Uses

Kit, Tools and Services

Cycling

  • Surly Long Haul Trucker Disc
  • Pinnacle Dolomite
  • Hammerhead Karoo bike computer

The Surly is a reliable, heavy workhorse. Comfortable but slow. The Pinnacle is a bit lighter and probably better suited to Audax rides but it’s not quite as comfy to ride. Both have a nine speed chainset for durability. A triple on the Surly, compact double on the Pinnacle. Both have TRP Spire mechanical disc brakes. Powerful enough for me and easy to service and/or repair.

The Karoo is perfect for me. Maps and navigation are excellent. More display field options than I shall ever need. Superb battery life. Highly recommended.

Writing and blogging

The first three I have been using for years. Good enough as they are, extendable and configurable according to need. Hugo for the last year and happy with it.

Music

The monitors and subwoofer have been worth every penny. I’ll be correctly tagging and organising my music files forever.

Reading

Both of these are great.

Photography

  • Fujifilm X-T4
  • Fujifilm Fujinon XF 16-80mm f4 R OIS WR
  • Fujifilm Fujinon XF 35mm f1.4
  • digiKam
  • GIMP

It will be some time before my abilities get anywhere near to the capabilities of the kit and software.

Computing

  • Entroware Proteus
  • Dell XPS 13
  • Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 15D (Navidrome server)
  • Debian 13 (stable)
  • Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS (Navidrome)

The Entroware and Dell are more than good enough for what I use them for (aside from the sound card for playing music, hence the Focusrite interface and JBL monitors). The Lenovo was lying around doing nothing so I put it to good use. It’s old and low spec but good enough to use as a Navidrome server. Ubuntu on my laptops for over ten years until switching to Debian early 2026. Ubuntu created a smooth and easy exit from Windows. It was a good introduction to Linux. We’ve both changed. The time felt right to go.

Browsers

  • LibreWolf
  • Vivaldi

I feel a bit more comfortable with LibreWolf in terms of transparency. Vivaldi has all the bells and whistles but I can’t get over some of the code being technically closed source. I understand their reasoning but still.

Communication and socials

Signal as a messaging app because all the others harvest personal data, are terrible companies, or so niche no one I know will use them. Samsung because I have not got a Linux phone yet.

Online services

  • Proton (Mail, Calendar, Pass, VPN, Drive, Lumo 2.0 AI assistant)
  • GitHub
  • Codeberg
  • Codefloe
  • statichost.eu

I’ve been all in with Proton for a good while now. Not entirely happy with all my eggs in one basket but so far so good. GitHub because I did not know any better at the time. Lining up and testing out Codeberg and Codefloe as replacement candidates alongside statichost.eu but in the meantime I’m using all these services.