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Free and Open Source Software, Benchmark, and Review
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usql - command-line database client - LinuxLinks
usql is a command-line database client that gives administrators and developers a single, consistent interface for working with many different database systems.
Inspired by PostgreSQL’s psql, it brings familiar interactive commands and shell-style workflows to PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle Database, SQLite3, Microsoft SQL Server, and many other databases, making it a practical replacement for vendor-specific command-line tools in mixed environments.
This is free and open source software.
minimal-emacs.d - minimal Emacs starter kit - LinuxLinks
minimal-emacs.d is a minimal Emacs starter kit that provides a ready-made early-init.el and init.el for users who want a faster, cleaner starting point for a vanilla Emacs setup.
The project focuses on better defaults, optimized startup behavior, and a modular structure that lets users extend the configuration without adopting a heavyweight framework.
This is free and open source software.
Skeema - manage MySQL and MariaDB schema changes - LinuxLinks
Skeema is a declarative schema management system for MySQL and MariaDB.
It stores database definitions as SQL CREATE statements in a repository and then compares that desired state with live databases to generate the DDL needed to bring them into sync. The tool is designed for teams that want a pull-request-driven workflow for schema changes, along with environment-aware configuration and safer handling of database updates.
This is free and open source software.
Nextcloud Mail - email client application for the Nextcloud platform - LinuxLinks
Nextcloud Mail is an email client application for the Nextcloud platform.
It lets users access and manage email from within their self-hosted cloud environment, bringing mail together with files, contacts, calendars, and tasks in a single interface. The project is designed for people who want tighter integration between email and the rest of their personal or organizational collaboration tools.
This is free and open source software.
continuwuity - community-driven Matrix homeserver - LinuxLinks
Continuwuity is a community-driven Matrix homeserver written in Rust.
It is aimed at people who want a lightweight, actively maintained server for decentralized communication. The project focuses on long-term maintenance, improved Matrix compatibility, easier deployment, and practical features for homeserver administrators.
This is free and open source software.
HHKB Professional HYBRID Type-S Keyboard Review - LinuxLinks
Here’s an example of remapping keys in Linux. There’s a lot for many users to adjust to, and I know some people may want Control on the bottom row, at least temporarily.
In Linux, we can remap keys with evtest, an input device event monitor and query tool that identifies how each key is reported. We can then use keyd for remapping. Many remaps can also be configured in KDE Plasma’s System Settings.
cuts - Perl command-line utility - LinuxLinks
cuts is a command-line utility that enhances the traditional Unix/POSIX cut tool for extracting columns from text files.
It is designed to keep the interface simple while handling more awkward real-world data, including mixed delimiters, flexible column selection, and side-by-side extraction from multiple files.
This is free and open source software.
Biwin Black Opal NV7400 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD Review - LinuxLinks
The Biwin Black Opal NV7400 1TB is a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD aimed squarely at users who want high-end Gen4 headline speeds without paying premium-drive prices. It’s a single-sided M.2 2280 drive, uses the NVMe 2.0 protocol, and is rated at up to 7,400 MB/s reads and 6,500 MB/s writes for the 1TB model.
On paper, this is a very attractive Linux storage upgrade. The drive is fast enough to saturate most practical PCIe 4.0 desktop workloads, thin enough for laptops and mini PCs, and backed by a generous 1,000 TBW endurance rating. It’s also a DRAM-less SSD, which is the key compromise. Instead of onboard DRAM, it uses Host Memory Buffer (HMB), borrowing a small amount of system memory to help with mapping and performance.
The NV7400 presents itself as a standard NVMe SSD, so there’s no vendor driver to install. Modern Linux distributions detect it through the kernel’s NVMe stack, and it can be partitioned and formatted like any other SSD. ext4, XFS, and Btrfs are all sensible choices depending on your workload. For CachyOS/Arch-style desktop use, I normally use Btrfs for the root filesystem because snapshots are genuinely useful. But bear in mind that Btrfs can be slower than ext4 and XFS in some write-heavy workloads, especially with default copy-on-write enabled. I therefore mostly tested the drive with XFS.
wrkflw - validate and run GitHub Actions workflows locally - LinuxLinks
wrkflw is a command-line tool for validating and running GitHub Actions workflows locally. It lets developers test workflows on their own machine before pushing changes to GitHub, helping catch syntax errors, job dependency issues, trigger mismatches, and runtime problems earlier in the development process.
The tool can run workflows through Docker, Podman, emulation, or a sandboxed secure emulation mode, and also offers an interactive terminal interface for managing workflows, logs, triggers, secrets, and execution details.
wrkflw also includes support for matrix builds, reusable workflows, composite actions, artifacts, caches, inter-job outputs, diff-aware filtering, watch mode, remote workflow triggering, and GitLab CI validation. This makes it useful for developers who want a local workflow testing environment without relying entirely on hosted CI runs.
This is free and open source software.
MinEmacs - complete and fast Emacs configuration framework - LinuxLinks
MinEmacs is a complete and fast Emacs configuration framework designed for daily use.
It provides a batteries-included setup while keeping startup lean through deferred loading, and it organizes functionality into modules so users can tailor the environment to their workflow.
This is free and open source software.