Mohawke's Best of the Best Free and Open Source Software Collection from Dark Artistry
:: Windows :: Macintosh :: Internet :: Operating Systems :: Games :: Web-Sites :: OSSWIN CD ::
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Operating Systems |
| Top Free Operating systems | Description |
| Haiku | BeOS written from the ground up. Boot's on my MacBook Pro perfectly! For software see TiltOS (KDE apps on Haiku) and Haikuware |
| Elive Linux | This is pretty damned cool Debian based OS sporting Enlightenment DRR16 and DR17. Install can be found on the menu once booted into the live cd. |
| Linux Mint | Ubuntu done a little better and with a lot more style. |
| KXStudio | Ubuntu studio done a little better and with a lot more style. |
| gOS | gOS enables cloud computing through software. Linux with Google gadgets cloud computing features. This is what I would imagine Google's ChromeOS to be like... |
| ReactOS | Basically open Windows XP written from the ground up. Runs Windows exe and drivers natively. |
| Kubuntu Linux | Ubuntu running KDE. Nice distro... |
| Ubuntu Linux | Ubuntu Linux, if you haven't heard of it you must be really new to computers or seriously close minded. |
| Geubuntu Linux | Ubuntu with Enlightenment. |
| Suse Linux | Very nice distro. Commercial version can be found here. |
| Mandriva Linux | The free version is at this link. They also sell a commercial supported version. |
| Debian Linux | Highly recommended. |
| Ubuntu Studio | Ubuntu for musicians. |
| Puppy Linux | Puppy linux is very unique and fast! It is one of the best live cd Linux distros I have ever seen. Highly recommended. |
| Fedora Linux | Based off Redhat. I am not a big fan. Redhat is the commercial version basically. |
| Sabayon Linux | A great distro and they seem like a great group of guys. Popular. |
| Mepis Linux | Haven't ran this myself. Bleeding edge. Popular. |
| PCLinuxOS | Bleeding edge and very simple. Based off of Mandriva it has all the Firefox plugins working out of the box, Flash, Java, Video playback, and MP3 support. Also makes running Beryl, Compiz, or Metisse very painless. |
| Pardus | Bleeding edge and very simple Turkish distro. Firefox plugins working out of the box, Flash, Java, Video playback, mp3, and 3-D support. Nice icon set and really nice control center. |
| Slackware Linux | This is the first distro of Linux I ever ran before switching to Redhat and it is the oldest distribution. One of the most secure from what I am told also. |
| Dynebolic Linux | Runs on slower hardware and is designed for multimedia production. |
| DreamLinux | Made to look like OS X. |
| Free BSD Unix | BSD Built for the desktop user. |
| PC BSD Unix | BSD Built for the desktop user. |
| desktopBSD Unix | BSD with a focus on end user desktops. Looks really good. |
| GNU-Darwin Linux | GNU Linux |
| Infinite OS | Not sure if this is still alive. |
| OpenQNX | Embedded. Screen shots of some desktops. |
| BeOSmax | Remake of BeOS 5pro with all new drivers for the latest hardware, tons of software, like Abiword, Gimp, etc. |
| TheOS | Very lightweight and small OS. |
| AROS | AROS is a portable and free desktop operating system aiming at being compatible with AmigaOS. |
| Menuet | A very cool, very small open operating system. |
| Minux3 | A very small open operating system, BSD style license. |
| Syllable | An operating system forked from Aros. |
| E/OS | E/OS is an open source unix graphic operating system emulator under GNU GPL 2,0 license, suitable for the execution of Microsoft programs Windows, Apple MAC OS, IBM OS/2, MSDOS and Linux. |
| Mockup | New X11 desktop environment based on Qt4, FreeBeOS clone. |
| Geexbox Linux | Looking for a very small media os for your car, jukebox, etc? This is exactly what you need. |
| Smoothwal | Heavy duty firewall based on the GNU/Linux operating system. |
| XBox Linux | xBox game platform. |
| FreeNAS | FreeNAS is a free NAS (Network-Attached Storage) server, supporting: CIFS (samba), FTP, NFS, AFP, RSYNC, iSCSI protocols, S.M.A.R.T., local user authentication, Software RAID (0,1,5) with a Full WEB configuration interface. FreeNAS takes less than 32MB once installed on Compact Flash, hard drive or USB key. |
| Solaris | x86, 64 (Commercial Unix) This is a free and open version download of this kick ass Unix OS that works natively with Linux apps. |
Not all free, but cheap alternatives. |
| Zeta | x86 BeOS! I miss BeOS so this is the greatest thing to hit the market for me in years. (German) Look at Haiku from a free alternative. |
| SkyOS | x86 Not released yet, but you can beta test for $30.00 and you get the final full release and all the software on cd when finished also. This is a new os, not a linux distro. Looks really good! |
| LinSpire (formerly Lindows) | x86 (Commercial Linux) |
| Xandros | x86 (Commercial Linux) Free version available if you look around the site, most likely stripped down. |
| AmigaOS4 | ppc at some point. |
| Yellow Dog Linux | ppc, ppc 64 |
| MorphOS | ppc/Amiga See web-site for more information. |
| PegasOS | ppc/Amiga See web-site for more information. |
| Nomachine NX | Operating systems and or applications served over the Internet or local network. Open source server and client software available. |
Moving to Linux or OS X? These will come in handy. |
| Crossover Office | For the non-gamer looking to run Windows apps on Linux. Not free, but cheap and worth the money if you want to use Photoshop, Macromedia products, etc. |
| Cedega | For the gamer or anyone who needs DirectX 3D support and wants to run Windows games/apps on Linux. Also not free, but cheap. I use both Winex and Crossover. |
| Win4Lin | Windows on Linux. Not free and I haven't heard good things about it. |
| VMWare | Windows on Linux, Linux on Windows, Windows on Windows, etc. I am running virtual Windows XP on my Linux box and this is flawless, fast, and absolutely usable! Wrote about it here. It is now free! |
| PearPC | OS X or Linux on Windows. My screenshots Mac on win 1 Mac on win 2. Free |
| Darwine | Windows apps on OS X. Free |
| WineBottler | Windows apps on OS X, tool to make using Wine on OS X easier. | Wine | Windows apps on Linux. Free Wine has come along way since I put this up. I'd seriously try your Windows application or game in Wine before buying Cedega or Crossover. |
| Klik | Klik is a system for Linux which creates self-contained packages of applications downloadable from the web with a single click, even while running a Live-CD. Free |
| Virtualbox | Virtualization like VMWare. Free |
| Qemu | Virtualization like VMWare. Free |
:: Windows :: Macintosh :: Internet :: Operating Systems :: Games :: Web-Sites :: OSSWIN CD ::
:: APL :: APSL :: BSD :: GPL :: LGPL :: CPL :: MPL :: MIT :: ACL :: CC :: SISSL :: EPL ::
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Nothing in this list contains malware/virus/trojan code that I am aware of; although, anything labeled freeware is more likely to contain it than open source. As a matter of fact, I have never had any open source program install any malicious code! I will explicitly state if freeware has adware/spyware if possible. I will not post links to software containing any virus, trojan, dialer, or malware if it is at all possible, but use caution when installing any software, scan with a virus scanner and/or search Google for bad experiences with a product by other users if you are unsure. I cannot guarantee any item on this list as safe, especially freeware, use these products at your own risk. By following links on this list or using products listed herein you are agreeing that I am not in anyway liable for any and all damages that may occur from the use of any software application you may choose to install. I have used most everything in this list myself and used this list as a kind of bookmarking for myself at one time, but there are a few freewares I haven't used or tested. There have also been links added recently by request from people visiting the list that I have not installed or used as I only use Linux and OS X these days. If you find anything containing spyware, malware, adware, or any other nasty please let me know so I can look into it, or at least remove the offending application. Some adware can simply be removed using Adaware allowing you to continue using the application with no problems - free cd burner is one where this is possible - it never adds anything else after install. If you want me to add something to the list that you feel would be worthwhile for others, by all means contact me. Please be aware that I am mainly focused on open source software and will consider it over shareware/freeware/commercial software everytime unless the it is absolutely amazing or a very hard to find necessity. There are many shareware and freeware sites already available that are easily found that provide such software. Please read the developers sites! Some programs may be in beta and they will generally state that. I like testing so beta and unstable software doesn't bother me, but it may not work as you expect it to and may not be the best choice for being productive. Please read licensing for any products you use and make sure the licensing hasn't changed since I posted. Some things become pay products (mainly freeware) when I am not looking and it's hard to keep track of everything. Please email me if this happens OR if you find I have the wrong license listed for any product so I can update the list - it would be very helpful! If you use GPL or other open source licensed software please consider donating money to the developers of the products you use or find most useful. It helps to keep them making great free software and guarantees these products continue getting better for future use. For more information on Open Source software please visit The Open Source Foundation To keep this page fast and simple it contains only two small images (below) and only one small javascript sort lib plus the toggle code. For search features you can simply use the search feature in your browser, like for instance "Edit", "Find in page" OR Ctrl+F or Apple+F in Firefox. (This page contains no popups, ads, or cookies.) I do not consider Internet Explorer when editing these pages or their css. If you don't like the way IE displays this content consider using a better browser, Firefox and Chrome are two I highly recommend and they run on all major operating systems. I use Camino on Mac. If you're looking for Linux software learn how to use your Linux distros package manager, apt, yast, etc, or if you're on Mac OS X try Fink. Plus, almost all open source licensed software on this list is ported from Linux/Unix applications so a simple visit to the developer's page should yield you a Linux version if you cannot find it in your distros package manager. I really dislike group mentality, even in the open source arena. If you are on this list with the "it sucks, because it contains freeware and commercial software" relax, not all freeware is bad and you do not have to use it. If you have this mentality and you are looking for open source software for Windows or OS X you are simply a hypocrite. If you are a Linux/Unix purest you should know it's all about choice and freedom. Others may want or need the choice to use freeware or even commercial applications, including Windows or OS X. Whether it be religion or software, choice is what makes people happy and pieceful and group mentaility typically makes people hateful, aliented, or dead, the choice is yours so choose wisely your options. If you dislike my list I link to several really good software lists at the bottom of Web-Sites, the choice is all yours ;) Select your operating system then your computing needs and let appShoot find the best open source or free software to meet your needs. |