We all love open-source software, but there are so many amazing projects out there that often go unnoticed. Let’s change that! Share your favorite open-source software that you think more people should know about. Here’s how you can contribute:
- Single Option Per Comment: Mention one open-source software per comment to be able to easily find the most popular software.
- No Duplicates: Avoid duplicating software that has already been mentioned to ensure a wide variety of options.
- Upvote What You Love: If you see a software that you also appreciate, upvote it to help others discover it more easily.
Check out last year’s post for more inspiration: Last Year’s Post
Let’s create a comprehensive list of open-source software that everyone should know about!
Syncthing: Continuous, private, and encrypted file synchronization across multiple devices without using the cloud.
I’d love to use this but I just mostly don’t use multiple devices at the same time, so I don’t see how the sync would ever happen.
I have an instance on my phone running 24/7 which does the bridge. But i dont use much storage, i mainly work with text files, so the pc at work syncs with my phone, and when i get home my own pc gets the files from my phone immediatly. Its been working really well for years for me.
Yea my big problem is also that I need way more storage than what I have on my phone.
I’m in the same boat, so I had set up Syncthing more like centralised service - installed one instance on my home server, and made every other device sync only with it. Files propagates without issues.
Does it backup photos on iOS yet?
Absolutely LOVE syncthing. I recently had to go on an emergency trip and was glad I set up syncthing on my phone but hated that I didn’t set it up properly on my laptop.
I love syncthing, but never managed to get permissions to work right on any of my android phones. I chalk that up to phone vendor fuckery though.
You should know that there is no longer an official syncthing app and a clone has taken its place. It’s buggy but it works.
Permissions are a bit tricky to set up but I believe the clone app does it correctly by asking for full file browsing permissions.
Just to be clear, there is no official app for Android (and, I assume iPhone). If you are using SyncThing on desktop or laptop computers, there are downloads at the official syncthing.net site. On Linux, it should be available from your distribution.
I use Syncthing-Fork on my android phone, which seems to work fine.
I’ll have to try it the next time I have time, but I’m also trying to switch to a real linux phone. Right now, I have to wait for a friend to travel to the EU to be there while Pine64 has what I’m looking for in stock.
Pine64 is 2× more expensive in the EU
And doesn’t ship PinePhone Pro motherboards to the US at all.
I didn’t get into details because it wasn’t important, but they’re always be someone going “wELL AKTsHUally”. I already own a PinePhone, but it died. The easiest solution would be to get a new MB and swap it in.
Syncthing has been a wonder to discover. Basically replaced any desire for me to rely on the cloud.
Forgejo: A self-hosted, lightweight software forge offering Git repository hosting with an easy-to-install, low-maintenance platform focused on collaboration, federation, and privacy.
I always read it as “Forge-Go,” for some reason…
How are you supposed to pronounce it?
Forgejo (pronounced /forˈd͡ʒe.jo/ (hear an audio sample)) is inspired by forĝejo, the Esperanto word for forge.
Or simply for-jay-oh
KeePassXC: A modern, secure, open-source password manager that stores and manages sensitive information offline.
Mixed with syncthing to sync your database file across your devices and its chef’s kiss
My only complaint with KeePass is that if any corruption occurs, your passwords are borked. I use KeePass for non-critical accounts, like Lemmy, etc. I don’t trust myself or the sync enough for storing my bank or other identity passwords.
You can toggle syncing only in one direction
I have used KeePass for many, many years and have never run into this. Besides, I usually have a copy of the database on some other device so I’m not too worried
Syncthing means it and its backup lives on two laptops, a desktop and my phone.
Beware that syncthing is a bad backup strategy as it will update to sync the broken file (or even file deletion). I advice to do some other sort of backup. Even a simple shell script that copies selected folders into selected location that you run from time to time is a better one.
Edit1: I’ve looked at my script, I use rsync for that.
Syncthing can easily be set to retain the last n copies. And you only need one or two to protect against corruption because you aren’t editing a corrupted file. Likewise a lot of the KeepassX clients can snapshot periodically too. Been doing this for years with no issues over Linux/Win/iOS and Android.
I use rsync for that.
As does syncthing under the hood. The issue is with backing up an open database and getting an inconsistent state, but KeepassXC keeps its database closed except on update. I also tick the backup old before save setting in KeepassXC (the aforementioned ‘and it’s backup’) and use a versioning backup of the sync directory on the desktop with 3-2-1, so I am sanguine.
KeePassXC can automatically keep a backup when it makes changes.
but don’t forget to exclude your key file from sync
MakeHuman is a 3D character creation software designed to simplify the creation of virtual humans through a graphical user interface. The software allows users to create realistic human characters by adjusting parameters like gender, age, height, weight, and ethnicity through slider controls. Characters can be customized with clothes, hair, poses, and materials from the built-in library and exported to 3D soft, like Blender.
Inkscape - the best vector graphics program out there. So easy to use, and so powerful.
Hexchat, irc client
alternativeto.net is great for finding these
Toot: a CLI and TUI tool for interacting with Mastodon instances from the command line.
podget: a simple podcast aggregator optimized for running as a scheduled background job (i.e. cron).
Tox is easy-to-use software that connects you with friends and family without anyone else listening in. While other big-name services require you to pay for features, Tox is completely free and comes without advertising. Chat, P2P serverless, screen/file sharing, voice, video, groups, encrypted.
Vassal - an open-source (LGPL-2.1) boardgame engine. basically, people build different modules for each game they want to play, then they can play that game over the internet or solo. Mostly focused on “chit-and-hex” style wargames.
Mullvad vpn, probably the best vpn imo
I love mullvad but im getting more and more captchas recently. Plus some streaming services only work without it. This is very sad, do any of the alternatives reduce this anti user behaviour or do i just have to live with it?
Or Proton VPN if you can’t/don’t want to pay. (like me)
ZOOD location, a location sharing app that actually works
I’m kinda concerned that they don’t give any server selfhosting instructions. And the F-Droid page warns:
NonFreeComp (the application includes non-free components): The app contains libraries of Google Mobile Services, Play Services, Firebase, Google Maps.
NonFreeNet (this application promotes/depends a non-Free network service): The app connects to Google servers (Play Services, Firebase (cloud messaging), Google Maps).
Dude you don’t even know how long I’ve been looking for something exactly like this
Edit: shit android only?
Edit 2: doope they’re working on ios
Its the only location sharing app that actually works (and is open source). Glad I could help you out!
To do list with time boxing/time tracking. No data collection–it’s all local to your device. There are several DIY options to sync the desktop version with the mobile app.
I already made a list
