Best Free and Open Source Software

posted by Rianne Schestowitz on Jan 01, 2026

• Best Free and Open Source Software: December 2025 Updates - LinuxLinks

  Here’s the latest update on our curated software recommendations! This month, we’ve rolled out the most roundups we’ve ever published—truly a milestone. But we don’t stop at just software; our site is rich with hardware content, too.

  We only feature free and open source software, showcasing the best that the open source community has to offer.

• Cronicle - multi-server task scheduler and runner - LinuxLinks

  Cronicle is a multi-server task scheduler and runner, with a web based front-end UI.

  It handles both scheduled, repeating and on-demand jobs, targeting any number of worker servers, with real-time stats and live log viewer. It’s basically a fancy Cron replacement written in Node.js. You can give it simple shell commands, or write plugins in virtually any language.

  This is free and open source software.

• Modoboa - mail hosting and management platform - LinuxLinks

  Modoboa integrates with well known software such as Postfix or Dovecot. A SQL database (MySQL, PostgreSQL or SQLite) is used as a central point of communication between all components.

  Modoboa is developed with modularity in mind, expanding it is really easy. Actually, all current features are extensions.

  This is free and open source software.

• orphanhunter - identify and remove orphaned packages - LinuxLinks

  OrphanHunter is a lightweight utility for Arch Linux designed to identify and remove orphaned packages and files that clutter your system. It helps maintain a clean environment by tracking down dependencies that are no longer required.

  This is free and open source software.

• Alchemist - extensible simulator for pervasive computing - LinuxLinks

  Alchemist is a simulator for pervasive, aggregate, and nature-inspired computing.

  This is free and open source software.

• BiglyBT - BitTorrent client - LinuxLinks

  BiglyBT is billed as a feature filled bittorrent client.

  This is free and open source software.

• Dawn - lightweight document drafter - LinuxLinks

  Dawn is designed for low-latency, distraction free writing. Dawn separates the engine from the platform layer. The core handles text editing, markdown parsing, and rendering. The platform layer (platform.h) provides I/O, making it straightforward to port to different environments.

  This is free and open source software.

• Pyroscope - continuous profiling platform - LinuxLinks

  It provides powerful tools to give you a comprehensive view of your application’s behavior while allowing you to drill down into specific services for more targeted root cause analysis.

  This is free and open source software.

• Stormfetch - system profiler - LinuxLinks

  Stormfetch is a program that can read your system’s information and display it in the terminal along with the ASCII art of the Linux distribution you are running. Stormfetch is still in beta, so distro compatibility is limited.

  This is free and open source software.

• Rare - graphical interface for Legendary - LinuxLinks

  Rare is a graphical interface for Legendary, a command line alternative to Epic Games launcher, written in PySide6.

  This is free and open source software.