In my freelance work I have established certain principles that always guide me through - whether to take on a new client or project, developing a new software, learning new things or choosing new software internally.

This blog post is about the last one and describes which software I have in use for my business.

Basically according to my principle “Keep things private” I choose software - especially those handling with personal data - that follows the Local First approach. In the following I will use the mentioned template to evaluate the software I have internally in use since several years.

Criteria

So first let's sum up the certain criteria which the software is evaluated against:
  • Fast: The software has to load and react extremely fast.
  • Multi-Device: The software is not locked to one device but can be used on different ones - all with the same edit state.
  • Offline: The software does not require an always-on internet connection and works in low-speed environments.
  • Collaboration: The software can be used and shared with my colleagues.
  • Longevity: The data can be accessed for a long time in the future.
  • Privacy: The software is build with security and privacy by design, e.g. no centralized database, etc.
  • User Control: I retain ultimate ownership and control.

My Software Tools in Use

Email/Calendar: Mailbox.org

Fast Multi-Device Offline Collaboration Longevity Privacy User Control

Cloud Storage: Mailbox.org Drive

Fast Multi-Device Offline Collaboration Longevity Privacy User Control

Note-taking: Obsidian

My note-taking app Obsidian is also a tool that fulfills all defined requirements. As Obsidian stores all data in the readable Markdown format, so the User Control criteria is totally fine.

Fast Multi-Device Offline Collaboration Longevity Privacy User Control

Website: Self-hosted Open Source Magento

Fast Multi-Device Offline Collaboration Longevity Privacy User Control

Development: Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket

Fast Multi-Device Offline Collaboration Longevity Privacy User Control

Passwords: Self-hosted 1Password

Fast Multi-Device Offline Collaboration Longevity Privacy User Control

CRM & Accounting: Lexoffice

The Software-as-a-Service tool Lexoffice profits in terms of longevity from the universal DATEV format which the data can be exported to.

Fast Multi-Device Offline Collaboration Longevity Privacy User Control