<![CDATA[Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there!]]>Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! I use loads of it.

Them: What do you use to write documents?

Me: I use vim. I write in Markdown, then convert it. (typst + pandoc)

Them: What about presentations?

Me: I use vim. I write in Markdown, then convert it. (revealjs)

Them: Your website? Blog?

Me: I use vim. I write in Markdown, then convert it. (mkdocs / bssg)

Them: So what about keeping notes?

Me: Oddly enough, I use vim. I write in Markdown... (vimwiki)

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/44743929-2131-41df-a9b3-1ef43f9ffc7e/neil-there-s-a-wealth-of-amazing-free-software-out-thereRSS for NodeFri, 22 May 2026 18:22:15 GMTSat, 16 May 2026 05:26:32 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 08:05:40 GMT]]>@neil
s/[Vv]im/Emacs/g

But yes, agree 😁

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tech.lgbt/users/fionasboots/statuses/116583218580357440https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tech.lgbt/users/fionasboots/statuses/116583218580357440Sat, 16 May 2026 08:05:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 07:56:05 GMT]]>@neil And a masochist as well 🙂

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fosstodon.org/users/cymplecy/statuses/116583180897767067https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fosstodon.org/users/cymplecy/statuses/116583180897767067Sat, 16 May 2026 07:56:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 07:53:12 GMT]]>@ColinTheMathmo @neil I've used a docker container in the past to avoid having to pull in the full latex suite and pollute my system too much

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/foobarry/statuses/116583169553674813https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/foobarry/statuses/116583169553674813Sat, 16 May 2026 07:53:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 07:52:11 GMT]]>@Edent @ColinTheMathmo @neil Pandoc is great! When I was forced (!) to use MS Word at work, I got fed up of it reformatting my layouts; or inserting weird bullets in my lists; and generally messing up my previously saved work.

I wrote in AsciiDoc format and/or Restructured text then used Pandoc to create the Word file from my sources.

In addition, being plain text, the source files could be kept in Git for safety.

Happy days.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.scot/users/NormanDunbar/statuses/116583165548651117https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.scot/users/NormanDunbar/statuses/116583165548651117Sat, 16 May 2026 07:52:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 07:48:42 GMT]]>@neil I did have some experience with runoff as a "markup" language on a DEC RSTS/E system about 1980. I may have been accused by a high school teacher with cheating because all my classmates had to use typewriters, or OMG, write the damn paper in longhand.

How? I had access to the school district's computer center and its daisy -wheel printers.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/roadskater/statuses/116583151828964692https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/roadskater/statuses/116583151828964692Sat, 16 May 2026 07:48:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 07:40:51 GMT]]>@neil are you intentionally flirting with me? coz it's working. ❤ vim

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/TheMightyGit/statuses/116583120962091966https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/TheMightyGit/statuses/116583120962091966Sat, 16 May 2026 07:40:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 07:33:47 GMT]]>@ppulfer @neil you probably have to reboot the computer or something. Emacs is simple, C-x C-c, followed by 'y' if confirm-kill-emacs is set.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mamot.fr/users/ghouston/statuses/116583093191546267https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mamot.fr/users/ghouston/statuses/116583093191546267Sat, 16 May 2026 07:33:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 07:30:22 GMT]]>@ColinTheMathmo @neil
Dependencies are an absolute pain with Pandoc. If you can get WeasyPrint installed as well, KT makes the formatting much easier.

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/04/using-pandoc-to-format-a-dissertation-from-markdown-to-html-pdf-and-epub/

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Edent/statuses/116583079785297372https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Edent/statuses/116583079785297372Sat, 16 May 2026 07:30:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 07:21:53 GMT]]>@ColinTheMathmo Boring old `apt` worked for me!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116583046423509007https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116583046423509007Sat, 16 May 2026 07:21:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 07:21:01 GMT]]>@neil Every time I've tried to install pandoc I've got into some sort of dependency hell. I'm writing a book, so I guess it will soon be time to try again.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/ColinTheMathmo/statuses/116583043019619702https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/ColinTheMathmo/statuses/116583043019619702Sat, 16 May 2026 07:21:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 07:19:17 GMT]]>@neil Seen on a bumper sticker recently:

:w! saves

I was driving, so couldn't get a photo ...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/ColinTheMathmo/statuses/116583036159821331https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/ColinTheMathmo/statuses/116583036159821331Sat, 16 May 2026 07:19:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 07:12:10 GMT]]>@neil

"Oh, I use _all_ the free software: vim _and_ emacs."

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.online/users/skjeggtroll/statuses/116583008220625128https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.online/users/skjeggtroll/statuses/116583008220625128Sat, 16 May 2026 07:12:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 06:48:42 GMT]]>@roadskater Markdown has only been around for 22ish years, so give it some time to settle down, I guess. No point rushing to adopt such things.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116582915937342789https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116582915937342789Sat, 16 May 2026 06:48:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 06:46:08 GMT]]>@neil Been using vi(m) for 30+ years. But Markdown, haven't got there yet.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/roadskater/statuses/116582905836267375https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/roadskater/statuses/116582905836267375Sat, 16 May 2026 06:46:08 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 06:43:05 GMT]]>@neil community note: the author of this toot is in the pocket of big vimto

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/foobarry/statuses/116582893824590390https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/foobarry/statuses/116582893824590390Sat, 16 May 2026 06:43:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 06:38:05 GMT]]>@neil just because you don't know how to quit vim… ?! 🙈😅

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/burninghat/statuses/116582874155720289https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/burninghat/statuses/116582874155720289Sat, 16 May 2026 06:38:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 06:08:06 GMT]]>@neil Well, obviously the more superior way would be to use emacs

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/grumpydad/statuses/116582756271356710https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/grumpydad/statuses/116582756271356710Sat, 16 May 2026 06:08:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 06:01:49 GMT]]>@neil vim is the operating system and userspace in one!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.treehouse.systems/users/kate/statuses/116582731583924514https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.treehouse.systems/users/kate/statuses/116582731583924514Sat, 16 May 2026 06:01:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 06:00:21 GMT]]>@neil I'm glad I'm not the only one. My VS Code-wielding brothers-in-LLM are looking funny at me when I compile and debug binaries in vim 😛

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.online/users/matus_chochlik/statuses/116582725843753711https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.online/users/matus_chochlik/statuses/116582725843753711Sat, 16 May 2026 06:00:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 05:58:47 GMT]]>@freshstart I do use Gnu IMP, but unsurprisingly I don't refer to it by the offensive ableist name 🙂

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116582719681453498https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116582719681453498Sat, 16 May 2026 05:58:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 05:57:46 GMT]]>@houba Same!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116582715675324303https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116582715675324303Sat, 16 May 2026 05:57:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 05:57:32 GMT]]>@bash2 https://bssg.dragas.net/

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116582714766109112https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116582714766109112Sat, 16 May 2026 05:57:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 05:54:06 GMT]]>@neil yeah, but the rest of the world is slowly catching up these days. by slowly discovering that code is a liability

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://metalhead.club/users/lkundrak/statuses/116582701249279315https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://metalhead.club/users/lkundrak/statuses/116582701249279315Sat, 16 May 2026 05:54:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! on Sat, 16 May 2026 05:51:59 GMT]]>@neil Which bssg? I'd like to know, but there are several, unfortunately ...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://momou.social/users/bash2/statuses/116582692909611094https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://momou.social/users/bash2/statuses/116582692909611094Sat, 16 May 2026 05:51:59 GMT