Best Open Source Software

Kodi

Kodi (previously known as XMBC) is a highly customizable home-theater application. It used to be difficult to install and configure, but things are now noticeably better. If you want a superb budget home theater system, simply combine Kodi with a Raspberry Pi 3 computer. Mind blowing!

This is an essential app for anyone interested in multimedia. It is better than Microsoft’s Windows Media Center for home-theater use.

Kodi is sometimes labeled in the press as illegal software, but this is definitely hogwash. Some of the third-party add-ons do run into copyright issues though.

OS	Supported	Notes
		Kodi is also available as a native application for Android, and there is a special build for the Raspberry Pi. For cutting edge, there is a nightly build for Windows, Linux and OS X. Homepage: kodi.tv Developer: XBMC Foundation License: GNU GPL v2 Written in: C++, Python

VLC

VLC is a superb multimedia player and framework, which can also stream audio and video in a number of formats.

With its integrated codecs covering just about every type of media under the sun, it’s the bee’s knees of media players. A must download.

OS	Supported	Notes
		VLC is truly multi-platform. Besides the operating systems listed to the left, you can get VLC for Windows Phone, Apple TV, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, QNX, Syllable, and even OS/2 (remember that?) Homepage: www.videolan.org Developer: VideoLAN License: GNU GLPL v2.1 or higher Written in: C, C++

OpenShot Video Editor

Jam packed with great exciting features, OpenShot is a magnificent video editor. It takes videos, photos, and music files and helps you create the film you have always dreamed of. You’ll love the 3D animation, curve-based camera motion, compositing, transitions, audio mixing, and vector titles.

What makes it stand out from the crowd is that this video editor is really easy to use. Recent development has focused on improving the app’s performance. Editing HD videos (5K, 4K, 2.5K and 1080p) is admirable.

OS	Supported	Notes
		OpenShot Video Editor is actively maintained for Linux, Windows and OS X. The developers provides AppImages for Linux, and 64-bit installers for Windows and OS X. Homepage: www.openshot.org Developer: Jonathan Thomas and others License: GNU GPL v3 or later Written in: C++, Python

Amarok

Linux is particularly strong in the field of multimedia. Amarok is an excellent example of open source multimedia software. It makes playing music easy. Besides playing media files, Amarok can tag files, associate cover art, create and edit playlists, and interface with digital music players.

OS	Supported	Notes
		Amarok is actively maintained for Linux, Windows and OS X. Homepage: amarok.kde.org Developer: KDE License: GNU GPL v2 Written in: C++

Kdenlive

Want an awesome tool for video editing? KDE Non-Linear Video Editor has multitrack editing with a timeline and unlimited number of video and audio tracks.

OS	Supported	Notes
		There are packages for most popular Linux distributions. One click installs are available under cross distro packaging formats: Appimage, Snap, and Flatpak. There is no release date for a Windows port. While packages are available from the MacPorts project, they are outdated. Homepage: kdenlive.org Developer: KDE License: GNU GPL v2 or higher Written in: C++

Audacity

Audacity is an easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder.

In addition to recording audio from multiple sources, Audacity can be used for post-processing of all types of audio, including podcasts by adding effects such as normalization, trimming, and fading in and out.

OS	Supported	Notes
		Installation packages for Audacity on Linux and other Unix-like systems are provided by individual distributions. The developers provide binaries for Windows and OS X. Audacity does not run on Chrome OS. Homepage: www.audacityteam.org Developer: The Audacity Team License: GNU GPL v2 Written in: C, C++

Blender

Want to create animated films, visual effects, art, 3D printed models, interactive 3D applications or video games? Blender is a great open source solution. A few of its features include 3D modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, raster graphics editing, rigging and skinning, fluid and smoke simulation, particle simulation, and soft body simulation.

OS	Supported	Notes
		Binaries are provided for all 3 operating systems. If you like the bleeding edge, there are daily builds available sporting the latest features. Homepage: www.blender.org Developer: Blender Foundation License: GNU GPL v2 Written in: C, C++, Python

Inkscape

A professional quality vector graphics software for illustrators, designers, and web designers. It offers flexible drawing tools, with a powerful text tool, Bezier and spiro curves. Combine this with broad file format compatibility, and you have an indispensable tool.

Inkscape uses the W3C open standard SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) as its native format. Inkscape has sophisticated drawing tools with capabilities comparable to Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW and Xara Xtreme. It can import and export various file formats, including SVG, AI, EPS, PDF, PS and PNG. It has a comprehensive feature set, a simple interface, multi-lingual support and is designed to be extensible; users can customize Inkscape’s functionality with add-ons.

OS	Supported	Notes
		Inkscape is pre-packaged for all the major Linux distributions. 32-bit and 64-bit binaries are available for Windows. For OS X, Inkscape is available via MacPorts both as an X11 build and as a native Quartz build. Homepage: www.inkscape.org Developer: The Inkscape Team License: GNU GPL v3 Written in: C++, Python

Darktable

Photo post-production doesn’t come much better. Darktable is a photography workflow application and RAW developer. It comprises a subset of image editing operations specifically aimed at non-destructive raw photo post-production and is primarily focused on improving a photographer’s workflow by facilitating the handling of large numbers of images.

OS	Supported	Notes
		Major Linux distributions carry packages. There is no official Windows build. Homepage: www.darktable.org Developer: Johannes Hanika and contributors License: GNU GPL v3 or later Written in: C

HandBrake

Converting video between formats was often problematic until HandBrake came on the scene. It can convert video from almost any format to a range of modern, widely supported codecs. It is easy to use. Features include profiles, title/chapter selection, queue files, subtitles, video filters, and live video preview makes this an essential tool.

OS	Supported	Notes
		Well supported on all three platforms. There is also a command line version for each platform. Homepage: handbrake.fr Developer: HandBrake community License: GNU GPL v2 Written in: C, C##, Objective-C

digiKam

This advanced photo management application is a good fit for professional photographers. Packed with features, you can import pictures, organize your collection, edit and enhance pictures, create slideshows, and share your creations using social web services.

OS	Supported	Notes
		The developers provide official bundles for all 3 operating systems. The latest release introduces an important common solution to deploy the application under Linux using AppImage bundle. Homepage: www.digikam.org Developer: KDE License: GNU GPL v2 Written in: C++

GIMP

The GNU Image Manipulation Program is a versatile graphics manipulation package. Once regarded a poor man’s version of Photoshop and derided for its idiosyncrasies, GIMP has matured to become a highly respected package, particularly for image authoring, image composition and photo retouching.

OS	Supported	Notes
		All major Linux distributions include a package for GIMP. The development team provide binaries for OS X and Windows. Homepage: www.gimp.org Developer: The GIMP Development Team License: GNU GPL v3 or higher Written in: C

Beets

Beets is a media library management system for obsessive-compulsive music geeks.

Beets catalogs your media collection, automatically improving its metadata as it goes. It then offers a collection of tools for manipulating and accessing your music. It catalogs your collection, automatically improving its metadata as it goes using the MusicBrainz database. Then it provides a collection of tools for manipulating and accessing your music.

Because beets is designed as a library, it can do almost anything you can imagine for your music collection.

OS	Supported	Notes
		Beets requires Python. It is difficult to install on Windows. Homepage: beets.io Developer: Adrian Sampson with contributors License: MIT Written in: Python

mpv

There aren’t many command line tools featured in this article, but mpv is one of them. It is a fork of mplayer2 and MPlayer. mpv has a OpenGL based video output that is capable of many features loved by videophiles.

mpv leverages the FFmpeg hwaccel APIs to support VDPAU, VAAPI, DXVA2, VDA and VideoToolbox video decoding acceleration.

OS	Supported	Notes
		There are builds available for Windows, and OS X (including Fink, Hombrew and MacPorts). Major Linux distributions include this software but often outdated versions. Homepage: mpv.io Developer: MPlayer and mplayer2 developers License: GPL v2 or later, some parts GNU LGPL 2.1 or later Written in: C, Lua, Objective-C