Free and Open Source Software, and Review

posted by Rianne Schestowitz on Dec 17, 2025

• lx - convert selected files into clean, consistent Markdown-fenced blocks - LinuxLinks

  lx converts files into simple Markdown-fenced blocks for easy use in LLM chats.

  The goal is to make prompt setup repeatable. Instead of letting an agent guess context or manually selecting files in a UI, you define the exact context you want in one shell command and rerun it whenever you need a fresh session. It works smoothly with tools like rg -l, fd, and recursive shell globs.

  This gives you a stable, controllable workflow:

  You decide exactly what context the model sees. If a conversation drifts, you restart instantly with the same context. Adjust the command, rerun it, and paste the updated output.

  This is free and open source software.

• Bab - modern task runner - LinuxLinks

  Bab is a modern task runner that replaces the clunky syntax of Makefiles and the limitations of npm scripts with a universal, dependency-free solution that works across any language or project.

  It replaces Makefiles and npm scripts with a universal solution that’s easy to use for small scripts but powerful enough to orchestrate hundreds of tasks, keeping your projects organized and maintainable.

  This is free and open source software.

• forgit - utility for using git interactively - LinuxLinks

  forgit is designed to help you use git more efficiently. It’s lightweight and easy to use.

  forgit offers completions for all supported shells. Completions are automatically configured when installing forgit through Homebrew or the AUR. All other installation methods mentioned above require manual setup for completions. The necessary steps depend on the shell you use.

  This is free and open source software.

• qdmr - program DMR radios - LinuxLinks

  qdmr is a graphical user interface (GUI) application that allows to program several types of DMR radios.

  It aims at being a more universal codeplug programming software (CPS) compared to the device and even revision specific CPSs provided by the manufacturers. The goal of this project is to provide a single, comfortable, well-documented and platform-independent CPS for several types of (mainly Chinese) DMR radios.

  This is free and open source software.

• DL4J - deploy and train deep learning models - LinuxLinks

  The Eclipse Deeplearning4J (DL4J) ecosystem is a set of projects intended to support all the needs of a JVM based deep learning application. This means starting with the raw data, loading and preprocessing it from wherever and whatever format it is in to building and tuning a wide variety of simple and complex deep learning networks.

• Gritty - web terminal emulator - LinuxLinks

  Gritty is a web terminal emulator. It’s based on node-pty and xterm.js.

  This is free and open source software.

• OpenWebRX - multi-user SDR receiver - LinuxLinks

  OpenWebRX is a multi-user SDR receiver software with a web interface.

  This is free and open source software.

• Allure Report - multi-language test report tool - LinuxLinks

  Allure Report is a framework-agnostic test result visualization tool.

  It transforms test execution data into clear, interactive HTML reports. It works with popular testing frameworks across JavaScript, Python, Java, C#, PHP, and Ruby, helping teams track test results and better manage software quality. This is cross-platform software.

  This is free and open source software.

• scrutiny - WebUI for smartd S.M.A.R.T monitoring - LinuxLinks

  Scrutiny is a Hard Drive Health Dashboard & Monitoring solution, merging manufacturer provided S.M.A.R.T metrics with real-world failure rates.

  smartd is a daemon that monitors the Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) system built into many ATA, IDE and SCSI-3 hard drives. The purpose of SMART is to monitor the reliability of the hard drive and predict drive failures, and to carry out different types of drive self-tests.

  This is free and open source software.

• Tenere - TUI interface for LLMs - LinuxLinks

  Tenere is a TUI interface for Large Language Models.

  Tenere supports the following backends: ChatGPT, llama.cpp, and ollama.

  This is free and open source software.

• HP ProBook 440 G8 Laptop running Linux: Setting up Ubuntu 25.10 - LinuxLinks

  Ubuntu is a popular free and open-source Linux-based operating system that is renowned for being a user-friendly and secure alternative to operating systems like Windows or macOS. Ubuntu is available for desktops, servers, and IoT devices. A large number of Linux distributions are also based on Ubuntu which can be viewed here.

  I booted the Ubuntu 25.10 ISO from a USB flash drive. Booting from the USB key simply involves accessing the HP’s BIOS and selecting the key to boot.

• hexhog - configurable hex viewer and editor - LinuxLinks

  hexhog is a configurable hex viewer/editor.

  hexhog offers basic hex editing features for files, such as editing/deleting/inserting bytes, as well as selecting and copy/pasting bytes.

  This is free and open source software.

• HTMinL - fast, in-place HTML minifier - LinuxLinks

  HTMinL is a fast, in-place HTML minifier. It prioritizes safety and code sanity over ultimate compression, so may not save quite as many bytes as other tools, but it’s also less likely to break shit. Haha.

  Critically, HTMinL is not a stream processor; it constructs a complete DOM tree from the full source before getting down to business. This allows for much more accurate processing and robust error recovery.

  This is free and open source software.

• Ruby CSS Parser - load, parse and cascade CSS rule sets - LinuxLinks

  Load, parse and cascade CSS rule sets in Ruby.

  This is free and open source software.