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Free and Open Source Software
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FastQC - quality control tool for high throughput sequence data - LinuxLinks
FastQC is a quality control tool for high throughput sequence data.
Written in Java, it is designed to spot potential problems in sequencing datasets by running a set of analyses on raw sequence files and producing a report which summarises the results. It can be used as an interactive graphical application or run in a non-interactive mode as part of a pipeline.
This is free and open source software.
Tower Oops! - tower building game - LinuxLinks
Tower Oops! is a modern GTK4 port of the classic “Crazy Towers”, rewritten in Rust.
This is free and open source software.
minimap2 - versatile sequence alignment program - LinuxLinks
minimap2 is a versatile sequence alignment program for genomic and spliced nucleotide sequences.
This software aligns DNA or mRNA sequences against a large reference database and is designed for mapping, overlap detection, splice-aware alignment, and assembly or genome alignment tasks.
This is free and open source software.
Hister - web history management tool - LinuxLinks
Hister is a web history management tool that provides fast, content-based search for visited websites. Unlike traditional browser history that only searches URLs and titles, Hister indexes the full content of web pages you visit.
This is free and open source software.
BCFtools - variant calling and manipulating files in the Variant Call Format - LinuxLinks
BCFtools is a set of utilities for working with variant calls in Variant Call Format (VCF) and its binary counterpart BCF. Written in C as part of the coordinated Samtools software suite, it provides command-line tools for variant calling and for manipulating, filtering, querying, comparing, annotating, and summarising variant data. The software works with both VCF and BCF files, including compressed forms commonly used in genomics workflows.
This is free and open source software.
dead-ringer - binary diff utility - LinuxLinks
dead-ringer is a Rust-based command-line utility designed to compare two binary files, displaying differences by showcasing both hexadecimal and ASCII representations of the differing bytes.
This is free and open source software.
Frappe Books - modern accountancy software - LinuxLinks
Frappe Books is desktop accounting software for small and medium businesses. It is designed to simplify financial management with a modern interface while running locally on the user’s computer.
The application focuses on offline-first bookkeeping, double-entry accounting, invoicing, billing, payments, and financial reporting, with data stored in a local SQLite database.
This is free and open source software.
NewsGoat - terminal-based Linux RSS reader - LinuxLinks
NewsGoat is a terminal-based RSS reader written in Go using the Bubble Tea TUI framework.
It is inspired by Newsbeuter and Newsboat, and provides a vi-like interface for reading RSS feeds. The application focuses on feed organisation, compact terminal usage, and in-interface management of feeds and related tasks.
This is free and open source software.
SPAdes - versatile toolkit for assembling and analysing sequencing data - LinuxLinks
SPAdes is a versatile toolkit for assembling and analysing sequencing data. It is primarily developed for Illumina sequencing data, can also be used with IonTorrent data, and most pipelines support hybrid assembly with supplementary long reads from PacBio and Oxford Nanopore.
The package provides multiple assembly pipelines together with supplementary tools for tasks related to sequencing data analysis and assembly processing.
This is free and open source software.
zfetch - displays key system information - LinuxLinks
zfetch is a lightweight command-line utility that displays key system information directly in the terminal. It belongs to the family of fetch tools that summarize details such as the operating system, kernel, shell, and hardware in a concise textual display.
The program focuses on providing a fast, minimal implementation of a system information tool. It is designed to run quickly and give users a clear overview of their system environment from the command line.
This is free and open source software.
Innu - minimal Rust-based Wi-Fi management utility - LinuxLinks
Innunnu is a minimal desktop Wi-Fi management utility written in Rust. It talks directly to NetworkManager over D-Bus and presents nearby wireless networks in a focused `egui` interface, making it suitable for Linux users who want a lightweight graphical network picker with a native desktop feel.
The application is intended for desktop environments running either Wayland or X11.
This is free and open source software.
diskard - TUI disk analyser - LinuxLinks
diskard is a developer-focused command line utility that scans a system for reclaimable disk space created by development tools and environments. Over time, caches, build outputs, package manager data, container images, and machine learning model downloads can consume large amounts of storage.
Diskard identifies these artifacts and allows users to review and clean them safely from the terminal.
This is free and open source software.
samtools - manipulate next-generation sequencing data - LinuxLinks
samtools is a suite of tools written in C using HTSlib for manipulating next-generation sequencing data.
It forms part of the coordinated Samtools project alongside HTSlib and BCFtools, and provides utilities for working with SAM, BAM, and CRAM alignment files. The software is widely used in genomics workflows for file conversion, sorting, querying, indexing, statistics, and related sequence-data processing tasks.
This is free and open source software.
kyp - keep your passwords - LinuxLinks
kyp is a terminal password manager that stores credentials in an encrypted SQLite database on the local machine.
It is designed for users who want a fully local password vault without relying on a cloud service or account, and includes support for passwords, usernames, URLs, notes, and time-based one-time password secrets. The application offers a text user interface, keyboard-driven navigation, and tools for importing data from Bitwarden.
This is free and open source software.
Galaxy - web-based platform for data-intensive computational research - LinuxLinks
Galaxy is a web-based platform for data-intensive computational research.
It is designed to make scientific analysis accessible, reproducible, and transparent, letting users run analyses through a browser, track complete analysis provenance, and share datasets, workflows, and histories with others. The project is widely used for data analysis in fields including bioinformatics and related research domains, and can be run on public Galaxy servers or installed on your own infrastructure.
This is free and open source software.
dustoff - find and remove JS/TS build artifacts - LinuxLinks
dustoff is a command-line utility that helps developers reclaim disk space by locating and removing common build artifacts created by JavaScript and TypeScript projects. These artifacts such as dependency folders, caches, and build outputs can accumulate across many repositories and consume large amounts of storage.
dustoff scans directories for these artifacts and presents them in an interactive terminal interface where users can review and safely delete them.
This is free and open source software.
MinMon - opinionated minimal monitoring and alarming tool - LinuxLinks
MinMon is an opinionated minimal monitoring and alarming tool for Linux.
It focuses on straightforward system and service checks without the usual overhead of dashboards, databases, or graphing components, using a single binary and a configuration file to define checks, reports, and alerting actions.
This is free and open source software.
Plezy - modern Plex client for desktop and mobile - LinuxLinks
Plezy is a cross-platform Plex client built with Flutter for desktop and mobile systems.
It provides an interface for browsing media libraries, streaming content from Plex Media Server, downloading media for offline viewing, and using features such as Live TV, DVR, Watch Together, and broad codec support across Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.
This is free and open source software.
ccase - convert between string cases - LinuxLinks
ccase is a command-line utility for converting strings between many naming and word-separation styles.
This tool can transform text into formats such as snake case, kebab case, camel case, pascal case, title case, and others, and also gives users fine-grained control over how input is split and reassembled through configurable boundaries, patterns, and delimiters.
This is free and open source software.
vimalender - terminal calendar application with vim-style keybindings - LinuxLinks
vimalender is a terminal calendar application with vim-style keybindings.
Written in Go with the Bubble Tea and Lip Gloss frameworks, it lets users navigate, create, move, search, and customise calendar events entirely from the keyboard, while also providing command-line subcommands for scripting and automation.
This is free and open source software.
Chuwi CoreBook Air Plus running Linux: Configuring 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.
Before I can install Ubuntu on the machine I first need to disable Secure Boot in the BIOS. I won’t reproduce those steps here as they are covered in my BIOS article.
Download the Ubuntu 25.10 ISO from Ubuntu’s website. I usually install Linux distributions from a USB flash drive. Either write the ISO to a key using software such as balenaEtcher, or, as I do, use my Ventoy prepared flash drive. That way I can just copy the ISO to that drive.
I booted the Ubuntu 25.10 ISO from a USB flash drive. Booting from the USB key simply involves accessing the Chuwi’s BIOS, going to the Boot menu and making sure that the USB key is the first listed in the Boot order.
Roster - modern HTTP client for GNOME - LinuxLinks
Roster is a modern HTTP client for GNOME, built with GTK4 and libadwaita.
This is free and open source software.
IronRDP - Rust implementation of the Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) - LinuxLinks
IronRDP is an open source implementation of the Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) written in Rust. It provides a collection of modular crates that allow developers to build RDP clients, servers, and related tools with a strong emphasis on security and modern Rust design.
The project implements core components of the RDP protocol including connection negotiation, graphics updates, input handling, and virtual channels. Supported graphics codecs include raw bitmaps, RLE bitmap compression, RDP 6.0 bitmap compression, and Microsoft RemoteFX.
IronRDP is structured as a workspace of reusable Rust crates covering different aspects of the protocol such as core protocol handling, graphics decoding, input processing, and networking integration (including asynchronous support). This modular architecture allows developers to integrate only the components they require when building custom RDP solutions.
wooz - zoom / magnifier utility for Wayland compositors - LinuxLinks
wooz is a Wayland magnifier utility that provides a zoomed view of the screen with mouse and keyboard controls. It is designed for Wayland compositors and offers features such as zooming at the mouse position, panning, mouse tracking, output selection, and customizable close key bindings.
This is free and open source software.