Here is a list of software that I use and recommend. I try out a good amount of free and open source software, there is a lot of bad out there but some gems. I will update this list if I find more software I feel is worth recommending.
Desktop Software
OS - Debian or Arch Linux
First of all for an operating system, the only operating systems I can really recommend are Debian or Arch Linux. Linux has an annoying amount of distros that confuse people, just stick to these two. Debian is very stable and simple, it has never broken on me. If you want to get more serious into learning Linux and really owning your system then suffer through Arch for a while. (There are other Operating systems worth considering for specific purposes but these are the two main ones to use for a normal desktop OS).
Browser - Firefox/LibreWolf/Brave/Tor
There are other browsers out there that can be used but I only really ever install these.
Firefox - This browser is great, but not out of the box. You can look up a tutorial on youtube or other places, just look up “How to harden Firefox”. It will have you replace the user.js file to disable some bad features and enable others that will make the browser more privacy respecting and secure.
LibreWolf - This browser is a fork of Firefox. If you don’t want the annoying hassle of hardening Firefox yourself, just download LibreWolf! It works great and is basically Firefox but aleady hardened for you right out of the box.
Brave - This is the browser I install on all my normie friends & family’s computers when they ask to help them with their data privacy. It blocks ads and trackers, has great defaults, however the main thing you will need to change is the search engine which is defaulted to Google (do not use Google ever).
Tor - For true anonymous browsing the best thing to use is the Tor network by using the official Tor browser. I rarely do this however, if I am really doing some searching that I don’t want associated with my identity I will run Tails OS which is always on the Tor network by default.
Search Engine - Searx
This is the only search engine I can recommend to anyone. It aggregates search results from other engines and gives you the results without having to use them directly. You can trust it, it’s open source and you can host an instance yourself if you would like. However go here and pick an instance to use if you wanna try it out. You may need to try a few instances (some simply don’t work for normal browsing). Searx also grants to ability to customize your settings to get it working how you would like.
Text Editor - VIM
I’m using VIM right now, most people don’t really understand the value of VIM but it’s super efficient once you learn it, and it really doesn’t take too long to learn well enough to use it with decent proficiency. If you are interested, simply install VIM on your Linux desktop and run the command “vimtutor”. This will give a great tutorial in the terminal and by the end you will understand VIM quite well.
Password Manager - KeePassXC
KeePassXC is a great FOSS password manager. It has all the features you can want and stores passwords. Don’t use crappy password manager services that are advertised like NordPass or Dashlane, grow up and host your own offline password manager (it doesn’t cost $60 and is far more secure).
File Syncing - Rsync & Syncthing
Rsync is amazing for syncing files between computers, I am using it now to upload my website pages to this website that I have hosted on a remote server. Syncthing is great for syncing files between devices as well, I use it to sync files between my desktop and phone.
Mobile Software
I do advocate for free and open source everything, however I’m not perfect and have a Google Pixel 8. So here is the software I have on it to make the best of this demonic device.
OS - GrapheneOS
If you have a Google pixel device, I can’t recommend Graphene OS enough. It is open source and it just works well! There are a lot of open source projects that I have bugs/issues with but I really haven’t ran into anything major with this software.
App Repository - F-Droid
If you have looked into free and open source software at all, you have already heard of and likely used F-Droid already. If you haven’t it’s the App store to use on Android, if you are on Apple then change that.
Weather - Breezy Weather
Mental Outlaw did a video showing a FOSS weather app listed on F-Droid. I had been searching for a good open source mobile weather app and never had luck with any. However this app is more smooth, beautiful, feature rich, and straight up better than any other weather app I have ever used. Can’t recommend this more.
Watching Content - Grayjay
Grayjay is the best way to watch Youtube, Rumble, Odysee, and many more content sources on your phone. It’s open source and has no ads (it does cost $10 however it has an infinite full-featured free trial).
Maps - Organic Maps
Get rid of all that Google junk, try using Organic Maps as a GPS to navigate around. I will say it’s not perfect by any means but it’s the best FOSS mobile maps app I could find. I get to my destination and that’s all that matters.
Keyboard - FUTO Keyboard
FUTO is the same software company that made Grayjay. They made a great open source keyboard (also costs $10 but has an infinite free trial).
File Syncing - Syncthing
As mentioned in the Desktop software section I use Syncthing to sync files between my desktop and my phone.
Password Manager - KeePassDX
This password manager is basically the mobile version of KeePassXC. If you like KeePassXC on your desktop, use this on your phone and sync your passwords with Syncthing if you would like.
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