I’ve been playing with my toys:
1. Ubuntu
Like I said, up and running with a minimum of fuss. I don’t have a wide variety of computing needs. My wireless card is supported out of the box.
2. Dvorak
I’ll never go back. Open a terminal, type
setxkbmap dvorak
and press Enter. You can change the system default to Dvorak as well, but I like to carry my preferences in my head these days. It’s platform-independent.
3. Vi
Took a little while to get used to it again, but I still prefer it to modeless editors, learning curve and all. I’ll probably graduate to vim or gvim once I’ve mastered it to my own satisfaction.
4. LMMS
Downloaded it with the Ubuntu software center. Again, no problems, and no dicking around with plugins. The existing soundfonts will probably be enough for my needs, as I don’t have very sensitive ears. Also, I’m not picky like my partner in crime.
5. LaTeX
This one was fun. I was wondering whether the OS came with LaTeX in the build, so I tried to compile a file and it was all like “Just apt-get pdftex, bro”. So I typed
sudo apt-get pdftex
and it was all “Totally, bro” and now I have LaTeX.
So at this moment, I’m learning about bibliography management because I’m so into that.
6. Project management software
I spent half of a day researching different software for this. They all turned out to suck. Apparently, it’s just not a priority for nerds because they can’t be trusted with responsibility. Lord knows I can’t.
I’ll try again in a year, maybe. If they haven’t made something that works, maybe my skills will have reached the point of Critical Usefulness I’ll be able to contribute.
Or make my own. I’d prefer a text-based PM system anyway, because I like being able to see what the program is doing and I don’t like using the mouse.
Stuff I still need to get running:
1. Sage
2. pSX
3. LibreOffice Base
4. R