Ardour is a great DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) that is cross-platform and Free (and Open Source) Software (FOSS). However, it is a good case study for how Free (as in libre) software isn’t necessarily free (gratis) software. Upon clicking the “Download” link on Ardour’s homepage, the user will see...

Originally written in 2002, this essay is part of Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard, M. Stallman 2nd ed. (Boston: GNU Press, 2004), ISBN 1-882114-99-X, www.gnupress.org. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved. Something strange and...

Originally written in 1994, this essay is part of Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard, M. Stallman 2nd ed. (Boston: GNU Press, 2004), ISBN 1-882114-99-X, www.gnupress.org Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved. Digital information technology...

In my last post, I discussed how I used LibreOffice and a bash script (co-authored with ChatGPT) to batch convert a bunch of my late professor’s .pages documents. I also noted that there were some files that could not be converted. Notably, more recent .pages files with underlying .iwa...

The issue The co-advisor for my MA thesis passed away last year and his widow allowed me to copy some unfinished drafts and documents from his computer for posterity. He was an avid Mac user and every document I ever received from him was a .docx file. So, to...

I was recently looking at Eisel Mazard’s description of the Burmese pronunciation of Pāḷi (I’m just gonna write “Pali” from here on out) and while it’s very detailed, there are a few mistakes in it that I’d like to correct. Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway, my...

Despite my best efforts to transfer this from LibreOffice Writer into WordPress (thank goodness I drafted it there and not here), there were issues with the rendering of certain fonts and tables. So, I’m just going to cheat and embed a PDF here. Please contact me if you’d like...

I was browsing YouTube, as I’m known to do, and I notice a trend of people talking about either leaving their PhD programs, finishing but then not doing anything related to their studies, or even encouraging others not to pursue a PhD altogether. While people may have very good...