I’ve spent the last few years slowly moving away from corporate software and switching to free and open-source alternatives. I have fully switched to Linux as my main desktop. I set up a little home server to cut subscriptions and host open-source apps. When I do use Windows, I make an effort to find FOSS alternatives. I’ve been using these replacements for years, and I never miss the paid versions.
LibreOffice instead of MS Office
Works with all your Word and Excel files
Like many tech nerds, I took an Excel and Word course when I was a kid. Adults around me made it seem like they were valuable tools that everyone should learn. So I did and just stuck to them by default. Years later, when I started writing professionally, I was using Excel and Word more frequently than ever.
Using Word for actual work, I realized just how much I hate it. I was wasting too much time just moving documents between devices. I know there’s a sync feature, but it requires a Microsoft account and the free tier only gives you limited storage. Apparently they delete your files if your account is inactive for too long. Even the formatting on my documents would sometimes break when I sent them to clients or when they sent them back.
All of that was enough to push me towards Google Docs. It had all my files in one place, regardless of the device I’m on. It was super easy to share documents and get feedback.
Google Docs was a step-up, but it didn’t have the complex word processing features that Word has. So I got LibreOffice. It’s a free and open-source office suite that has all the tools and features you could ask for. I mostly use its LibreOffice Draw tool for editing PDFs, making fillable forms, and signing documents. Occasionally, I’ll need the LibreOffice Writer when I’m working on long documents (like my thesis project) which need complex formatting or custom designs. You can get file sync going with Syncthing.
LibreOffice can handle all Microsoft Office formats, including .docx and .xlsx files, so I never feel the need to keep Microsoft Office apps on my devices. It’s been a few years since I even opened an Office app, and I probably won’t any time soon.
Krita instead of Photoshop
If you’re a digital artist, please try Krita
I’ve had this strange impulse to learn Photoshop ever since I saw it on my cousin’s computer some 15 years ago. It was Photoshop 7.0 with the most confusing interface I had ever seen. I couldn’t figure out how to make any changes to this image of a zebra I had downloaded. I just kept making marching-ant selections with different tools.
That experience sparked something in me, so I spent the next few years stubbornly trying to learn everything I could. I already loved drawing and painting, but Photoshop is how I got into graphic design too. When I got my drawing tablet, Photoshop was where all my interests collided. Back then, if you found me in front of a computer, there’s a good chance I’d be working in Photoshop, drawing or painting.
The point I’m trying to make is this: I’ve obsessively used this tool every day for years, only to realize the free and open-source alternative was a better choice for me. That alternative is Krita.
I want to make it clear that Krita is not a drop-in replacement for Photoshop. However, if you only use Photoshop for painting or drawing, please give Krita a try.
It’s been ages since I even opened Photoshop because I do most of my image editing work in Photopea and all my drawings in Krita. It has amazing brushes (you can find more online) and great community support. If you already know Photoshop, you’ll get used to it in no time. Krita feels much more lightweight than Photoshop.
Replaced Acrobat with BentoPDF and Okular
Most people don’t need Acrobat
Unless you’re doing some pro work, there’s no need to buy an Acrobat subscription. For most people, free and open-source tools will have everything they need.
Okular is a beautiful little viewer that can open pretty much any kind of document format (even comic books.) It has great annotation tools. It’s totally free, it doesn’t need an account, it won’t show you ads, and it does not invade your privacy in any way. It opens and runs smoothly even on old computers. It’s made by the developers of the KDE Plasma desktop who aim to make it a “universal” document viewer.
You can split, merge, rearrange, and manage PDF pages with BentoPDF. It’s an entire PDF toolkit with some 50 tools that let you convert, run OCR, and sign your PDFs. You can self-host it, but even if you don’t, it doesn’t need an account or a subscription. There are no ads or data collection (your documents never leave your browser because all the processing is done right on your computer. If you’re working with sensitive PDFs, spinning up a local instance of BentoPDF is the best way to do it.
RustDesk instead of TeamViewer
Keeps your remote desktop sessions safe and private
I think most people use tools like TeamViewer or AnyDesk because they’re just so easy to set up and use. They’re terrible from a privacy perspective though, because you’re putting your trust in a third-party service to keep your data private.
It’s an actual issue if you’re using these remote desktop apps to read your medical records or check your bank accounts. That video, input, and metadata stream has to travel through a server somewhere to reach you, which means anybody with access could potentially intercept it. Now the companies say the sessions are end-to-end encrypted, and they can only see the metadata (like when you connected or which devices you’re using.) However, since their code is closed-source, you just have to take their word for it.
Even if you can trust the company, data breaches happen all the time. Both TeamViewer and AnyDesk have suffered security breaches.
The answer is (once again) self-hosting. Rustdesk is a free and open-source remote access tool that you can host and run on your own PC or home server. Since Rustdesk is open-source, anyone can audit the code and independently verify that it does have end-to-end encryption in place.
All you need to do is install Rustdesk on both computers, and then run a Rustdesk server app on either the same PC you’re using or on a home server. Establishing a connection is just as simple as on AnyDesk or TeamViewer. You just punch in the target computer’s ID and you’re in. I’ve never noticed any performance, except when I was connecting over a mobile hotspot connection.
If you’re on the same local network, you don’t even need to have the internet on. To access desktops over the internet, you can set up port forwarding on the server or open a secure tunnel with a tool like Tailscale.
Open-source software gets a bad rap, but a lot of modern free and open-source software is just as good (better even, if you think of your privacy and wallet).
