Free and Open Source Software

posted by Rianne Schestowitz on Mar 09, 2026

• micasa - modal TUI for tracking home projects - LinuxLinks

  Your house is quietly plotting to break while you sleep — and you’re dreaming about redoing the kitchen. micasa tracks both from your terminal.

  Single SQLite file. No cloud. No account. No subscriptions.

  This is free and open source software.

• HexWalk - hex editor, viewer, and analyzer - LinuxLinks

  HexWalk is a graphical hex editor and binary analysis application designed for inspecting and modifying binary files. Tools like this are commonly used for reverse engineering, firmware analysis, debugging, and digital forensics.

  HexWalk provides a modern interface for viewing raw binary data while offering visual analysis tools that help users understand file structure and detect patterns within data. The program combines traditional hex editing capabilities with analysis tools such as entropy visualisation and byte mapping, making it useful for examining unknown or complex binary formats.

  This is free and open source software.

• GPU-T - graphics card information utility for Linux - LinuxLinks

  GPU-T is a modern desktop utility built with .NET and Avalonia UI designed to provide detailed information about your video card and GPU.

  It reads directly from the Linux kernel (sysfs), graphics APIs and the custom hardware database to display low-level hardware specifications, real-time sensors, and advanced feature support.

  Currently the program has limited hardware support (as indicated by the image below).

  This is free and open source software.

• Receiver – a modern internet radio player progressing rapidly - LinuxLinks

  I’m often more critical of apps I really like. And I love Receiver. I’m curious about the developer’s plans, perhaps outlined in a roadmap. He probably has thought of most of the areas I’ve identified and/or has much better plans!

  With a bit more development on the UI, I can see Receiver topping the open source internet radio chart.

• cdhist - Linux shell cd history directory stack - LinuxLinks

  cdhist is a utility which provides a Linux shell cd history directory stack. A shell cd wrapper function calls cdhist to intercept your typed cd command and maintain an ordered stack of all directories you have previously visited which can be listed and quickly navigated to.

  cdhist can also be used with a fuzzy finder (such as fzf) to fuzzy search and select on previously visited directories, and can be used to easily cd between git worktree directories.

  This is free and open source software.

• Dud of the Week: LeafView - LinuxLinks

  LeafView goes to my bin given the decision to use Electron which treats the desktop like a web browser.

  It’s received over 300 GitHub stars which is more than some software I regularly use. Remember that people star repositories simply as a way of bookmarking them because they might try them later. Many starred projects are never even installed or used by the person who starred them. Stars don’t measure code quality, and they are trivial to manipulate. And they tend to grow over time (LeafView saw its first public release in 2021).

  I’m not going to give a link to LeafView. I’m doing you a favor there!

  For developers targeting Linux, choosing efficient native frameworks not only results in better software, it also respects the design philosophy that has made Linux my preferred operating system.

• Launcher Studio - create and manage .desktop files - LinuxLinks

  Launcher Studio is a GTK4 desktop application for creating and managing .desktop files on Linux.

  This tool lets you easily create custom launchers for your favorite applications, ensuring seamless integration with your desktop environment.

  This is free and open source software.

• brn2 - bulk renamer with swapping - LinuxLinks

  brn2 is a fork of brn, a command line tool used to easily mass-rename files in your preferred text editor.

  This is free and open source software.

• FontGet - install and manage fonts from the command line - LinuxLinks

  FontGet is a command-line utility designed to simplify discovering, installing, and managing fonts directly from the terminal. It provides a convenient way to search for fonts, install them, remove them, and maintain font collections without manually downloading files or navigating graphical interfaces. By offering a straightforward CLI workflow, FontGet helps streamline font management for developers, designers, and system administrators.

  The tool integrates with several popular online font repositories and allows users to quickly locate fonts and install them with a single command. FontGet also supports listing installed fonts, exporting and importing font manifests, and backing up font collections, making it useful for reproducible setups and automated environments where fonts need to be deployed consistently across multiple systems.

  This is free and open source software.

• pj - project finder CLI - LinuxLinks

  pj is a fast project directory finder that searches your filesystem for git repositories and project directories.

  Built for speed and seamless integration with fuzzy finders like fzf and television.

  This is free and open source software.

• Pico - minimal CSS framework for semantic HTML - LinuxLinks

  Pico is a lightweight CSS framework designed to style semantic HTML with minimal effort. Instead of relying on numerous utility classes or complex configuration, Pico automatically applies elegant styling to standard HTML elements. This approach allows developers to create responsive and accessible websites simply by writing clean semantic markup and including a single CSS file.

  This is free and open source software.