any cookies or track you. Uberspace logs connections to this website, but IP addresses are redacted (you can find details about it here)

Mails, Contacts & Calendars

My email, calendars and contacts are on Mailbox.org. To verify and learn about the security and spam protection features for the email setup, I used Learn DMARC and Mailtower Domain Check.

Social Networks & Messengers

The only social network I actively use is the Fediverse.¹ I really like it there, but still spend a bit too much time on it, I guess. On the messenger side of things, I mainly use Signal, Mattermost, Matrix, and Apple Messages. I’m also in a few Discourse, Slack and Discord communities. I personally prefer Discourse in that area, by a lot.

Feeds & News

My main sources for news, opinions, and articles are RSS and Podcasts. I use FreshRSS as the backend for my feeds. I use the beautiful Newsflash on my notebook and the buggy Reeder on iPhone/iPad. The sync is superfast, but the experience on my phone and tablet is not great right now. For the newsletters that do not offer a RSS feed, I use kill the newsletter to “convert” them to RSS feeds. For podcasts, I’ve been using Overcast for many years.

Search Engine

Gawd, search engines. Remember when they worked? Due to my dislike of Google, I switched to DuckDuckGo many years ago. As they are tracking me and also have some weird AI plans, I went to Ecosia. Turns out, they also have a weird AI integrated. I’m slightly hopeful for European Search Perspective and OpenWebSearch–until then, I will stay on Ecosia and keep an eye on alternatives.

“Cloud”

I’ve been using iCloud for many years, But I’ve started leaving it step by step a few years ago. This is still a work in progress. Current Status:

• My files, reminders and notes are in Nextcloud (using Hetzner Storage Share).
• My calendars and contacts are at Mailbox.org.
• My photos are still in iCloud.
• I do the backup of my computer with Borg. The backup is offsite at Hetzner Storage Box. It is a solid solution, and I can only recommend it.
• My iPhone and iPad are backed up to iCloud for now.

Navigation

I recently uninstalled Google Maps and am using CoMaps for navigation by foot. In the car, I use its navigation system. For cycling, I will try a bike computer. To no longer use komoot for planning cycling tours, I want to learn Bikerouter instead.

Code Forges

I did not feel great when Microsoft started using GitHub as the training set for their AI models. I also feel like the interface is getting slower and buggier every week. I therefore moved all my personal projects to Codeberg.

Entertainment

I recently switched from Spotify to buying music again. I just can’t support this company anymore. I listen to music on repeat when concentrating. The music changes a lot. In 2021, I listened to Max Richter’s Four Seasons basically on repeat the entire year. 2022 was more Architects (hat tip Bascht) and System of a Down (hat tip to my teenage angst). This might be because I did a lot of Go in the project (which is either because Go is close to the metal or driving me mad, you choose). In 2024, my three top artists were Peter Gregson, Rival Consoles & Sleep Token. So I’m not exactly sure what my “genre” is.

German public broadcasting is my main source for video content, followed by YouTube and PeerTube. We cancelled all the streaming providers like Netflix, Apple TV+ and Disney+.

In 2023, I got back into gaming after many years of not playing at all. In 2025, I played the following games:

• I’m playing online with a good friend who lives far away. After we got bored with Diablo 4 (it got boring quickly, unfortunately), we switched to Baldur’s Gate 3 in the summer. As everyone knows, this game is breathtaking.
• I’m catching up on Zelda. I finished Breath of the Wild and started Tears of the Kingdom. I know, you probably know, but these games are remarkable as well.

Programming Languages

I have professional experience with the following programming languages:

• Ruby
• JavaScript/TypeScript (Node & Browser)
• CSS
• Go

In general, I enjoy playing around with different languages (like Rust). I even wrote my own little language a while ago.

Hardware

• My personal notebook is a MNT Pocket Reform with an RK3588 CPU and 32GB of RAM.
  • My work notebook is a Tuxedo InfinityBook Pro 14 (Gen 10) with a AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU and 64GB of RAM.
• EIZO FlexScan EV2781 display
• ZSA Planck EZ keyboard
• Logitech MX Master 3S mouse
• Logitech Brio webcam
• Shure MV 7 microphone and beyerdynamic DT 770 M headphones.
• Garmin Forerunner 965

Footnotes