this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2025
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Privacy

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cross-posted from: https://reddthat.com/post/47032660

Discover Hidden Gems: Open-Source Software You Should Know About

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:

  1. Single Option Per Comment: Mention one open-source software per comment to be able to easily find the most popular software.
  2. No Duplicates: Avoid duplicating software that has already been mentioned to ensure a wide variety of options.
  3. 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!

I advise you to post any recommendations to the original post, I was just sharing it here so others can find it! I also wanna see those recs myself so that's the motive for posting this πŸ˜…

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[–] nymnympseudonym@lemmy.world 52 points 3 days ago (8 children)

LibreWolf is what FireFox was supposed to be: no VPN ads, no telemetry, no AI, uBlockOrigin built in. It's literally the latest FF release, but with the crap ripped out and decent privacy installed.

https://librewolf.net/

[–] Jason2357@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

Honestly, soft forks of either Firefox or Chrome by a small team are a stop-gap hack and not anything truly effective at fixing the issues because they are entirely dependent on the large teams developing the upstream browsers. As hard as they work, they simply don't have the in-house expertise to develop the browser, and can even make mistakes when ripping things out. It's certainly a trade-off for better privacy now, but with other risks.

Some of the more clean-slate browsers out there seem more interesting, even if they lack features, because the developers can actually make design decisions and develop codebase expertise.

[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I'm still looking for a Librewolf or similar Android fork, has that ever made it close? I know the original project devs dont seem interested.

[–] xyx@sh.itjust.works 23 points 3 days ago (5 children)
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[–] QuestionMark@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Florisboard. Android keyboard, doesn't have spell checking yet but I've been using it for years, you might not need autocorrect as much as you think! (Note for Samsung users: Samsung Keyboard keeps adding items to its clipboard history whether it's default or not. Clipboard history is also accessible through Edge Panels. Your passwords might end up and sit there for a long time... you can use adb to disable com.samsung.android.app.clipboardedge and com.samsung.clipboardsaveservice.)

[–] derpgon@programming.dev 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Just to post an alternative (correct me if there is something wrong with the app) but I have been using Futo keyboard for a week now and I've been pleayed. Clipboard disabled by default, drag typing, local autocorrect that you can load any dictionary (as a file), can use local text or voice ML model that you have to download yourself (their site has a browser), customizable quick actions, smart key hitbox enlarging (increases key hitbox according to how likely it is to come next). It is free, but asks for a support of about 9€.

[–] beyond@linkage.ds8.zone 1 points 7 hours ago

correct me if there is something wrong with the app

It's proprietary (source available non-commercial license)

[–] QuestionMark@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago

Delta Chat, for messaging. Sign-up is extremely easy using the default server, and I've convinced some of my contacts to join.

[–] JustEnoughDucks 14 points 2 days ago

Immich!

Keeping personal photos off someone else's server and stopping google and apple from training their AI on your nudes.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 days ago

Matrix is good for communication.

[–] infjarchninja@lemmy.ml 14 points 3 days ago (5 children)

There is also signal-FOSS as an alternative to signal and Molly

Signal-FOSS

https://www.twinhelix.com/apps/signal-foss/

A fork of Signal for Android with proprietary Google binary blobs removed. Uses OpenStreetMap for maps and a websocket server connection, instead of Google Maps and Firebase Cloud Messaging.

add the repo to your app store to F-droid basic

https://fdroid.twinhelix.com/fdroid/repo/

The twinhelix repo is in the droidify and neostore repo list.

[–] EngineerGaming@retrolemmy.com 1 points 19 hours ago

Similarly, there's Signal-Cli. Normally, Signal only allows signups from smartphones, which is weird, because not all smartphones can run privacy-preserving OSes while pretty much anything can run Linux. This one is the only client I've seen that allows desktop signup. IDK if they broke it now, but worked a while ago.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 8 points 2 days ago

Why the fuck is signal using Google maps

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[–] Stomata@sh.itjust.works 19 points 3 days ago (2 children)

XMPP. It replaced WhatsApp in my family that signal failed to do.

[–] EngineerGaming@retrolemmy.com 2 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Conversations is a good client for mobile. Pretty much on par with Whatsapp in ease of use.

[–] Stomata@sh.itjust.works 2 points 17 hours ago

Yep pretty lightweight and simple with no extra bloat

[–] Dreaming_Novaling@lemmy.zip 12 points 3 days ago (13 children)

I'm curious, I've never had the chance to really use Signal much, and I've never used an XMPP client before. What made you dislike Signal and use XMPP instead? I wish I could convince my iMessage loving mom to jump to anything else.

[–] EngineerGaming@retrolemmy.com 3 points 19 hours ago

I prefer it because of resilience. A centralized service can be weakened, geoblocked or shut down by proposals like Chat Control. Decentralized protocols are much safer in such an environment, especially if there is variety in clients and servers.

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[–] berty@feddit.org 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

CoMaps, formerly known as Organic Maps.

[–] tekato@lemmy.world 21 points 2 days ago

Not formerly known. CoMaps is different from Organic Maps. This is the same as saying β€œLibrewolf, formerly known as Firefox”.

[–] Jarix@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Surrey for the tangent, that might be my favourite comic of all time. I think it's an incredibly valuable lesson menu pepper still and always will need to learn at some point in their lives

[–] beSyl@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Jarix@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Wow I did not proof read that at all

Sorry for the tangent, that might be my favourite comic of all time. I think it's an incredibly valuable lesson many people still and always will need to learn at some point in their lives

[–] DieserTypMatthias@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 days ago

Any Linux distro

[–] solrize@lemmy.ml 8 points 3 days ago

GNU Jami, when I can get it to work and not jank up the sound too much. https://jami.net/

[–] CCRhode@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I recommend my python script, Tonto2.

What does Tonto2 do?

It keeps lists.

You can use lists to keep in touch with family, friends, and cow-orkers.

Tonto2 keeps four kinds of lists:

  • You can use an address list to keep track of contacts' phone numbers, mailing addresses, and eMail addresses.

  • You can use a calendar to remind you about events and appointments including date, time, and duration. You can add notes about finding the location and other prerequisites to attendance.

  • You can keep separate passwords in a password list for every website you visit and every piece of gear you own.

  • You can keep links to favorite websites in a bookmark list.

Additionally you can make a list of bibliographic entries for writing research papers and for saving well-formatted footnotes for Web sites, but this is an arcane topic that will probably not be of general interest.

The information in these lists is at your fingertips.

You own it, and you can keep it. You can share it piecemeal with other people and computers without having to trust anyone or any thing with the whole enchilada. This is the idea of Tonto2.

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I advise you to post any recommendations to the original post, I was just sharing it here so others can find it! I also wanna see those recs myself so that's the motive for posting this πŸ˜…

[–] OhVenus_Baby@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

VeraCrypt, Clonezilla, Joplin, Futo voice and Futo keyboard, Sentry, Wasted, Untracker, WTMP app, Fossify app suite.

[–] BorisBoreUs@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Futo Voice and Futo Keyboard are rad and getting better (Swipe needs more time in the oven). Ive used VeraCrypt for a while and dig it

[–] OhVenus_Baby@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I haven't ever found a better open source keyboard or voice type than futo. It really is that good. With so many languages. I'm unsure why some of them got downvoted but oh well. I'm sure there's a ton more to add that are privacy focused open source apps but those were off my head.

[–] beyond@linkage.ds8.zone 1 points 7 hours ago

Unfortunately those tools are not open source, they are under some source-available proprietary license. That may be why they (rightfully) get downvoted.

You can use them if you like of course, but they should not be advertised as open source.

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