Cory Rash — Personal Website

: I prefer freedom first, stability second.
Trisquel: Has been my go-to for years. It's always old and outdated, but extremely stable and reliable. If there's software I need that isn't available I can either build it from source or grab it through Guix.
Devuan: Debian without the SystemD and only using liberated media. I tried to use Gnuinos, which is the 100% FOSS version of Devuan, but it always breaks for me.
Debian: It just works. I prefer the other two, but Debian is the one I use on my web server.
ZorinOS: The distribution I recommend to newcomers. I don't use it myself (I have before and it's nearly identical to Windows), but if you're looking to get into GNU/Linux then this is the one to start with.

: I've tried to live in terminal based DE's, but as a designer they're just not for me or my workflow.
XFCE: My default. Simple, fast, lightweight, customizable, and all you'll ever need.
Gnome: Resource intensive, but it actually looks nice. I will always pick Gnome over KDE if forced to pick between the two.
JWM: If I'm using ancient hardware I prefer to use JWM for speed.

GNU Nano: Sue me. It's my favorite terminal based text editor. I also use vim, but nano is my default and go-to.
Mousepad: Similar to Microsoft Notepad and also Gedit. If I'm using a GUI, this is probably what I'm using.
KeePassXC: The only password manager you'll ever need. Supports OTP and password generation. Can be synchronized across all of your devices using something like Nextcloud or Syncthing.
NextCloud: The FOSS replacement for Dropbox. You need to self-host the server portion unless you're paying a third party to do it for you.
LibreOffice: Get away from Google Docs and Microsoft Word/Excel. LibreOffice and The Open Document Foundation are constantly fighting to keep basic document manipulation available to everyone.
Blender: If you're messing with 3D, this is a must.
InkScape: Currently the best 2D vector editing software on GNU/Linux. It even supports embroidery plug-ins.

Yunohost: A very handy all-in-one package to help you manage self hosting. Makes it very easy to get up and going with basic security pre-configured and minimal effort.
FreedomBox: Similar to Yunohost, but less services are supported.
Peertube: Host your own alternative to YouTube.
NextCloud: The FOSS Dropbox replacement.
Jellyfin: Get rid of Plex and migrate to Jellyfin for hosting all of your media content.

iodeOS: Currently the best ROM if your intention is using Android. It's basically LineageOS, but de-Googled. iodeOS promotes free software replacements for Google (microG) unlike GrapheneOS which installs the actual Google APKs on your phone and has their community on Discord.
LineageOS (Official): The next best ROM after iode if your device isn't supported. I wouldn't trust third party sources and would only use official LineageOS supported devices.
F-Droid: An absolute must. This is the best place to get your software from.
Monocles Chat: This is just a fork of the excellent Conversations XMPP app but with support for more features like sending stickers, animated gifs, and a true black OLED theme.
Conversations: If you don't need the extra features then just go with the original. It has a long history of developer support and will likely continue to be developed for many years. XMPP as a protocol is very reliable and supports encryption. It's also much less bloated and faster than Matrix based chat apps like Element.