Open Source Software

No licences. No lock-in.
No black boxes.

Every tool I recommend runs on GNU/Linux and is fully open source. You own your data, your infrastructure, and your code. The community behind each project means you can verify what's actually running on your server.

We are not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any project or provider named on this page. See our disclaimer for details.

See the full software directory for every open source tool referenced across this site, including the ones mentioned in blog posts and training guides that don't have room on this page.

Document authoring

Overleaf Community Edition

Collaborative LaTeX editor in the browser. Ideal for teams producing technical reports, proposals, or any document where precise typesetting matters more than dragging boxes around in Word.

Team messaging

Mattermost Team Edition

Self-hosted team chat with channels, threads, and integrations. A privacy-first alternative to Slack or Teams that stays entirely on your own server, under your own control.

Password management

Vaultwarden

A lightweight, self-hosted implementation of the Bitwarden API. Gives your whole team a shared password vault without sending credentials to a third party.

Observability & monitoring

Grafana

Dashboards, alerting, and full-stack observability. Pair it with Prometheus and Loki for real-time visibility into your infrastructure, applications, and logs, all in one place.

Version control & CI/CD

GitLab Community Edition / Gitea / Forgejo

Host your own Git repositories with issue tracking, merge requests, and pipelines. GitLab suits larger teams with full CI/CD needs; Gitea and Forgejo are lighter alternatives for simpler setups.

Knowledge base

Trilium Notes

A hierarchical, self-hosted note-taking application built for large knowledge bases. Supports rich text, code blocks, scripting, and end-to-end encryption.

Read-later & archiving

Wallabag

Save articles and web pages to read later, stripped of trackers and ads. A self-hosted alternative to Pocket or Instapaper, with tagging, annotations, and RSS export.

RSS reader

Miniflux

A deliberately minimal, self-hosted RSS aggregator. Fast, opinionated, and distraction-free. Stay in control of your information feed without relying on Google or Feedly.

Web publishing

WordPress

The world's most-deployed CMS. Self-hosted WordPress gives you a full publishing platform with no ongoing licence fees and a plugin ecosystem covering almost any requirement.

These nine tools are a starting point, not a ceiling. The open source ecosystem is vast. There are mature, well-supported projects covering everything from project management and video conferencing to ERP, CRM, e-commerce, and beyond. If you have a specific requirement in mind, or a proprietary tool you would like to replace, I will research the available alternatives, help you evaluate the trade-offs, and support you through the transition. The goal is always software that fits your actual workflow, not the other way around.

A good starting point for your own exploration is European Alternatives, a curated directory of open source and EU-based alternatives to mainstream software, useful if data sovereignty or GDPR compliance is part of your decision.

Not sure which of these fits your situation?

I can advise on tool selection, installation planning, and hardening for any of the above. No sales agenda attached.

Get in touch