Welcome to the Alternative Ways—Doing It in Plain Text. While this blog has established why plain text matters. This section answers the question: “How do I actually replace the proprietary workflow with a plain-text one?” It also fits perfectly with our philosophy of inspiring readers to think differently rather than merely teaching isolated commands.

Alternative Ways August 10, 2026

Beyond the Spreadsheet: Alternative Ways to Analyse Data

The spreadsheet is a wonderful interface. But it is not the only way to think about data.

Alternative Ways July 20, 2026

Why Plain Text Scales Better Than you think

Why does plain text fits the bill when it comes to backing up information for long-term? The answer lies in its format: it does well as source, and asn end-product in data.

Alternative Ways July 17, 2026

Mathematics Without a Mouse: How Textsmiths Write Equations

This article seeks to answer the question of whether it is possible to do math using plain text, and without the use of a mouse.

Alternative Ways July 14, 2026

Keeping Your Personal Finances in Git: The Act of treating personal finance as source code

A major benefit of plain text accounting is that you can treat your personal finance in the same way you treat your other precious data: placing it under version control and tracking its revision.

Alternative Ways July 13, 2026

Plain Text Accounting: The Ledger Is Just Text

How does a textsmith manage his personal finance? This article demonstrates that plain text goes beyond the domain of sysadmin and programming into personal spaces.