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    <title>What's Good About...</title>
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        <span class="title">MasterOfTheTiger</span> - <span class="description">Web Developer, follower of Jesus</span>
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        <p><a href="index.html">Back to main page.</a></p>
        <h1>What's Good About...</h1>
        <p><a href="https://stallman.org">Richard Stallman</a> has a part of his main website which has a list of links of "What's bad about:", where he lists the problems of many companies such as Google, Netflix, Amazon, Skype, and more. This part of my website lists what's <em>good</em> about different companies, services, software, and more. Think optimistically for a change.</p>
        <p>So let's see what's good about...</p>

        <h2 id="gnu-linux"><a href="#gnu-linux">GNU/Linux</a></h2>
        <p><a href="https://gnu.org">GNU</a>/<a href="https://kernel.org">Linux</a> is an operating system which uses a combination of the GNU operating system and Linux, the kernel. It is a
        powerful tool, and can be entirely <a href="#free-software">free software</a>.</p>
        <p>Besides being free software (which by far is the biggest benefit of using it), GNU/Linux is a powerful operating system which can be used for a variety of purposes and made to work in many different ways. For example, you can decide which distribution you want to use, and it may include a different package manager. That freedom is very useful when it comes to operating systems. I can have an OS which is set up for doing programming work, and you can have one set up for gaming.</p>
        <p>But that's not the half of it. GNU/Linux is generally very stable than other operating systems, and you can depend on it</p>
        <p>Updates! This is a huge one that you <em>should</em> be able to take for granted. Updates on GNU/Linux generally consist of telling your package manager to find updates from your distribution's repos and install them. That's it! Restarting is optional, but updates are actually installed before you restart, so your next restart won't take forever like a certain other operating system we all know and hate.</p>
        <p>Packages on GNU/Linux are generally installed from a single source which is maintained by the maintainers of your distribution. For example, when you use Debian, you install software from the Debian repositories, and they are responsible for keeping those packages up to date. That way every program does not have to have its own updater system which installs updates for itself -- that can be a mess.</p>
        <p>Like I said, the greatest part about GNU/Linux (and everything else listed in the "What's Good About..." list is that it is free (as in libre, not gratis) software. It is impossible to fully appreciate the value of GNU/Linux until you understand the value of free software.</p>
        <p>I recommend Parabola as a good distribution in general. It is not the best for beginners though. For them Trisquel is the best in my opinion.</p>

        <p>Here is a screenshot of my computer's operating system. I use a configured Xfce desktop environment on the Arch GNU/Linux distribution, but other people's setup will likely look completely different.</p>
        <img src="img/xfce-desktop.png" />

        <h2 id="matrix-riot"><a href="#matrix-riot">Matrix/Riot</a></h2>
        <p><a href="https://matrix.org">Matrix</a> is a protocol for chat services. You sign up on a Matrix homeserver, and use it with a Matrix client. This enables you to communicate with anyone else signed up on any other Matrix homeserver. For example, if I use matrix.org, I can still talk with you if you use the chat.privacytools.io homeserver, and anyone can set up their own homeserver for anyone to join as well.</p>
        <p><a href="https://riot.im">Riot</a> is a Matrix <em>client</em>, it allows you to login with your credentials to your Matrix homserver. In short, this piece is what lets you send messages to someone else. It's the actual app you install on your device, or the website you visit to use Matrix. Riot is only one client, there's also nheko, Fractal, and many more.</p>
        <p>The best parts about Matrix/Riot include:</p>
        <ul>
            <li>End to End Encryption - if you set this up, no one (including your Matrix homeserver) can read your messages to someone else</li>
            <li>Decentralization - no one person controls the whole network</li>
            <li>Diversity of clients - you can use many different client apps to login to your Matrix homeserver</li>
            <li>Modern - unlike IRC, Matrix is a modern chat protocol and is just as usable as Discord, Skype, or Slack</li>
            <li>Bridges - Matrix has bridges for you to chat with rooms on WhatsApp, Gitter, IRC, and more</li>
        </ul>

        <h2 id="searx"><a href="#searx">Searx</a></h2>
        <p><a href="">Searx</a> is a search engine which pulls from many different other search engines, including Google. It is entirely <a href="#free-software">free software</a>, so anyone can set up their own search engine to use. There are many websites set up with the this search engine, including <a href="https://searx.me">searx.me</a>.</p>
        <p>This search engine is by far my favorite in general, because anyone can set up their own version of it, and because you do not have to depend on one website for your search results because it gets the results from many different sources.</p>

        <h2 id="i2p"><a href="#i2p">I2P</a></h2>
        <p><a href="https://geti2p.net">I2P</a> is an anonymous network which consists of over 50,000 computers worldwide.</p>

        <h2 id="free-software"><a href="#free-software">Free Software</a></h2>
        <p><a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">Free Software</a> is not a particular program, service, or company, but it is a very important element of all the other items which are listed on this page. Free software, simply put, is software which gives you the freedom to change how the program works, as well as to give copies of the program to others to use. Some people call this software "open source", but the better term is "Free Software" because of the many misunderstanding of what "open source" really is.</p>
        <p>"Free Software" does not refer to the price to use the software, or the price to obtain a copy. "Free" in this sense solely refers to freedom rather than price. Think "free speech". To make this clear, sometimes the phrase "libre software" is used, to make it clear that they are not referring to "gratis software".</p>
        <p>A computer program must give every user of the software these four freedoms for it to be free software:</p>
        <ul>
            <li>Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program for any purpose</li>
            <li>Freedom 1: The freedom to modify the program -- this requires the source code to be available for the program</li>
            <li>Freedom 2: The freedom to give the program away or sell the program the way you obtained it</li>
            <li>Freedom 3: The freedom to give away or sell the program with modifications</li>
        </ul>

        <p>Note: "freeware" and "shareware" do not refer to Free Software at all. They are different programs which to not give users the necessary freedoms.</p>
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