Note that these are not all FOSS.
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Photo Editing:
- GIMP
- Krita
- Paint.NET
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Video Editing:
- DaVinci Resolve
- CapCut
- Shotcut
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Audio Editing:
- Audacity
- Cakewalk
- GarageBand
-
3D Graphics:
- Blender
- Spline
- Rumba
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Office Software:
- LibreOffice
- Microsoft 365 Free Apps
- WPS Office
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Antivirus Software:
- Windows Security
- Avast Free Antivirus
- Malwarebytes
-
Productivity Tools:
- Bitwarden
- VSCodium
- PDF-XChange Editor
- 7-Zip
- OBS Studio
- LanguageTool
OnlyOffice for office software.
I’d like to add OpenShot to the video editing category
*Tenacity, not Audacity
Doesn’t that apply to every project hosted in America, too, though? Every project is subject to the jurisdiction in which it is hosted. And I know they’re not the only project that accepts error reports and in-app updates. Unless there is more telemetry involved or tracking of out-of-app activity, I’m not seeing cause for alarm here. Though I’m open to evidence that there is.
From what I’ve seen on their site since is that they’re saying they are now GDPR compliant. And I suppose, since they are still open source, that anyone finding anything seriously malicious would have pointed it out by now. Just a bit of bad press and people jumping to conclusions because “Russia bad.”
I do still plan to check out Tenacity though and see if it’s a better project.
As someone who contributes to FOSS projects, I think you put too much trust in the ability of the community to police such things. There simply aren’t enough people reviewing project code to ensure it’s safety and compliance if a maintainer or team decide to follow bad local laws or act explicitly in a malicious way. Some things get caught but I’m sure there are things thst slip through.
Yeah, it’s actually a major issue with FOSS in general. It’s essentially the bystander effect in code review; When everybody is reviewing the code, nobody is.
Avast? Bruh
I always recommend Windows Defender and a good sense of Internet security to anyone who uses a computer.
If you’re dumb, no antivirus can protect you. If you’re reasonably intelligent, any antivirus will protect you.
Avast should not be recommended.
In late 2019, Avast browser extensions were found to collect user data, including browsing behavior and history, and send it to a remote server. The discovery led to the extensions of the Avast and AVG brands being temporarily removed from the Google Chrome, Firefox and Opera extension stores, however, they returned a short time later as there was no concrete evidence that demonstrated a breach of private data of the users.
In January 2020, a joint investigation by Motherboard and PCMag found that the Avast Antivirus and AVG AntiVirus Free version were collecting user data, which was being resold to personalize advertising through a subsidiary, Jumpshot. The leaked documents showed that Jumpshot offered to provide its customers with “Every search. Every click. On every site.” from more than 100 million compromised devices. In response, Avast announced on January 30, 2020, that it would immediately shut down Jumpshot and cease all operations due to the backlash of its users’ data privacy.
On the basis of the information revealed, on 11 February 2020 the Czech Office for Personal Data Protection announced that it had initiated a preliminary investigation.
In February 2024, the Federal Trade Commission fined Avast $16.5 million for collecting user data and reselling that data. The collection was done under their program to ensure that such collection of user data was not happening.
Thanks for sharing this list of software tools! It’s great to see a variety of options, including both FOSS and proprietary software.
Photo Editing: GIMP and Krita are excellent open-source tools, while Paint.NET offers a user-friendly interface. Video Editing: DaVinci Resolve is professional-grade, CapCut is perfect for social media, and Shotcut balances simplicity with features. Audio Editing: Audacity is versatile and open-source, while Cakewalk and GarageBand are great for music production. 3D Graphics: Blender is leading in open-source 3D modeling, with Spline and Rumba offering unique features. Office Software: LibreOffice is a robust open-source suite; Microsoft 365 Free Apps and WPS Office are excellent free alternatives. Antivirus: Windows Security provides reliable protection, with Avast and Malwarebytes adding extra layers of security. Productivity: Bitwarden for password management, VSCodium for coding, PDF-XChange for PDFs, 7-Zip for compression, OBS Studio for streaming, and LanguageTool for writing. This mix offers powerful solutions for various needs and preferences.
I recommend Okular for PDF reading. No ads, no upsells, no BS. It also has native dark mode
Gwenview has always worked well for me.
Needs more CAD
You forgot vector-graphics stuff.
I believe Inkscape is the current leader of the open-source pack in that department.
I see this is free as in price, definitely not free as in freedom. Should delete the anti virus section and replace it with Linux lol.
I know it’s not a category in this post, but I just want to mention Audacious as a the best open source music player and also to confuse people with Audacity and Tenacity.
Audio editing is still shit. GarageBsnd is on Mac, Audacity has a stupid interface, Cakewalk is the first time I hear that name. On Linux, video editing tools are probably the only way to edit audio, and it’s obviously lacking.
Fairlight, which is part of Da Vinci Resolve, is pretty powerful. I don’t use Audacity because it’s mostly a destructive workflow.
Have you tried Ardour?
Agreed, I’ve had to mix an entire live show recently and Ardour + a few open source VSTs did the job wonderfully. Took me maybe an hour to get my bearings but it is very well done.
Cakewalk has been around for decades. It was a popular paid daw in the late 90s and 2000s. It became free a few years ago. Haven’t used it lately. But, used it a lot many years ago. It was a top daw back in its day. I hear it’s still pretty good.
I’d like to add KdenLive to the Video Editing point.
I successfully edited a video with it having never done so before, which I think speaks to how well it’s designed. There’s definitely a tiny learning curve, but it’s a kiddy coaster.
KDEnlive is way easier then divinci
I love KdenLive!
I’ve never been super happy with Ardour. Using the in-distro build used to crash some years back, and more recently wasn’t able to get it using some audio interface. And I’m not in love with the interface. But my impression from what I’ve read is that it’s more on-par with other DAWs than Audacity is.
2D/3D Simulation/Game creation Godot :)
Blender is hardly an alternative, it’s the clear #1
