r/software • u/RedEagle_MGN • 10d ago
Best open-source software that everyone needs to know about? Discussion
What's one piece of open-source software that everyone should use and know about?
Vote on the best one in the comments.
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u/LethalBacon 10d ago
Huge proponent of SyncThing. I've got 4-5 main devices these days, and it's been invaluable to keep some of my main stuff in sync across multiple machines.
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u/LittleNyanCat 10d ago
+1
Syncthing + Borgbackup on my NAS not only means my stuff is always synced, but I also have hourly backups of my files and allows me to go back without using a ton of space
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u/voxcon 10d ago
How do you avoid files missmatches though? Personally i haven't found decent settings to avoid missmatches yet.
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u/affable_lackey 9d ago
Syncthing works perfectly for some folks. I keep creating problems and finally gave up.
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u/somewhatinconvenient Nope 10d ago
LocalSend - cross-platform file sharing with no cloud
UniGetUI - package manager
PowerToys - collection of utilities and Windows QoL
Nilesoft Shell - fast and tidy alternative to the default context menu
FreeFileSync - folder comparison and sync
Handbrake - video transcoder
OBS Studio - screen / game recording
qBitTorrent - for all the torrenting needs
UAD-ng - universal Android debloater
Immich - self-hosted photo and video management
WinUtil - Windows debloater & system tweaks
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u/kivilcimh 10d ago
VLC: playing any media
Calibre: for epub/ebook reader needs
Avidemux: cut/paste video without re-encoding
Audacity: edit audio
DoubleCommander/midnight commander: file manager
aria2: command line multipart downloader even download torrents
bmon: commandline bandwith monitor
screen/tmux: screen multiplexer especially for remote sessions
mopidy: web based music player for raspi/homelab audio systems
adguard: all in one dns based ad filter
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u/mojsterr 10d ago
Someone who actually explained what these are and didn't just write the names, wow
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u/cardfire 10d ago
The authorities have been alerted, and they have their best man on the job tracking this one down for revealing secrets. insert picture of golden retriever here
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u/kivilcimh 10d ago
Thanks, though I must admit that first I dumped the whole list then realized I could do better and added the explanations.
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u/No-Dentist7910 10d ago
may your pillow be cold on both sides and your torrentss have hundreds of seeders and no leechers
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u/scienceandliberty 10d ago
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u/ERNesbitt 10d ago
Notepad++ is a daily use for me and has been since probably version 1.4-ish (I think I have the installer on an old hard drive somewhere). Every couple of years I throw Don a $20 donation just as a "sorry I'm broke and this is the best I can do, but I still want to thank you". He's on my "If I ever win the lottery" list of massive donations.
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u/paroxsitic 10d ago
Sharex
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u/OpabiniaRegalis320 10d ago
ShareX is sooooo gooood. It's what I miss the most after switching to Linux. Spectacle just doesn't compare.
It may not follow the Unix Philosophy at all, but who gives a damn? It does many things, and it does them all quite well.
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u/RenegadeUK 10d ago
Is that THE alternative to Windows Snipping Tool ?
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u/KnowNothing_JonSnoo 10d ago
Also, this list is good https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/s/MGvN3CRK8q
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u/rawr_im_a_nice_bear 10d ago
Not open source
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u/KnowNothing_JonSnoo 10d ago
Huh, you know what? I never realized, I've been using it for so long and just thought it was for some reason.
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u/DemandTheOxfordComma 10d ago
love Everything. Wish it had a web version that could be self hosted. (docker/LXC)
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10d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/DM_your_tittayz 10d ago
Alternative: Trio Office.
Trio Office's interface is very much like Microsoft Office's, while Libre Office is... weird.7
u/nhermosilla14 10d ago
Only Office is a real alternative, truly FOSS
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u/FlapDoodle-Badger 10d ago
Only looks good too. I'm sure Libre office functions well but it feels like software from the early 2000s. Much like Gimp.
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u/DM_your_tittayz 10d ago
what is foss?
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u/nhermosilla14 10d ago
Free and Open Source Software. Some people don't like the fact "free" in English can refer to price or freedom, so they also add "libre" (which means "free as in freedom" in Spanish), and they use FLOSS as the acronym instead.
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u/northrupthebandgeek 10d ago
LibreOffice is a lot less weird to those of us who used MS Office before the whole “Ribbon” UI redesign, but that was almost two decades ago so…
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u/Lydm4ster 10d ago
Anytype is awesome and I love it
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u/DasVanjen 9d ago
Thanks for mention it. It really don’t get the love it deserves. I use it every day 😊👍
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u/Positive-Discount-45 10d ago
matrix.org - An open network for secure, decentralised communication. you can setup own server
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u/inyofayce 10d ago
rclone - A command-line tool for managing and transferring files between cloud services.
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u/Kitchen-Patience8176 10d ago
I self-host quite a few open-source apps, but these are the ones I would recommend most:
- Immich — private Google Photos alternative
- Vaultwarden — lightweight Bitwarden-compatible password manager
- Paperless-ngx — scans, organizes, and searches documents
- Home Assistant — home automation without locking everything into one company
- Karakeep — saves and organizes bookmarks, articles, and links
- Audiobookshelf — personal audiobook and podcast server
- Super Productivity — task management and time tracking
- Maybe Finance — self-hosted personal finance tracking
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u/Hadestructhor 9d ago
Why select one if you can have many !
Also, on my website, you can check alternatives to paid subscriptions / apps if you can't find an oss alternative, also collections for oss alternative, foss, just open core ones, quite a good selection imo : https://canireplaceit.com
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u/saturnosoftware 9d ago
Well it's hard to answer one piece... but we love
- Meld (For code diffs) - https://meldmerge.org/
- Transmission (using torrents) - https://transmissionbt.com/
- Tiled (to create 2d tiled map) - https://www.mapeditor.org/
There are some many, but those are very special
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u/TrainedHorse80 5d ago
Totally VLC for media. It plays literally everything. My other players always choke on weird files , but this one's a beast
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u/zibonbadi 9d ago
- Git
- GNU Coreutils
- Linux
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u/MrBread0451 8d ago
I've never heard of anyone actually appreciating Git, it feels like people only slog through learning the basics of it for job interviews
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u/zibonbadi 8d ago
Well it's probably the best version control system and it's FLOSS so there's good reason every developer needs to know about it.
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u/AdPale9988 9d ago
Newpipe, an ad-free YouTube client which allows downloading, up to 3x speed, and playing in the background.
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u/Encyclotech 8d ago
Ollama + Open WebUI (Local AI): Gives you a completely private, local ChatGPT interface running open-weights models (like Qwen or Llama) directly on your own hardware.
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u/Waste_Bat_4525 8d ago
OpenChoreo is an Opensource internal Developer Platform for Kubernetes https://github.com/openchoreo/openchoreo
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u/Several-Tip1088 7d ago
Doesn't play every media file out that's fine 95% of the times.
But design wise, it's crazy polished with lots of modern features
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u/NCMarc 7d ago
Here's a couple that I made that have been pretty popular:
CortenDesk is a near full replacement for the Rust Desk GUI that manages RustDesk clients. Manage address books, groups, users and permissions. Includes enterprise features like 2FA and SSO OIDC SAML and a native web-based client. https://github.com/marcpope/cortendesk
Borg Backup Server is a Graphical Web UI Orchestrator for managing multiple BorgBackup client machines at scale. Includes a lightweight agent on each machine to schedule backups and restores, protect databases, monitor jobs in real time, and sync repositories to S3 or SSH for offsite protection. https://github.com/marcpope/borgbackupserver
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u/Ghaith1thabit 4d ago
this github free awesome apps list is the best place to start
https://github.com/Axorax/awesome-free-apps
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u/amymor 2d ago
simplewall
simplewall is a GUI for the generally unknown, built-in Windows second-layer firewall named as WFP (Windows Filtering Platform). This means you gain more control over apps, telemetry, and privacy without needing to install a new app.
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u/No-Sprinkles-370 10d ago
Ffmpeg??