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The dapper list of useful programs

· adminprogramsCLIorganization

Software I love

It’s quite simple: you want the tech to help you get organized. If it succeeds at doing so, you will love it. If it fails - you will hate yourself. That’s what tech feudalism did to us - failures are blamed on the users, successes credited to the software.

Out of a desktop, you want: a calendar, some documents, a file system, a versioning tool, a text editor, an accountancy system, a browser, and an email client. Out of a cellphone: a GPS, messaging, a news app, a calendar, a camera, a music player.

To me, this covers 99% of my technology use case - anything outside of this list fall into the «not organization, unessential» category. (Tablets are for media consumption. They don’t help you.) The irony is that, despite being a nerd, I only found software satisfactory enough to cover these needs well into adulthood, after over 25 years of assiduous computer use. Why, though? What’s up with this?

There’s the «black swan» effect: if you don’t know it exists, you won’t be able to use it. Also, it just takes a lot of software literacy to do things that ought to be basic.

Anecdotes, and how email clients suck

I never got on top of my email until I discovered Thunderbird at age 32 - browser-based email clients never made any sense to me. I hate gmail’s interface so much, I was never able to do something as remotely simple as following email chains in it. I would miss messages containing rehearsal schedules. I was frequently late, unstable, worried. Throughout most of my teens and my twenties, getting organized meant failing at getting around gmail’s terrible ergonomics - and thus continuously missing appointments, missing important emails, passing deadlines, etc.

MacOS’ email client was a little less worse, though the interface was still very difficult to read - too much useless information obscuring the big picture, too many designers trying to make things pretty. I could write an entire list of grievances about how the design of desktop environments is a failure - and it’s only gotten worse since the 90s. Think «Windows peaked at XP»…

Then I installed Thunderbird and never missed a deadline again. The list view of the app just fit my brain perfectly: «here’s where things are. New messages are opened in a new tab. You can open/close/re-arrange. You get a bird’s eye view of everything at all times.» And then my wife would pass by, see the list of hundreds of messages cramped in a single view and instantly get gray hairs: «how do you do this, it’s so stresful». Having everything visible in one place is less stressful, dear. That’s just me, though.

It’s not you, it’s the shitty apps

Long story short: if I hadn’t met Thunderbird, I would have believed to my death that getting organized email was impossible. This applies to every basic-need software in my life.

The calendar? I was always late to everything til I discovered remind.

The files ? I always lost stuff until I installed ranger.

The writing ? It never got done until I learned vim.

Going out to remote events ? That was always a jarring mission until I got an android with google-play services - it was hard to accept walking into the big G’s surveillance system, but it got me a working GPS. Before that, it’s happened that I show up an hour late to job interviews in LA because of the «broken GPS» plus «broken motorcycle» combination. Guess why I hadn’t fixed the motorcycle prior to interview day?

«One size fits all» fits noone

I am not writing this to convince my reader of the obvious superiority of my taste in software. I’m advocating for people to search out of the beaten path to find solutions that work for them. Use something that fits your brain - 99% of interface designs out there are terrible, and hindering you. I make my bet: sometimes, indie groups write programs that fit their own needs. When you try those programs, you’re very likely to find something that also fits you. Big generic enterprise software tries to be a one-size fits all, which inevitably ends up fitting no-one.

This also applies to fashion. Look at what you’re wearing. If you’re a western man, you’re satistically 99% likely to be dressed like a turd right now, because you’re wearing clothes that aren’t your size. It’s not your fault - the clothes were meant to fit the greater number.

In 2026, digital owners get to be free

Crossing into using a terminal was a big step. I wish I’d known it existed in my younger years, things would have been different all along: I’d have been more organized, less angstful, I’d have told off so many downlookers, and I’d have had the confidence to take more risks.

Owning your computer means owning your administrative process, means owning your destiny. This makes the effort to reach tech literacy 100% worth it. This puts the onus on you, but it gives you the freedom to move around unhindered. Good news.

«Really, Antoine, you’re just rationalizing your config files». Touché!

Fine, here’s my list of software favourites:

My list of useful programs

Honorable mentions: