Favorite free and open source software
Free and open source software (FOSS) plays a major part in modern life, even if the average person’s never heard of the phrase “open source.” FOSS has its advantages:
Anyone (who’s technically skilled) can view the source code and modify/fork it.
It’s usually not beholden to a particular commercial/for-profit force.
It’s often cross-platform.
Such software is often free to the user, even if the “free” part of FOSS refers to “free as in speech, not free as in beer” (i.e. free to modify the source code, etc., but not necessarily free price-wise). You aren’t paying for an endless software subscription fee (or the price of a week’s worth of groceries) for most open source software.
FOSS can offer more privacy than its commercial/for-profit counterparts (not needing to mine user data for advertising or extra profit, etc.).
Using open standards, including in file formats, etc.
While FOSS does have its drawbacks, it’s still worth using. And no, you don’t have to switch to Linux (though you can if you want), as FOSS is available on Windows and MacOS.
Below is a list of some of my favorite free and open source software.
AntennaPod
AntennaPod is a podcast app for Android phones. I’ve been using it as a replacement for Google Podcasts (now discontinued), and it works OK so far.
Bitwarden
Bitwarden is a password manager that works on pretty much every desktop/mobile platform. The free tier works fine, though some extra features are offered on a premium tier (at $10/year).
Calibre
Calibre is an ebook management program. It also offers plugin support; a few third party Calibre plugins can remove digital rights management (DRM) from purchased Kindle, Kobo, and Adobe ebooks.
I find this option useful for my Kindle ebooks, given Kindle’s dominance over ebook sales (and DRM-free options not available for many ebooks).
Firefox
Firefox is the longtime web browser supported by Mozilla. While a mainstay for years, its popularity’s waned with Chrome and Safari dominating mobile devices (and those two plus Edge dominating on desktop computers). However, Firefox has some advantages, including not being tied to a major tech conglomerate, plus some privacy-friendly features.
On Android, one can install an ad blocker in Firefox (just like on its desktop version).
GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)
GNU Image Manipulation Program, better known by the questionable acronym “GIMP,” is the popular open source image editing software, similar to Photoshop.
HandBrake
HandBrake is a popular program that’s useful for converting video to a different format, as well as some compression features. On some systems, it can also rip DVDs.
I use HandBrake to convert MKV files (the format MakeMKV saves ripped DVDs/Blu-rays) to the more compressed and more-widely-compatible MP4 format.
Jellyfin
Jellyfin is open source media server software, similar to Plex. I use Jellyfin for streaming my TV shows and movies to devices within my household, similar to having my own “Netflix.” For more, see my previous post about my experience with Jellyfin.
Joplin
Joplin is a note taking app that’s cross-platform, including desktop systems and mobile devices (Android and iOS). The cross-platform aspect relies on storing your files on one of several cloud storage systems it supports (I use OneDrive).
LibreOffice
LibreOffice is the popular open source office suite, similar to Microsoft Office. It features a word processor (Writer), spreadsheet program (Calc), a slideshow program (Impress), and several other components. LibreOffice can read and save files in Microsoft Office formats, though natively stores files in an open format, OpenDocument.
I use LibreOffice as a word processor on my computers, including using it to write this article.
Linux Mint
Linux Mint is a popular fork of Ubuntu, designed with excellent out of the box multimedia support and some user-friendly/beginner-friendly aspects. Mint includes a traditional desktop user interface (Cinnamon) by default.
The default version of Mint with Cinnamon is what I use on my laptop, though I’ve used other Linux distros over the years (including Ubuntu, Xubuntu, and Mint’s XFCE version).
NetNewsWire
NetNewswire is an open source RSS reader that’s written for Apple devices (the MacOS and iOS), and what I use on my Mac and iPad. See my previous post for more about RSS readers.
VLC
VLC is a popular media player (mainly video) that works on every major desktop and mobile operating system. It’s noted for its strong built-in media codec support; VLC can play various audio and video formats (including obscure ones).
WordPress
WordPress is a website content management system (CMS) that’s come to dominate the internet. It runs a sizable number of sites, including this one. (I’ve tried finding alternatives, but none of them stuck or worked well.) WordPress performs a large number of features, including blogging (its original selling point), and is certainly much easier than hand coding a site with HTML (a la the 2000s).
One noteworthy fork of WordPress is ClassicPress, a version that keeps WordPress’ old WYSIWYG editor (versus its current “Gutenberg” block-based editor).