Best Free and Open Source Software, howtos and Installations

posted by Rianne Schestowitz on May 06, 2026

• 16 Best Free and Open Source Color Scheme Generators - LinuxLinks

  This roundup looks at useful software that generators color schemes.

  Here’s our verdict captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion.

• forbidigo - Go linter for forbidding identifiers - LinuxLinks

  forbidigo is a linter for Go code that checks source files for identifiers and expressions you want to forbid.

  It is designed to help stop debugging calls and other temporary or undesirable usages from being left in a codebase, and it can be used either through golangci-lint or as a standalone command-line tool.

  This is free and open source software.

• gitonic - graphical Git client - LinuxLinks

  gitonic is a Python utility for Linux that helps developers manage a workspace made up of multiple Git repositories from a single desktop application.

  It uses a Tkinter-based interface and is aimed at situations where software components or artefacts are stored across separate repositories, making it easier to keep track of changes and perform common Git operations.

  This is free and open source software.

• gosec - Go Security Checker - LinuxLinks

  gosec is a command-line security scanner for Go projects.

  It analyses Go source code by inspecting both the abstract syntax tree and SSA representation to uncover security weaknesses such as insecure coding patterns, injection risks, file and path handling issues, and cryptographic problems. The tool can be run locally in a development workflow, integrated into GitHub Actions, and used with SARIF output for code scanning pipelines.

  This is free and open source software.

• RCompare - file and directory comparison toolkit - LinuxLinks

  RCompare is a file and directory comparison toolkit written in Rust.

  It’s designed to help users compare folder trees and many different file types with a fast core engine, while also offering both a command line interface and a desktop graphical interface. The project is aimed at workflows such as backup verification, synchronization checks, deployment validation, and detailed comparison of structured data files.

  This is free and open source software.

• CPU Info - presents detailed hardware and software information - LinuxLinks

  CPU Info is a multiplatform application that presents detailed hardware and software information for a device.

  It’s designed to give users a broad view of system components and status information, and the current project supports Android, Android TV, Wear OS, iOS, desktop, and WebAssembly builds.

  This is free and open source software.

• revive - linter for Go - LinuxLinks

  revive is a fast, configurable static analysis framework for Go that’s designed as a drop-in replacement for golint.

  It helps developers enforce code quality with a broad collection of linting rules, supports stricter review workflows through configurable presets, and can be extended with custom rules and formatters to fit different projects and team standards.

  This is free and open source software.

• GPAW - Python package for density-functional theory calculations - LinuxLinks

  GPAW is a Python package for density-functional theory calculations based on the projector-augmented wave method and the Atomic Simulation Environment.

  It’s designed for electronic structure work in materials science and computational chemistry, and supports wave functions described with plane-waves, real-space uniform grids, or atom-centered basis functions.

  This is free and open source software.

• Big Hardware Info - view and share hardware information on Linux - LinuxLinks

  Big Hardware Info is a desktop application for Linux that gathers detailed system and device information and presents it in a modern GTK4/libadwaita interface.

  It’s designed to make hardware inspection easier for troubleshooting, documentation, and support by combining a system overview, category-based hardware views, and report sharing in a single application.

  This is free and open source software.

• Minisforum MS-R1 ARM Mini Workstation running Linux: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS - LinuxLinks

  This is a series looking at the Minisforum MS-R1 ARM Mini Workstation running Linux. In this series, I’ll examine every aspect of this mini workstation in detail from a Linux perspective.

  One of the benefits of the MS-R1 is its proper UEFI firmware support, which makes it straightforward to install different operating systems on the machine.

  In this article I’ll walk through installing Ubuntu 26.04 LTS on the MS-R1.

  Start by downloading the ARM Ubuntu 26.04 ISO. I chose the Desktop edition. Write the ISO to a USB drive using balenaEtcher or similar software. The process is much like installing Linux on any regular computer, with no awkward setup required.

  At boot, press Escape, open the Boot Manager menu, and boot from the USB drive.

• MeGit - standalone graphical Git client - LinuxLinks

  MeGit is a standalone graphical Git client built around EGit, the Git tooling from the Eclipse ecosystem.

  The project is designed for people who want EGit’s mature interface and branch management tools without having to launch a full Eclipse IDE or import repositories as Eclipse projects. Instead, you open MeGit, add the repositories you want to work with, and carry out Git tasks from a lightweight desktop application focused on version control workflows.

  This is free and open source software.

• XVI - hex editor using ncurses - LinuxLinks

  xvi is a hex editor for the Linux terminal.

  It uses an ncurses-based interface and is designed for interactive binary file editing from the console, with support for searching, navigation, byte-level modification, and visual comparison of files.

  This is free and open source software.

• DFTB+ - general package for performing fast atomistic calculations - LinuxLinks

  DFTB+ is a fast quantum mechanical atomistic simulation package based on the Density Functional Tight Binding method.

  It’s designed for approximate electronic-structure calculations on molecules, clusters, and periodic materials, and can be used either as a standalone application or embedded into other software as a library.

  This is free and open source software.

• RelaGit - modern graphical Git client - LinuxLinks

  RelaGit is a modern graphical Git client that focuses on making routine version control tasks easier to manage from a polished desktop interface.

  Rather than being a fixed GUI wrapped around Git, it is designed as an extensible client that can be customized and expanded to suit different development workflows. The project runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and it is currently described by its maintainers as being in an early beta stage.

  This is free and open source software.