A New World in the $SHELL of the Old

This series of articles is about replacing corporate software and services that are invasive and coercive with Free community-built alternatives. It focuses on moving from macOS and iOS to Linux and de-Googled Android and finding self-hosted alternatvies to cloud services.

Introduction
What is Free Software?
What is KDE?

Introduction: A New World in the $SHELL of the Old

Submitted by Tom Owad on April 1, 2025 - 9:41pm

I've been using a Mac since 1993. The user experience has slowly decayed, and every update makes it clearer that this is Apple's operating system and not mine. But 30-year-old habits coupled with vendor lock-in makes it very difficult to switch.

Content Type: 
A New World in the $SHELL of the Old

Comparing macOS file managers for remote server access (QSpace, Nimble Commander, Forklift)

Submitted by Tom Owad on September 9, 2023 - 9:06pm

Screenshot 2023-09-09 at 9.18.07 PM.png

Forklift 4 screenshot
I've been using Dolphin on KDE Plasma a lot and it's made me realize just how much the shortcomings in Finder limit how I work. Finder doesn't have good support for remote volumes, and a lot of the files I want to access are via SFTP and webDAV. I'm increasingly using a variety of computers, mostly running macOS or KDE Plasma, with Nextcloud to sync files. On some of these computers, I don't want everything synced, but do want fast occasional access. This is particularly the case on macOS devices, where I don't want to pay Apple's storage premium for disposable computers. What I want is to be able to connect to my Nextcloud server via WebDAV and access those files with the speed and convenience of a local file system. I also want to be able to access my Debian servers via SFTP.

This article offers a comparison of macOS file managers, with a focus on WebDAV and SFTP connectivity.

Content Type: 
Reviews
The Owad Laboratory
A New World in the $SHELL of the Old

How to summon Prometheus, god of fire, using Mycroft and a Raspberry Pi

Submitted by Tom Owad on June 1, 2021 - 2:54pm

According to myth, the titan Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity. But for whom, specifically, did he steal it?

Read more, for instructions.

Content Type: 
The Owad Laboratory
A New World in the $SHELL of the Old

Teargas in the walled garden: iOS is a threat to democracy

Submitted by Tom Owad on January 10, 2020 - 11:28pm

hongkong.jpg

Hong Kong - October 1, 2019: Protest against extradition law on China National Day in Hong Kong turned into another police conflict.

Apple's iOS App Store has been a tremendous success, generating over $100 billion in revenue since its inception. This is thanks in part to Apple's walled garden approach, which requires that all iOS software must be purchased through Apple's App Store. This approach has kept iOS relatively free of the malware that has plagued Android phones. Apple's screening of apps has resulted in a higher quality collection of software. It's a beautiful walled garden, in exchange for which, we give up control over what software we
can run.

More below the break.

Content Type: 
The Owad Laboratory
A New World in the $SHELL of the Old

Data Mining 101: Finding Subversives with Amazon Wishlists

Submitted by Tom Owad on January 4, 2006 - 2:37pm
This article describes how anybody in the world can develop sophisticated profiles of hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens, using only free and publicly available resources.
Content Type: 
A New World in the $SHELL of the Old
Subscribe to A New World in the $SHELL of the Old