Try new FOSS tools – and rate your favorites!
FOSS stands for “Free and Open Source Software”. Linux is an operating system built with FOSS!
Once you’re comfortable with the power and freedom offered by Linux, you’ll want to discover other open source software opportunities that expand what you can do.
Graphic Design
GIMP is the ideal open source alternative to Photoshop. Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer or illustrator, GIMP provides an excellent variety of tools, customization options, and 3rd party plugins to optimize your artistic workflow.
Inkscape is an excellent open source alternative to Adobe Illustrator. Inkscape provides flexible drawing tools, broad file format compatibility, text tool options, and bezier and spiro curve support for all your vector design needs.
Video Editors
Kdenlive is an open source studio alternative to Premiere Pro. Edit sound, visuals, text, and clips with a powerful selection of plugin effects for video creation and audio processing.
Video Conferencing and Instant Messaging
BigBlueButton is an open source alternative to video conferencing software such as Zoom and Skype. BigBlueButton also offers the option to record meetings, useful for absent team members or students to stay caught-up, and to refer back to discussions for notes.
Jitsi is another safe, secure, and open source option for video conferencing software.
Mattermost is an open source alternative to communication software such as Slack, popular for workplaces. Set up your own instance to chat with friends, or communicate with your team.
Signal is an open-source alternative to chat applications such as Messenger or WhatsApp. It is the safest and most secure platform for those concerned with privacy, protecting your data from third parties.
Office Tools
LibreOffice is a free, open office suite alternative to Microsoft Office. Software includes tools for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, diagrams, databases, charts, and a formula editor.
OpenOffice is another free and open alternative to Microsoft Office, and the predecessor to LibreOffice. Software similarly includes word processing, spreadsheets, presentation building, graphic creation, databases and more.
AbiWord is an open source word processing tool, and alternative to Microsoft Word.