Best Free and Open Source Software

posted by Rianne Schestowitz on Dec 06, 2025

• Samaya - minimalist Pomodoro timer for your desktop - LinuxLinks

  Samaya is a simple, elegant, minimalist Pomodoro timer for your desktop.

  Designed to help you stay focused and productive, it offers a clean, distraction-free interface to manage work and break intervals with ease.

  This is free and open source software.

• checkpac - fast package checker for Arch - LinuxLinks

  checkpac is a fast and simple package checking tool for Arch Linux.

  Quickly find installed packages, check versions, and discover available packages using simple keyword searches. Get a clean, colorful overview of package status, update availability, and repository sources – all in one place. Perfect for when you need to quickly check what’s on your system or find new packages to install.

  This is free and open source software.

• Checker Framework - pluggable type-checking for Java - LinuxLinks

  The Checker Framework enhances Java’s type system to make it more powerful and useful. This lets software developers detect and prevent errors in their Java programs.

  A “checker” is a compile-time tool that warns you about certain errors or gives you a guarantee that those errors do not occur. The Checker Framework comes with checkers for specific types of errors.

  This is free and open source software.

• EVTXtract - recovers and reconstructs fragments of EVTX log files - LinuxLinks

  To decode a record into XML, the event log service resolves the template and replaces its placeholders with the entries of the substitution array. Therefore, template corruption renders many records unrecoverable within the local 64KB “chunk”. However, the substitution array for the remaining records may still be intact. If so, it may be possible to produce XML fragments that match the original records if the damaged template can be reconstructed. For many common events, such as process creation or account logon, empirical testing demonstrates the relevant templates remain mostly constant. In these cases, recovering event log records boils down to identifying appropriate templates found in other EVTX chunks.

  This is free and open source software. It runs under Linux and macOS.

• Darkwrite - eye-candy note taking and to-do app - LinuxLinks

  Darkwrite is billed as an eye-candy note taking and to-do application for all desktops.

  Unleash the power of a rich editor which supports formatting, headings, todo lists, numbered lists, links, images and much more. Choose from the selection of included themes – or create your own. Say goodbye to boring light and dark themes.

  This is free and open source software.

• Clox - geeky clock for terminal enthusiasts - LinuxLinks

  Clox is a terminal-based clock application designed for terminal enthusiasts who appreciate simplicity, elegance, and productivity within their command-line environment.

  Whether you’re coding, monitoring tasks, or simply enjoying the terminal aesthetic, Clox brings a stylish and customizable time display to your workspace.

  This is free and open source software.

• data-peek - SQL client desktop application - LinuxLinks

  data-peek is a minimal, fast SQL client desktop application with AI-powered querying.

  Built for developers who want to quickly peek at their data without the bloat. Supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Microsoft SQL Server.

  This is free and open source software.

• Pragtical - practical and pragmatic code editor - LinuxLinks

  Pragtical is a cross-platform code editor with a modern graphical interface, developed using C and Lua(JIT), powered by SDL for rendering and input management. It serves as a lightweight alternative to web-based editors like VSCode and can be easily extended or themed with Lua plugins.

  It supports syntax highlighting for various programming languages.

  This is free and open source software.

• xleak - Excel files in your terminal - LinuxLinks

  xleak brings Excel spreadsheets to your command line with beautiful rendering, powerful export capabilities, and a feature-rich interactive TUI.

  No Microsoft Excel is required.

  This is free and open source software.

• redumper - low-level byte-perfect CD disc dumper - LinuxLinks

  redumper is also a general purpose DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray disc dumper. DVD and later media format dumping is implemented using high-level mode thus most of the complexities described in this document are related to the CD technology. If you intend to dump DVD media and later, you can usually use any drive and it just works.

  This is free and open source software.

• lsx - improved ls command - LinuxLinks

  lsx is a utility that functions like ls but with some improvements.

  This is free and open source software.

• TUIOS - Terminal UI Operating System - LinuxLinks

  Built with Go using the Charm stack (Bubble Tea v2 and Lipgloss v2), TUIOS offers a vim-like modal interface with comprehensive keyboard shortcuts, workspace support, and mouse interaction.

  This is free and open source software.

• rash - rudimentary shell - LinuxLinks

  rash, or really awesome shell (or rat ass shell if you prefer), is a rudimentary shell written in C.

  Currently it supports a handful of builtins, but not scripting functionality.

  This is free and open source software.

• Vex - Excel viewer - LinuxLinks

  Vex is a beautiful, fast, and feature-rich terminal-based Excel and CSV viewer built with Go.

  This is free and open source software.

• Useful Free and Open Source Security Testing Software - LinuxLinks

  The software featured in this article is not intended to cover tools explored in the above roundups.

  Here’s some useful software for performing security testing. Our verdict is captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion here.

• msuage - command line memory usage information tool - LinuxLinks

  msuage is a command line memory usage information tool.

  This is free and open source software.

• Rivet - terminal UI Discord client - LinuxLinks

  Rivet is a terminal UI Discord client written in Rust.

  This is free and open source software.