Best Free and Open Source Software

posted by Rianne Schestowitz on Sep 27, 2026

• 7 Best Free and Open Source Molecular Editors and Visualisation

  Some molecular editors also act as front ends for computational chemistry packages. This lets users prepare calculations, configure jobs and inspect the resulting molecular structures from a graphical environment. Other programs concentrate more heavily on high-quality visualization, structural biology, crystallography or programmable analysis.

  These applications are useful to computational chemists, structural biologists, crystallographers, materials scientists and researchers working with molecular simulations. They can also be valuable teaching tools, helping students understand molecular geometry, bonding and three-dimensional chemical structures more intuitively.

  We have selected applications that cover these different approaches to molecular editing and visualisation.

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

• 5 Best Free and Open Source Verilog Linter Tools

  These tools are useful to FPGA and ASIC developers writing RTL, verification engineers working with SystemVerilog test environments, and teams maintaining large hardware projects. They are also particularly well suited to automated development workflows, where source can be checked whenever code is committed or submitted for review. Students and hobbyists can benefit too, as diagnostics can expose mistakes before a design reaches simulation.

  This article picks our favourite Verilog and SystemVerilog linting tools.

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

• Syd - configurable application sandbox for Linux

  Formerly known as sydbox, the project has a long history as the default sandbox used by Exherbo for running package builds with restricted access to the host. The current implementation is written in Rust and provides fine-grained policy controls over filesystem operations, process execution and networking. It can be used as a general application sandbox, as part of a controlled build environment or to construct more specialised restricted execution setups.

  This is free and open source software.

• wiremix - terminal audio mixer for PipeWire

  The program is intended for day-to-day audio control rather than low-level PipeWire debugging. It brings playback streams, recording streams, output devices, input devices and device configuration together within a keyboard-driven interface. Audio can be routed to another destination without leaving the application, making wiremix useful on both graphical desktops and machines primarily administered from a shell.

  Mouse operation is also supported, so the interface does not require memorising keyboard shortcuts. A comprehensive configuration system lets users alter its appearance and behaviour, while PipeWire properties can be used to filter objects or customise how individual streams and devices are named.

  This is free and open source software.

• Maputnik - visual editor for MapLibre map styles

  It is aimed at developers, cartographers and map designers who want immediate visual feedback while working on the appearance of vector-tile maps. The project sits closely within the MapLibre ecosystem and uses MapLibre GL JS for rendering, with TypeScript and React forming the main application stack. Its editor-focused workflow removes much of the friction involved in editing a complete style document by hand, while still producing standards-based style data that can be used by compatible MapLibre applications and services. It can therefore slot cleanly into existing MapLibre workflows without imposing a proprietary style format.

  This is free and open source software.

• in-toto - framework for software supply chain integrity

  Artifact rules give project owners considerable control over what each stage is permitted or required to do. Rules can specify that files must be created, deleted, modified or present, while MATCH rules can connect the output of one stage with the input of another. Inspections can also be defined in the layout and executed during verification. This allows in-toto to check much more than a cryptographic signature on the final file. It can determine whether the sequence of operations that produced that file corresponds to the process approved by the project owner.

  This is free and open source software.

• cosign - sign and verify software artifacts with Sigstore

  cosign is not limited to keyless workflows. It can create and use encrypted key pairs, work with hardware-backed keys and key management services, and integrate with an organisation’s existing public key infrastructure. It supports signing and verification of container images as well as arbitrary files and blobs. Signatures can be associated with artifacts in OCI registries, allowing integrity information to travel alongside the software it describes. Verification policies can constrain expected certificate identities and issuers rather than merely checking whether any valid signature exists.

  This is free and open source software.

• Daux.io - Markdown Documentation Generator

  It is aimed at developers and project teams who want to keep documentation alongside source code while avoiding a database-backed content management system. The directory hierarchy becomes the site navigation, so organising documentation largely means organising folders and files. Daux.io can serve documentation locally while it is being written or generate a complete set of static files ready for deployment to a web server or static hosting service. Configuration is handled through JSON, with options for site identity, documentation paths, presentation and output behaviour.

  This is free and open source software.

• NsJail - process isolation and sandboxing utility

  It combines several Linux kernel security mechanisms rather than relying on a single isolation technique, making it suitable for executing potentially unsafe programs, hosting security challenges, fuzzing software or restricting desktop applications. A jail can be assembled directly from command-line options or described in a Protocol Buffers configuration file, allowing complex policies to be reused rather than reconstructed for every invocation.

  This is free and open source software.

• Parchment - sparse plain text editor for prose and code

  The editor follows GNOME conventions and works with keyboard, mouse, and touch input. Its restrained approach also extends to source-code editing. Parchment does not provide syntax highlighting and avoids many of the specialist facilities commonly found in programming editors. This makes it better suited to users who value a simple editing environment than those looking for extensive development tooling.

  Parchment handles ordinary plain-text files and supports text in any human language for which suitable fonts are installed. It also takes an opinionated approach to text formatting, helping keep saved files clean and consistent.

  This is free and open source software.

• coppwr - low-level graphical control for PipeWire

  The software is aimed particularly at users who need to understand what PipeWire is actually doing. That makes it useful for diagnosing routing problems, investigating unusual devices and streams, and developing or debugging software which communicates directly with PipeWire.

  Its graph view provides a visual representation of nodes and their connections, but coppwr goes beyond the functionality normally expected from a patchbay. PipeWire objects can be inspected in detail, while several classes of object can be created or destroyed directly. It therefore provides substantially more access to PipeWire internals than tools intended primarily for everyday volume and output-device selection.

  This is free and open source software.

• LogNote - flexible graphical log viewer

  Filtering is a major part of LogNote. It supports regular expressions, reusable filter configurations, inclusion and exclusion highlighting and configurable filter styles. Logs can also be divided into columns according to user-defined formats, so the application is not limited exclusively to Android’s logcat structure.

  For Android logcat sessions, LogNote can display process information and restrict the view to particular application packages. Search, bookmarks and go-to-line navigation help with larger logs, while light and dark appearances and configurable fonts provide control over presentation.

  The program also offers log triggers aimed at long-running or aging tests. When a matching log entry appears, LogNote can execute a command or display a dialog. Large continuous captures can be split automatically after a configured number of lines to stop a single output file growing indefinitely.

  This is free and open source software.

• bubblewrap - low-level unprivileged sandboxing tool

  Rather than imposing a predefined security policy, it provides the building blocks needed by another application, framework or script to decide what a process can see and access. It creates a new mount namespace with an initially empty root filesystem and lets the caller selectively expose files and directories from the host. This makes bubblewrap useful for application isolation, controlled execution environments and other software that needs a lightweight sandbox without running a separate operating system.

  This is free and open source software.

• Maps - map viewer designed for elementary OS

  Maps is a lightweight map viewer developed for elementary OS.

  The project is a fork of Atlas Maps and adapts that codebase to elementary’s desktop conventions and Human Interface Guidelines. Its scope is deliberately narrow: it provides a native map application without trying to become a full geographic information system or a feature-heavy navigation suite. Under the interface it uses libshumate for map presentation and GeoClue for location services, while GTK and Vala provide the surrounding desktop application.

  This is free and open source software.