Best Free and Open Source Software, howtos and Installations

posted by Rianne Schestowitz on Aug 15, 2024

• 6 Best Free and Open Source OS-level Virtualization - LinuxLinks

  Containers are different from Type 1 and 2 hypervisors. A Type 1 hypervisor is known as native or bare-metal. With this type, the hypervisor runs directly on the host’s hardware to control the hardware resources and to manage guest operating systems. In other words, the software hypervisor does not require an additional underlying operating system.

  The second type of hypervisor runs under a conventional operating system environment as a second layer, with the guest operating systems then running at the third level.

  Virtualization uses a hypervisor to emulate hardware, which allows multiple operating systems to run side by side. This isn’t as lightweight as using containers. Compared to virtual machines, a Linux container is less resource-intensive, has a standard interface (start, stop, environment variables, etc.), retains application isolation, and is more easily managed as part of a larger application (multiple containers). Additionally, those multi-container applications can be orchestrated across multiple clouds.

  Here’s our verdict on the finest OS-level virtualization (container) software captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style chart. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion here.

• rkt - application container engine - LinuxLinks

  rkt is an application container engine developed for modern production cloud-native environments. It features a pod-native approach, a pluggable execution environment, and a well-defined surface area that makes it ideal for integration with other systems.

  The core execution unit of rkt is the pod, a collection of one or more applications executing in a shared context (rkt’s pods are synonymous with the concept in the Kubernetes orchestration system).

  This is free and open source software. However, it’s no longer actively developed.

• moove - manipulate file names and locations - LinuxLinks

  moove is a command line tool for renaming and moving files and directories using a text editor.

  Features include:

  Displays file and directory names like ls in a text editor, and renames or moves them exactly as you edit them. A pre-compiled single executable without any dependencies. Supports wildcard patterns, including Windows. Cross-platform support – runs under Linux, macOS, and Windows.

• Letterpress - create attractive ASCII art - LinuxLinks

  Letterpress converts your images into a picture made up of ASCII characters. You can save the output to a file, copy it, and change its resolution. High-res output can be viewed by lowering the zoom factor.

  We evaluated Letterpress using Manjaro, an Arch-based distro, as well as Ubuntu.

  With Manjaro, Pamac (Manjaro’s front-end installation tool) lets us install Letterpress from a Flatpak.