Been awhile since I saw a thread like this and they’re always good for at least one or two things I’ve never heard of before. Bonus points if the software is open source and cross platform. Extra bonus points if you link to where we can see it/get it.
My contribution: Destiny which is an anonymous, P2P, E2EE file sharing app - its basically a GUI for a Magic Wormhole implementation. Works on Linux (tarball or appimage), Win, Mac, Android (inc f-droid) and iOS. Only downside is it’s not been updated for 2 years.
QuickLook for Windows. Coming from a Mac this thing is super useful to replicate that functionality on Windows.
Small apps available on Flathub that have only one purpose
Latest examples:
- Trilium Notes: note-taking
- Foliate: .epub reader
- Shortwave: radio player
My brain works in a way that 1 software = 1 single and unique thing, and you shouldn’t have to go through a roundabout way to do that thing.
I’m surprised how many people don’t know about a Linux utility called “fuck”. When you make a mistake on the command line and get an error, you just type “fuck” and it looks at what happened and suggests a fix. If this looks correct - and it almost always is - you just hit Enter and it types that in for you. Best thing ever!
LocalSend is open-source and great for file transfer (or even just sending text) between my devices.
Never occurred to me to even look for such a thing!
If any of you still aren’t using YT Revanced… why?! So yeah, that one, cause God knows my limit for insipid and repetitive ads is extremely small.
Because I don’t watch videos on my phone.
YouTube has broken uBlock and Firefox. Still works on Edge, but I’d rather not switch browsers back and forth. Yes, I’ve cleared my cache.
Anyone?
Is it because of your religion or…?
Why would I watch videos on a shitty little screen? My PC is hooked to 40" and 55" TVs.
What if you’re on the bus?
Greenshot is free, open-source, and the built-in image editor is perfect (for my use-case, ymmv). ShareX is also FOSS but more well-known.
I used to use Greenshot but switched over to Flameshot. Also Free software, but has better and easier editing tools. The numbered arrows are so handy.
Bulk Rename Utility for Windows:
dired
This is so powerful, I use it all the time.
Here’s a bunch of equivalent things for desktop OSes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batch_renaming#List_of_software
PowerToys has something like this roo
A windows app that shows you the space things are taking up on your computer so you can easily delete them. Usually helps me clear out a ton of space.
Everything, the only thing that makes Windows usable.
Qalculate is a fancy calculator available for Linux, MacOS and Windows. I use it for calculations that involve unit conversions, but it can do much more.
I acutally use Qalculate as well when I have to use my Windows laptop
Fuck Microsoft for not bothering to improve on the calculator app for decades.
Best of all, you can also install it using winget. Yes, package management through the cmd in Windows. Well, as long as you’re the admin of that computer. Don’t expect this to work with all corporate laptops.
And Android!!
Oh that’s a good point. Totally missed that one. Seems that there’s also a webapp for other platforms.
https://logseq.com/ a personal knowledge base with markdown and has a whiteboard feature. I live in this program now. From daily little notes and reminders to full on script writing. It’s a little clunky but it works with my brain. Other similar programs are notion, obsidian and anytype.
- Converter Now: An all-in-one convert everything to everything app.
- Light Meter: Calculate light levels and color temps for photography and videography.
- Stellarium: Honestly don’t know how “well known” it might be. But it’s fun to point at stars and planets.
+1 for converter now, close to my most used app on Android.
https://www.sportismygame.app/ Helped me get of my fat ass and move every once in a while
sl is a classic command line program for something harmlessly pointless
calibre for digital library software (cataloging books/docs/articles)
Comic book reader, it’s a cbz/CBR comic book archive reader that tries to do the panel/smart auto zoom that used to be a part of comixology until Amazon bought it to kill it as competition to their shitty books app