A curated list of Free and Open Source Software for Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android, grouped by purpose.

Table of Contents#

  1. What is FOSS
  2. Linux, Windows & macOS
  3. Android

What is FOSS#

FOSS means Free and Open Source Software. It doesn't mean software is free of cost. It means that source code of the software is open for all and anyone is free to use, study and modify the code. This principle allows other people to contribute to the development and improvement of a software like a community.

Linux, Windows & macOS#

Everything with a ๐Ÿ‘‘ is used and approved by Sandwich ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

Essential#

Utilities#

Media#

Productivity#

  • 3D Design + Animation + Video Editing -> Blender๐Ÿ‘‘
  • Adobe After Effects -> Natron, Davinci Resolved(Not FOSS)
  • Adobe Fresco, Painter -> Krita๐Ÿ‘‘
  • Adobe Illustrator -> Inkscape
  • Adobe Indesign -> Scribus
  • Adobe Photoshop -> Gimp๐Ÿ‘‘
  • Adobe Lightroom -> Darktable๐Ÿ‘‘
  • Adobe Premiere Pro -> KdenLive๐Ÿ‘‘, Davinci Resolved(Not FOSS)
  • MS Office -> OnlyOffice๐Ÿ‘‘, LibreOffice
  • Tasks and Notes -> Joplin๐Ÿ‘‘(Can sync with Nextcloud, WebDAV etc)

Audio Production#

DAW Plugins#

  • Drum Synth -> Geonkick
  • Synthesizer -> Vitalium๐Ÿ‘‘, Surge๐Ÿ‘‘, zynaddsubfx
  • Plugins Pack -> lsp-plugins, zam-plugins

Social Media#

  • Self-hosted Messenger -> Element๐Ÿ‘‘
  • Secure (kinda mainstream) Messenger -> Signal
  • Telegram -> Telegram

Game Launchers#

Emulators#

  • All in One -> Retroarch๐Ÿ‘‘
  • GAMEBOY -> DeSmuME
  • GAMECUBE -> Dolphin๐Ÿ‘‘
  • Nintendo 3DS -> Citra (discontinued March 2024 - Nintendo lawsuit; successor: Azahar)
  • Nintendo DS -> DeSmuME๐Ÿ‘‘, MelonDS
  • Nintendo Switch -> Yuzu๐Ÿ‘‘ (discontinued March 2024 - Nintendo lawsuit; successors: Suyu dead, Citron dead)
  • Nintendo Wii -> Dolphin๐Ÿ‘‘
  • Nintendo WiiU -> Cemu๐Ÿ‘‘
  • PlayStation 3 -> RPCS3

Android#

Most of these Applications can be found on F-Droid / Aurora Droid. Some are not there, they can be found on GitHub / GitLab.

Note: Simple Mobile Tools was sold in late 2023 and is no longer maintained. Fossify is the community fork that continues development of all former Simple Mobile Tools apps.

App Store#

  • Aurora Store -> Store to download apps from Google Store (Anonymous option)
  • Aurora Droid -> Store with only FOSS software
  • F-Droid -> The OG Store with only FOSS software

Essential#

Utilities#

Media#

  • Music Player -> Metro๐Ÿ‘‘
  • Media Player -> VLC

Social Media#

  • Self-hosted Messenger -> Element๐Ÿ‘‘
  • Secure (kinda mainstream) Messenger -> Molly (Signal)
  • Reddit -> Infinity๐Ÿ‘‘ (discontinued - killed by Reddit API changes)
  • Telegram -> Nekogram X (discontinued/removed from F-Droid)