I didn't know how "far along" my Debian writing project was. I guessed I had 10k words across 7 or 8 text files. I used the wc utility to count the words, and I only have 2,800. That's good for 10 pages.
I was using the 1980s "Unix for Luddites" to play around with nroff and troff, which come from the groff-base package in Debian. But to get "full" functionality, you need to add the groff package, which brings the -me and ms macros onto the system. https://packages.debian.org/bullseye/groff
Now that I opened my long-sealed boxes from the now-closed @ladailynews office (we are working remote), I have my copy of Unix for Luddites and will be writing about my first experiences with Unix and how it led me to where I am today.
The Art of PostgreSQL: a modern PostgreSQL book in 2020 https://theartofpostgresql.com/
Do You Write Code With Your Mouse? A book to use more of the keyboard, less of the mouse. - Matthieu Cneude https://themouseless.dev/
Hello, world
This is my Updates archive of social-media-style posts. My main sites can be found here and here.
My original Ode site lives! You can find it here.New: Every post on one page
See EVERY post in this microblog — all 3,500+ — on one HTML page. This archive updates once daily.
Counter
There are 3567 updates in this microblog.
Social updates, or why this site exists and how it works
This site is dedicated to social-media-style updates. For longer pieces, see links to my main sites above. In this microblog, I am using a command-line script written in Ruby to feed this site and my Fediverse account on Mastodon.
In February 2026, I fixed this microblog and changed my configuration in the blogPoster script so I could start posting to it again. Even though I'm a regular Fediverse user, I see some value in keeping my own microblog in this simple form. It's basically a blog that can be easily fed and which doesn't show post titles (though every post does have a title, the blog HTML hides them).Goals in 2026
I'd like to begin work on a new blog-posting GUI app that makes it easy to write and post to a Hugo or Zola blog. I have sites using both static site generators, but the Zola site is where I'm writing these days.
No databases were harmed in the making of this web site
You're seeing this blog, powered by Ode, through the magic of the Perl programming language and the Common Gateway Interface. Also involved: the Apache web server and Linux operating system.
The Ode project website has been down for some time, but you can find what's left of the user base at Gitter.
Ode does not use a database to store content. Instead, every entry exists on the web server as a "flat" text file.
Counter: Thanks to Rob Reed for the Ode system that runs this blog as well as his help on the Counter addin that provides the post-count feature seen above.
What happened to the Ode project?
I don't really know.
The Ode project website has been down for some time, but you can find what's left of the user base at Gitter.
Contact me
E-mail: stevenhrosenberg@gmail.com
Who am I
and why am I here?
My name is Steven Rosenberg. Journalist. Programmer. Husband. Father. Fixer of the broken. I currently run desktops with Debian Bullseye and Bookworm.
License
CC BY-NC-SA
Steven Rosenberg's microblogging posts at this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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