ALTERNATIVES.md

ALTERNATIVES TO BLOATWARE

The list is built pointing to software that has alternatives with less dependencies, and addressing dependencies was the easy thing. Some tools in particular were included because they add less dependencies overall while keeping a system functional. One such example is imagemagick and ffmpeg, by which you can do a lot of work and replace many tools by just using those with scripts and replace something like a screenshot utility. Certainly it would be great to have a comparative on resource usage. However, a new revision now includes software that was previously discarded for better comparison and featured recommendations will not be highlight for the moment.

TL;DR: is about the unix principle, having a fully functional system pretty damn minimal with that.

TOC

1. Android Apps
2. Command Line
3. Communication
   3.1. Desktop Client
4. Data
5. Decentralized Networking
6. Emulation And Virtualization
7. File Utilities
8. Filesharing
9. Forensics
10. Hardware
11. Monitoring
    11.1. Benchmarking
    11.2. System Information
    11.3. System Monitoring
12. Multimedia
    12.1. ASCii Art
    12.2. Audio
    12.3. Image
    12.4. Metadata
    12.5. Video
13. Network Setup
14. Office
15. Package Management
16. Pentesting
    16.1. Exploitables
    16.2. Network Scanner
    16.3. Network Tampering
    16.4. Password Cracking
    16.5. Vulnerability Scanner
17. Privacy
18. Programming
19. Remote Access
20. Science And Engineering
21. Security
    21.1. Containment
    21.2. Honeypots
    21.3. Host Intrusion
    21.4. Network Intrusion
22. Server
    22.1. Server Authentication
23. System Utilities
    23.1. Init
    23.2. Job Scheduler
24. X Desktop
25. Wayland

ANDROID APPS

• Launcher: Rootless Pixel Launcher (1,61 MB) -> T-UI (1,5 MB) -> Slim Launcher (1,4 MB) -> KISS (0,9 MB) -> Search Based Launcher (622 KB) -> Light Android Launcher (242 KB) -> Emerald Launcher (186 KB) -> Last Launcher (149 KB) -> PieLauncher (136 KB) -> Keikai Launcher (96 KB) -> Fast (75 KB) -> T4 Launcher (44 KB)
• Twitter: SlimSocial for Twitter (699 KB)
• YouTube: SkyTube (9 MB) -> NewPipe (7,2 MB) -> WebTube (1,9 MB)
• Photo Gallery: LeafPic Revived (7,7 MB) -> Camera Roll (2,4 MB) -> A Photo Manager (1,42 MB)
• E-Books: MuPDF mini (11 MB) -> Document Viewer (8,9 MB)
• Notes: Markor (7 MB) -> Simple Notes Pro (5,5 MB) -> Orgzly (5 MB) -> Omni Notes (4,6 MB) -> Just Notes (1,8 MB) -> Notepad (1,5 MB) -> My Notes (1,4 MB) -> Notes (200 KB) -> uNote (71 KB)
• Keyboards: Hacker's Keyboard (2,7 MB) -> BeHe Keyboard (1 MB) -> Simple Keyboard (835 KB)
• File Manager: Simple File Manager Pro (5,5 MB) -> Material Files (4,2 MB) -> File Manager (2,4 MB) -> OI File Manager (2,2 MB) -> Ghost Commander (1,3 MB) -> Dir (1,1 MB)
• Dictionary: Quickdic (4,7 MB) -> Aard 2 (3,1 MB) -> DictionaryForMIDs (1 MB)
• Firewall: AFWall+ (6,6 MB) -> NetGuard (2,5 MB)
• E-Mail: Inbox Pager (8 MB) -> K-9 Mail (7,7 MB) -> SimpleEmail (2,8 MB)
• Browser: Privacy Browser (11 MB) -> Midori Next (4 MB) -> jQuarks -> Lightning (3,3 MB) -> FOSS Browser (3 MB)
• Calendar: SimpleCalendar (7,3 MB) -> Etar (5,3 MB)
• Messaging (centralized): QKSMS (13 MB) -> Dib2Qm (0,6 MB)
• Messaging (Federated): (Matrix): Element (Riot.im) (52 MB) -> Syphon (33 MB) -> Tensor (9 MB) | (XMPP): blabber.im (29 MB) -> Conversations (28 MB) -> Conv6ations (28 MB) -> Xabber (17 MB) -> Kontalk (12 MB) -> yaxim (1,9 MB)
• Messaging (P2P): Jami (40 MB) -> Briar (30 MB)

Most apps are from F-Droid, we are just starting.

Command Line

• Commands Cheatsheet: CLI Companion -> xman -> cheat / tldr / howdoi / clf / fu / bro -> curl cht.sh/PROGRAM
• Copy and Move Progress Bar: progress -> Advanced Copy
• Daemonize: dtach -> abduco -> GNU Screen
• Directory Bookmarks: Apparix -> fasd
• Framebuffer Environment: jfbterm/Fbterm -> yaft (because sixel) -> hterm (because regis) -> Fbpad -> FramebufferUI
• Hacker Culture: ddate, fortune, The Hacker Test, The Jargon File
• Login: fgetty -> mingetty -> stty (GNU Coreutils) -> agetty (util-linux)
• Menu: pdmenu -> tmenu -> iSelect -> pick -> fzy -> slmenu
• Multiplexer: Byobu -> Tmux -> GNU Screen (+sixel patch) -> dvtm
• Notification: skroll
• Progress Bar: vramsteg -> clpbar- > pv - Pipe Viewer -> sob - simple output bar -> dbar
• Scripting: Multipipe -> GNU Parallel (+ GNU SQL) -> execline -> Expect -> empty
• Shells: Xonsh -> PowerShell -> Bash (+ bash-completion + bash-completion-extras) -> zsh -> tcsh -> PC-DCL -> mksh -> dash -> rc -> s -> Danshell
• Terminal Colorizer: colout -> lolcat -> Bashish
• Terminal Dropdown: tdrop -> YeahConsole -> alwaysontop
• Terminal Emulator: Gnome TerminalC++ -> LxterminalC -> SakuraC -> weztermRust -> AlacrittyRust -> TermitC -> tymC Note: All this terminals are compatible with wayland
• Terminal Pager: most -> less (+ lesspipe)
• Terminal Screensaver: bb, sl, tty-clock, CMatrix, cowsay (or cowthink), rice, Asciiquarium, pipes, nyan.sh, rickrollrc, NCMatrix, terminal-screensaver, No More Secrets

Communication

• BBS-MUD Client: SyncTERM -> kbtin -> TinTin++
• Bookmarks Manager: bookmarks.public -> bk_edit -> pmb -> b.
• Browser: ungoogled-chromium -> Pale Moon -> GNU IceCat -> Qutebrowser -> luakit / vimb / surf (tabbed) -> NetSurf (works in the framebuffer too)
• Browser (Command Line): Lynx -> Links2 (can display images) -> Netrik
• Browser (Gopher): GopherVR -> gopherfs -> UMN Gopher client -> sacc -> cgo -> Lynx
• Chat Client: Finch (Pidgin) in irssi mode -> Centerim -> Bitlbee
• E-Mail Archiver: Hypermail -> Lurker
• E-Mail Client (MUA): Thunderbird (+ Enigmail) -> Mailspring -> Emacs (Gnus) -> Alpine -> Mutt -> mailutils ("mailx") -> S-nail ("mailx") + Muttprint
• E-Mail Fetcher: Fetchmail -> fdm -> isync (mbsync)
• E-Mail MIME: TNEF
• E-Mail SMTP Client: nullmailer -> msmtp
• IPTV: FreetuxTV
• IRC Client: Weechat -> HexChat -> Irssi -> ii -> Kirc -> sic
• Media Center: Plex -> Jellyfin -> Kodi -> Emby -> LittleWeeb
• Offline Reader: Kiwix -> HTTrack -> Stallman.js -> Wget
• Online Radio: Nuvola Player
• RSS Feed and Podcast: gPodder -> Liferea -> Newsboat -> sfeed
• Search Engine Scraper: Googler / ddgr -> Surfraw
• Streams Catcher: youtube-dl -> youtube-pl -> RTMPDump -> quvi
• UPnP (DLNA) Client: djmount
• Usenet Client (Newsreader): Pan -> slrn ( + slrnpull + slrnface)
• VoIP Client: Matrix -> Jami -> Jitsi -> Tox -> Finch (Pidgin)
• XMPP Client: Profanity

Desktop Client

• 4chan: ANSIchan / yottu
• Booru: ahoviewer
• General: Weboob -> Rambox
• Reddit: PRAW -> cReddit -> tuir -> ttrv -> reddio
• Telegram: Telegram Desktop -> ncTelegram -> tdlib-purple
• Twitter: turses -> oysttyer
• Youtube: mps-youtube -> youtube-viewer

Data

• Data Mining and Business Intelligence: JasperReports -> KNIME
• Data Parsing: XMLStarlet -> Flat file extractor (ffe)
• Database (Datalog): Datalog Educational System, Datalog
• Database (Middleware): MySQL Workbench -> Virtuoso Universal Server -> Orbada
• Database (NoSQL): RRDtool, Dgraph, Redis, GNU Recutils
• Database (SQL): MySQL -> Percona -> MariaDB -> PostgreSQL ->CUBRID
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): odoo -> IDempiere -> LedgerSMB -> SQL-Ledger
• Expert System: CLIPS -> Flora-2
• Financial Markets Monitoring: JStock
• Full-Text Search: Xapian -> Groonga
• Human Resource Management: OrangeHRM
• Invoicing: Simple Invoices
• Project Management: GanttProject

Decentralized Networking

• Backbone Framework: GNUnet
• Chat: Tox -> Matrix -> GNU Jami -> nircd
• Darknet: Tor -> ZeroNet -> i2p -> Freenet
• Digital Library: Aletheia
• Distributed File Systems: Samba -> NFS (nfs-utils) -> davfs2 -> Upspin -> IPFS
• Distributed File Systems (Samba): SMB for FUSE (FuseSmb) -> SMBNetFS -> CIFS (cifs-utils)
• DNS Resolution: OpenNIC -> Namecoin -> KadNode
• E-Commerce: OpenBazaar + Bitnation + GNU Taler
• E-Commerce (Bitcoin): Qt Bitcoin Trader (Bitcoin Trader), Abe (Block Chain Browser)
• E-Commerce (Bitcoin Wallet): Armory -> Bitcoin Core -> Monero
• E-Mail: Notbit (Bitmessage)
• Forum: Decentraland -> GNU Social (Pleroma, Mastodon) -> Syndie -> NNTPChan
• Grid Computing: traceroute@home -> BOINC (+ boinctui)
• Media Hosting: BitChute -> DTube -> MediaGoblin -> Alexandria (not ready yet but this how it works) -> IPFS Companion -> IPFSTube
• Mesh Network: Tinc -> cjdns -> BMX6 -> B.A.T.M.A.N.
• Monetary Incentives: Storj + Gridcoin + Stream Token
• Network Block Device: Usbredir -> nbd
• Search Engine: searx -> YaCy (truly decentralized, would be wonderful if searx/seeks could feed its data to YaCy)
• Search Engine (Torrents): Magnetissimo -> magnetico -> Torrentinim
• Streaming: LBRY -> Livepeer -> PeerTube
• Version Control (Decentralized Github): git-annex (+ git-annex assistant) -> GitTorrent
• VPN: n2n -> PeerVPN

Emulation And Virtualization

• Containers: fakechroot -> FakeRoot -> PRoot -> containerd -> OpenVZ -> User-mode Linux (UML) -> LXC -> Linux-VServer
• Emulators: Systemd/Linux: systemd-shim | Windows: Wine + Wine Staging | Android: AnboxC++, Waydroid(for wayland)Python | OS X: Darling | Atari: Hatari (16/32-bit) and Atari800 (8-bit) | CP/M: cpm + cpmtool | Spectrum: FBZX | Commodore: VICE | DOS: DOSBox
• Hypervisors: Xen -> NOVA -> KVM
• Network Virtualization: GNS3 -> nsnam
• Video Game Console Emulation (ATARI): Stella
• Video Game Console Emulation (XBOX): XQEMU
• Video Game Console Emulation (MULTIPLE): Higan -> Mednafen -> RetroArch -> MAME -> AdvanceMAME (framebuffer support)
• Video Game Console Emulation (NINTENDO): FCEUX/Citra, DeSmuME (Nintendo DS), Mupen64Plus (Nintendo 64), Dolphin (GameCube and Wii)
• Video Game Console Emulation (SCUMM): ScummVM
• Video Game Console Emulation (SEGA): Gens/GS, Exodus, Yabause (Sega Saturn), Lxdream, Reicast (Dreamcast)
• Video Game Console Emulation (PLAYSTATION): PPSSPP, RPCS3, PCSX2
• Virtual Assembler: GNUSim8085, spim
• Virtual Machine: VirtualBox -> AQEMU + kvm -> Qemu + kvm -> Bochs
• Virtual Machine (DEC): SIMH

File Utilities

• Batch Renamer: Metamorphose2 -> GPRename -> vidir -> qmv (renameutils) -> mmv
• Duplicate Files Removal: dupeGuru -> FSlint -> dupmerge2 -> duff -> Fdupes -> jdupes -> rmlint
• File Archiver: PeaZip -> dar -> Patool -> tar -> pax
• File Compression: Zstandard (Zstd), Zip, lzop, Plzip, p7zip, lbzip2, lrzip, pigz
• File De-Compression Only: unace, cabextract, unrar, Lunzip, UnZip
• File Manager: Thunar -> Xfe -> Midnight Commander -> PCManFM -> FDclone -> vifm -> SpaceFM -> Ranger -> worker -> CLEX -> Ytree -> nnn -> rover
• File Search: ANGRYsearch -> Tracker -> DocFetcher -> lightmediascanner -> find
• File Synchronization: Syncthing -> FreeFileSync -> Unison -> duplicity -> Rsync
• Pictures Organizer: hydrus network -> Shotwell -> digiKam -> gThumb (+ gphoto) -> BASH-Booru
• RegEx Builder: txt2regex

Filesharing

• Download Manager: aria2 -> cURL -> Wget -> Axel
• File Scraper: Grive2 (Google Drive) -> megatools (Mega) -> Rclone -> Plowshare
• FTP Client: FileZilla -> lftp -> NcFTP
• LAN Sharing: NitroShare -> ShareDrop
• Media Miner: FlexGet -> Sonarr
• Soulseek: Nicotine+ -> Museek (mucous)
• Torrent Client: qBittorrent -> RTorrent -> transmission-daemon (web interface by default, other frontends optional) -> btpd + mktorrent
• Torrent Tracker Scraper: Torrench -> Jackett
• Usenet (File Grabber): SABnzbd -> NZBGet
• File Share: OnionShare, Blaze, BlackHole, Envelop, ToffeeShare, FilePizza, Magic Wormhole, croc

Forensics

• Application Profiling: CGprof -> Valgrind (+ Callgrind)
• Debugger: CGDB -> OpenOCD -> GDB
• Delta Encoding: xdelta -> Bsdiff
• Forensic Analysis Framework: The Sleuth Kit -> DFF -> Radare
• Hex Editors: HT Editor -> dhex -> hexedit
• Java Profiling: VisualVM
• Memory Scanner (Cheat Engine): scanmem & Gameconqueror -> varedit
• Sandbox: Cuckoo Sandbox

Hardware

• Cameras: ZoneMinder (CCTV), Motion (motion detection), gPhoto (connecting digital cameras), ccdciel
• Car (as in automobile): can-utils
• CD-DVD Burn and Copy (Backends): cdrtools -> cdrkit -> cdrskin
• CD-DVD Burn and Copy (Frontends): K3b -> Brasero -> xorriso -> cdw
• CD-DVD Cue Files: cuetools
• CD-DVD Information: cd-discid
• CD-DVD Ripping: Sound Juicer -> fre ac
• Data Recovery: fatcat -> TestDisk (PhotoRec) -> ddrescue
• Device Management (and module autoloader): evdev -> vdev
• Disk Cloning and Writing: dd -> dc3dd
• Display Color Temperature: Redshift -> sct | gammastep (wayland) -> wlsunset (wayland)
• Display Settings: xrandrc -> fbsetc | wlr-randrc (wayland)
• Displays (Miracast): MiracleCast
• Hardware Bus: multipath-tools, I2C Tools, IPMI Tool (ipmitool, ipmiutil) (IPMI DANGEROUS IF ENABLED)
• Hardware RAID: mdadm -> dmraid
• Keyboard Bindings: Xbindkeys -> sxhkd -> loadkeys (+ keymaps)
• Keyboard Input Language: iBus -> SCIM -> Fcitx -> uim (+ Anthy)
• Keyboard Layout: KBD -> XKB -> xmodmap -> keyd
• Media Transfer Protocol (MTP): MTPfs -> jmtpfs -> simple-mtpfs
• Mounting: AcetoneISO -> Udisks (+ udevil) -> Lightweight Device Mounter (ldm) -> USBmount -> pmount -> bashmount -> mount
• Mouse: xbanish -> keynav -> GPM
• Power Management: tpacpi-bat -> thinkfan -> TLP -> PowerTOP
• Printers: CUPS
• Scanners: Scanner Access Now Easy (SANE)
• Software-defined radio (SDR): Gqrx -> rtl-sdr
• Tv (DVR): xawtv
• Tv (Multicast): udpxy -> IGMPproxy
• Undevolting and Power Saving: TurionPowerControl -> cpufrequtils -> cpupower -> schedtool
• UPS: egctl -> Network UPS Tools (NUT) -> apcupsd

Monitoring

Benchmarking

• Drive Profiling: Smartmontools -> fio -> sdparm -> hdparm
• Filesystem Benchmark: IOzone -> Bonnie++ -> MBW
• General Benchmarking: collectd -> Phoronix Test Suite -> HPC Challenge Benchmark (hpcc) -> mcelog -> Sysbench
• Network Profiling: net-snmp -> vnStat -> iperf
• Server Benchmark: Siege
• System Tracing: SystemTap -> LTTng -> OProfile -> Sysdig -> dtrace -> strace -> trace-cmd (ftrace) -> perf + FlameGraph

System Information

• General Information: inxi
• Hardware Information: vdpauinfo -> lshw -> hwloc -> lsscsi -> edac-utils -> usbutils (lsusb) -> pciutils (lspci) -> util-linux (lsblk, blkid, dmesg) -> dmidecode
• Screenshot Information: Archey4Python -> screenFetchBash -> FastfetchC -> AlsiPerl
• Software Information: vrms -> file -> ldd -> lsb_release -> os-prober -> uname (GNU Coreutils)

System Monitoring

• Disk Usage: QDirStat -> Baobab -> xdiskusage -> Duc -> dfc -> tdu -> Ncdu -> du + df (GNU coreutils)
• Geolocation: Prey
• Hardware Monitoring: lm-sensors (psensor for a GUI) -> CrazyDiskInfo
• Log Monitoring: lnav -> Logcheck -> multiTail
• Log Visualizer: glTail -> Logstalgia
• Network Flow: HFlow -> nfdump
• Network Latency: OpenNMS -> SmokePing -> bmon
• Network Monitoring: tcptrack -> IPTState -> NetHogs -> iftop, dnstop
• Port Monitoring: psad
• Process Monitoring: PSmisc (fuser, pkill, pstree)
• Serial Monitoring: slsnif -> interceptty -> ttylog
• System Latency: LatencyTOP
• System Monitor: HardInfo -> dool -> XFCE4-TaskManager -> atop -> LxTask -> xosview -> BashTop -> htop -> nmon -> px
• User Monitoring: Whowatch -> acct
• Web Log Analytics: AWStats -> pmacct
• Web State Monitor: Nagios (+ NagVis)
• Wi-Fi Network Monitor: wavemon

Multimedia

ASCii Art

• ASCii Animation: blessed -> Durdraw -> drawille
• ASCii Banner: shellpic -> TOIlet
• ASCii Drawing: cadubi -> CAVE WALL -> textdraw
• ASCii Presentations: wopr -> blessed-contrib
• Image to ASCii: jp2a
• Video to ASCii: libcaca

Audio

• Audio Editing: Audacity -> Kwave -> Snd -> Ecasound -> Gnome Wave Cleaner -> EKO -> SoX
• Audio Effect Plugins: awesfx (SoundFont), Vamp, zam-plugins (LADSPA/LV2/VST/JACK), LV2 (x42-plugins), LADSPA (tap-plugins), ALSA plugins (alsa-plugins)
• Background Sound: GNU GTick
• Digital Audio Workstation: Rosegarden -> Ardour -> LMMS
• DJing: Mixxx
• Ear Training: LenMus
• Multiple Audio Streams: pulseaudio -> apulse -> ALSA (aloop, Softvol, Dmix)
• Music Player: Nulloy -> Audacious -> MOC (+ moc-ffmpeg-plugin) -> cmus -> mp3blaster (runs with "aoss mp3blaster" or compiled with ALSA) -> Potamus -> MikMod -> Quod Libet
• Music Visualization: Spectrum3d -> Le Biniou -> projectM -> cava -> cli-visualizer
• Scorewriter: MuseScore -> LilyPond -> Emacs (lyqi) -> Philip's Music Writer (pmw) -> abcMIDI (abcpp + abc2prt + abcm2ps)
• Software Sampler: LinuxSampler -> orDrumbox -> Hydrogen
• Synthesizer: AlsaModularSynth -> ZynAddSubFX -> FluidSynth (+ SoundFonts)
• System Sound Compatibility: oss-compat, alsa-oss
• System Sound Extensions: pulseaudio -> Jack (jack, jack-audio-connection-kit)
• System Sound Utilities: pavucontrol (pulseaudio) -> Qastools -> ALSA tools (alsa-tools, alsa-tools-gui) -> Alsaequal -> alsa-utils (alsamixer, amixer, aplay, arecord)
• Tracker Editors: MilkyTracker -> Schism
• Trackers: SID-Wizard -> GoatTracker
• Tray Icon: Volume Icon -> Volti

Image

• Bitmaps to Vector Conversion: AutoTrace (webpage) -> Potrace
• Diagram Editor: Pencil Project -> Dia -> Graphviz
• Digital Drawing (Bitmap Graphics): Krita -> MyPaint -> Xournal -> XPaint -> GrafX2
• Digital Drawing (Coloring): OpenColorIO -> deepcolor -> Style2Paints
• Digital Drawing (Fonts): FontForge
• Digital Drawing (Vector): Inkscape -> Xfig -> ImageMagick
• Fonts Conversion: bdftopcf, PSF Tools, pcf2bdf, bdf2psf
• Fractals and Random Computer Artwork: Mandelbulber
• Image Editing: GIMP -> RawTherapee -> GraphicsMagick -> Netpbm -> G'MIC -> Gifsicle -> ImageMagick (display, import)
• Image Optimizing: OptiPNG -> pngcrush -> pngquant
• Image Viewer: imvC -> display (ImageMagick)C -> sxivC -> FehC -> fimC++ -> lsixBASH -> SwayimgC -> idumpC
• Plotting: Gnuplot -> Ngraph-gtk -> PLplot

Metadata

• Metadata: Easytag -> Beets -> MAT2 -> Exiv2 -> MediaInfo -> viexif -> ExifTool -> exif

Video

• Compositing: CinePaint -> Natron
• Digital Animation (2D): Synfig -> OpenToonz
• Digital Animation (3D): Blender
• Flash Player: Lightspark
• HDR (High-Dynamic-Range): pfstools
• Screencasting: Open Broadcaster Studio -> SimpleScreenRecorder -> ffscreencast -> FFmpeg
• Video Editing: Avidemux -> Flowblade -> Shotcut -> Olive -> Pitivi -> Kdenlive -> blind -> Melt -> FFmpeg
• Video Effects Plugins: Frei0r
• Video Player: VLC -> MPV -> Parole -> Audience -> fbff -> ffplay
• Video to gif: Video2Gif -> QGifer -> convert (ImageMagick) -> FFmpeg
• Video Transcoding: HandBrake -> WinFF -> FFmpeg / avconv

Network Setup

• Bandwidth Saver: Wondershaper
• Bandwidth Testing: speedtest-cli -> speed-test
• Bluetooth: Bluez-tools
• DHCP Client: dhclient -> dhcpcd
• DNS Encryption: DNSSEC, DNSCrypt
• DNS Resolution: dnsmasq -> Unbound + NDS -> BIND9
• Network Encryption: OpenSSL -> LibreSSL -> GnuTLS -> IPsec / SAE (802.11s)
• Network Manager: Wicd -> NetworkManager -> ConnMan -> SetNet
• Networking Tools: ethtool -> iproute2 (ip, ss) -> net-tools (ifconfig, netstat)
• Point-to-Point Protocol: Point-to-Point Protocol daemon (ppp)
• Wireless Tools: rfkill, iw -> wpa_supplicant

Office

• Address book: abook
• Desktop Publishing: Scribus
• Dictionary: Goldendict -> Artha -> Dico
• Document Format Conversion: unoconvPython -> md2pdfPython -> PandocHaskell -> inf2manpAwk
• Document Processor: Emacs (AUCTeX) -> LyX -> GNU TeXmacs
• Ebook Utilities: DeDRM tools
• Ebook Utilities (CHM): xCHM
• Ebook Utilities (Epub): Ebook Tools (ebook-tools)
• Ebook Utilities (PDF): PDF SaM -> PDFtk-java -> PDF Mix Tool -> PDFarranger -> PyPDF2 -> stapler -> krop
• Ebook Utilities (PostScript): ghostscript
• Ebook Viewer: Okular -> Zathura -> JFBView / fimgs (fim) / fbgs (fbida) / fbpdf
• Flashcards: Anki -> iGNUit -> The Mnemosyne Project
• Gamification: Habitica
• Mind Mapping: VYM -> Semantik -> Minder -> Heimer
• Office Suites: ONLYOFFICE -> LibreOffice -> OpenOffice -> Calligra
• Outliner: TreeSheets -> Vault 3 -> GJots2 -> Emacs (Org-mode) -> Vim (Vimoutliner or Vim-orgmode) -> snb
• Personal Accounting: GnuCash -> Ledger
• Personal Assistant: Mycroft -> Lucida (aka Sirius) -> betty
• Personal Organizer: Task Coach -> Taskwarrior -> calcurse -> todo.txt-cli
• Presentation: Beamer -> Sozi
• Repetitive Strain Injury: Workrave
• Speed Reading: Flinks -> speedread
• Spell Check: Aspell
• Spreadsheets: Libreoffice Calc -> Gnumeric -> SC-IM
• Text Editor: Neovim -> gedit -> Bluefish -> JOE -> nvi -> mousepad -> Vim -> Elvis -> TEA -> ne -> Nano -> jove -> GNU Zile -> vis -> ox -> mle -> mg -> ed -> Kilo
• Text Editor (IDE): Aptana -> Atom -> Eclipse -> VSCodium -> Emacs (nox)) -> DrJava -> ZinjaI -> Eric -> KDevelop -> Vim -> xwpe (full IDE in the terminal)
• Text Encoding: fuse-convmvfs, Dos2Unix
• Text Formatting and Pretty Printing: par -> fmt (Textutils)
• Text-To-Speech: Orca -> Gespeaker -> eBook-speaker (+ pandoc) -> eSpeak
• Translation Editor: Poedit -> poe
• Typesetting: LaTeX -> Texinfo -> Discount (Markdown) -> groff (tbl, pic, eqn, chem, music, dpic, grohtml)
• Typing Training: Klavaro -> GNU Typist
• Word Processor: LibreOffice Writer -> Abiword -> WordGrinder

Package Management

• CD/USB (Custom Installer): LinuxRespin -> PinguyBuilder -> Mklivecd
• CD/USB (Live): UNetbootin -> MultiCD
• Gaming Platform: LGOGDownloader (GOG.com), SteamCMD (Steam), Lutris
• Language Specific: bpkg (Bash scripts) -> CPAN (+ Pinto) (Perl) -> clib (C)
• Package Creation: OBS (Open Build Service) -> CheckInstall -> GNU Stow
• Portable Apps: Flatpak -> Snap -> AppImage
• System Backup: Systemback -> Bacula -> FSArchiver -> CYA
• Universal Package Managers: Alien -> LinuxBrew -> pkgsrc -> GNU Guix

Pentesting

Exploitables

• Distros: Security Scenario Generator (SecGen) -> Metasploitable
• Web Apps: Mutillidae -> hackxor -> WebGoat

Network Scanner

• Bluetooth: bluesniff
• DNS Client: whois, dnsenum, bind-tools (nslookup, host, dig)
• Link Scanner: Metagoofil -> LinkChecker ->
• Network Enumeration: SSLScan, xprobe2, p0f, WhatWeb, PRADS
• Network File Retrieval: Driftnet -> VoIPong
• Network Mapping: Open Visual Traceroute -> EtherApe -> Paris Traceroute -> Dublin Traceroute -> MTR -> Layer Four Traceroute (LFT) -> tcptraceroute -> iputils (Ping, traceroute, tracepath, arping)
• OSINT: SpiderFoot -> TheHarvester
• Packet Sniffer: Wireshark -> tcpflow -> tcpdump
• Reconnaissance Framework: Recon-ng -> DMitry -> Nmap -> ngrep
• WiFi Scanner: FLUXION -> Kismet

Network Tampering

• General: netcat -> ncat (nmap) -> socat -> Netsed
• Man-in-the-middle Attack: Morpheus -> evilginx2 -> bettercap -> Ettercap
• Packet Crafting: Ostinato
• Traffic Replay: Tcpreplay

Password Cracking

• BIOS: CmosPwd
• General: John the Ripper / Hashcat
• PDF: pdfcrack
• Remote: THC Hydra
• WiFi: Aircrack-ng
• Windows: Ophcrack
• Wordlist Generator: CUPP

Vulnerability Scanner

• Application Vulnerability: BCCF -> afl-fuzz
• Backdooring: Veil -> Backdoor Factory -> Evilgrade
• Cross-Scripting: xsser
• Exploit Famework: Metasploit -> WebSploit -> w3af
• Network Vulnerability: pytbull -> Yersinia
• Post Exploitation: Post Exploitation Collection (Windows) -> mimikatz (Windows) -> Post Exploitation Linux Toolkit
• SIP: Sippts
• Social Engineering: SET (Social Engineering Toolkit), BeEF (The Browser Exploitation Framework Project)
• SQL Injection: sqlmap
• Web Application Vulnerability: Nikto

Privacy

• Data Erasure: BleachBit -> shred (GNU Coreutils)
• Boot Encryption: cryptboot
• Disk Encryption: dislocker -> cryptsetup (dm-crypt)
• File Encryption: GNU Privacy Assistant -> ccrypt -> GNU Privacy Guard
• Filesystem Encryption: EncFS -> StegFS
• Folder Encryption: VeraCrypt -> Tomb -> tcplay (full TrueCrypt implementation and still minimalist)
• Encrypted Version Control: Keyringer
• Password Generator: pwgen -> randstr
• Password Manager: KeePassX / KeePassXC -> pass (+ pass-tomb) -> kpcli
• Steganography: Steghide

Programming

• Build Automation: Ninja -> GNU make -> bmake -> Icmake
• Build Script Generation: Gradle -> Cmake (+ cmocka) -> Autotools (Automake, Autoconf) -> mk-configure
• Code Beautifier: HTML Tidy -> Indent
• Compilers (Assembly): NASM -> Yasm -> as (GNU binutils)
• Compilers (C): clang
• Compilers (Java): Java SE (JDK) -> GraalVM (compile multiple languages into JVM)
• Compilers (Multiple languages): GCC (GNU -native- Compiler for Java, GnuCOBOL, GNU Fortran) + colorgcc
• Compiling Speeding Up: distcc, ccache
• Cross-compiler: Buildroot -> Crosstool-NG
• Documentation Browser: Devhelp -> Zeal
• Documentation Generator: perlpod, bashdoc, Doxygen, GNU help2man
• Issue Tracking System: Bugzilla
• Linting: ShellCheck, GNU Source-highlight
• Memory Allocation: jemalloc -> boehm-gc
• Parser Generators: ANTLR -> Ragel -> GNU bison and Flex -> re2c -> GNU m4
• Program Transformation: FermaT, Coccinelle
• Random Hacks: patchelf, SWIG, Gengetopt
• Source Code Count: CLOC
• Source Code Navigation: cflow (+ pycflow2dot), LXR: The Linux Cross Referencer -> GNU GLOBAL -> cscope -> Ctags -> ack -> ag
• Source-to-Source Compiler: ROSE
• System Query: sysconftool, pkgconf
• Version Control: Git (+ tig) -> Fossil -> Bazaar -> RCS + mr + quilt

Remote Access

• Configuration Management: Puppet -> LCFG -> CFEngine -> cdist
• Control Panel: Vesta Control Panel -> Webmin
• Diskless Booting: iPXE
• PC-Mobile Connection: KDE Connect -> Wammu -> AndroidTools
• Remote Desktop (Client): Remmina
• Remote Desktop (Client and Server): X2Go
• Remote Desktop (Server): xrdp
• Remote Execution: pconsole
• Remote File Manager: KodExplorer
• Remote Login: Mosh -> OpenSSH -> Dropbear
• Remote X Apps: Xpra > X11 forwarding
• Serial Console: Minicom -> Picocom -> Qodem -> GNU Screen
• Server Provisioning: FAI

Science And Engineering

• Artificial Intelligence: Arcade Learning Environment, Conscious Artificial Intelligence, OpenCog, OpenAI
• Astronomy: Sky Chart (Cartes du Ciel) -> astroTools + evTools -> GNU Astronomy Utilities (Gnuastro)
• Astronomy (Planetarium): Stellarium -> Celestia -> XEphem -> SkyCat
• Astronomy (Satelline Tracking): SaVi satellite constellation visualizer
• Bioinformatics: OpenSim, Cytoscape, BioJava -> UGENE -> SAMtools -> BioPerl
• CAD: Blender -> FreeCAD -> LibreCAD -> OpenSCAD
• Circuit Simulator: KiCad -> ngspice -> Gnucap
• Computational Fluid Dynamics: TELEMAC -> FEATFLOW -> OpenFOAM -> Gerris
• Computer Algebra System: Singular -> Maxima (+ PLplot) -> bc + GNU Units
• Data Visualization: SocNetV -> Gephi -> Tulip
• Geography (Geographic Information System): qGIS
• Geography (Street Map): JOSM -> Osmosis
• Geography (Subway Map): qMetro
• Geography (Virtual Globe): Marble
• Graphing Calculator: Lybniz -> KAlgebra
• Multi-Agent (MA) Simulation: Galatea -> NetLogo -> Golly (Conway's Game of Life clone)
• Physics Simulation: OpenModelica -> CalculiX -> Elmer -> MCSim
• Statistical Package: SageMath -> ROOT -> gretl -> PSPP (+ PSPP-Perl)
• Theorem Prover: Coq -> Abella -> Vampire -> Metamath
• Weather Forecast: XTide -> My Weather Indicator -> wego -> Weather Util -> curl wttr.in/YOURCITY, YOURCOUNTRY

Security

Containment

• Access Control (Kernel Patches): grsecurity + gradm -> SecurelLevel -> RSBAC
• Access Control (Linux Security Modules (LSM)): SELinux -> TOMOYO Linux -> AppArmor
• Authentication: Polkit -> ConsoleKit2 -> Sudo (visudo) -> Linux PAM -> checkpassword -> shadow
• Extended File Attributes: EVM -> IMA -> inotify
• Resource Usage Control: ulimit (Bash) -> Disk Quota -> quotatool
• Sandbox: Firejail -> nsjail -> Bubblewrap

Honeypots

• Distro Bundle: ADHD

Host Intrusion

• Anti Backdoor: rosenbridge, me_cleaner
• Anti Juice Jacking: usbkill -> USBGuard
• Anti Malware: ClamTk (clamAV UI) -> ClamAV -> Linux Malware Detect (LMD)
• Host Intrusion Detection Framework: OSSEC -> Tiger
• Host System Auditing: OpenVAS -> Linux Security Auditing Tool (LSAT) -> Lynis
• Integrity Check: PaX Utilities -> AIDE -> Tripwire -> Samhain
• Rootkit Detection: rkhunter, Chkrootkit, Unhide
• System Logging: socklog (runit) -> Rsyslog -> Syslog-ng

Network Intrusion

• Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) Block (Layer 7 Firewall): ipp2p -> OpenDPI
• Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) Circumvention: zapret
• Firewall: ufw + gufw (GUI) -> arptables -> ebtables -> iptables -> nftables
• Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) Detection: arpwatch -> ArpON
• Network Intrusion Detection: Snort -> Suricata
• Network Intrusion Prevention: Fail2ban -> Sshguard

Server

• BBS Server: Citadel -> Synchronet
• Bitcoin Miner: BFGMiner
• Bluetooth: BlueALSA
• Chat: sshtalk -> util-linux (write, wall, mesg)
• Cloud File Server: Nextcloud -> Syncthing -> sftp / SSHFS (SSH)
• CMS: WordPress -> GetSimple CMS -> werc
• Collaborative Real-Time Editor: Gobby -> EtherCalc -> Cryptpad
• DLNA: Universal Media Server -> Jellyfin -> ReadyMedia (a.k.a. MiniDLNA) -> MiniUPnP
• DNS Spam Detector: DNS Flood Detector
• Document Management System: OpenKM -> LogicalDOC -> EPrints
• Dynamic DNS (DDNS): DDClient
• E-Mail Filtering (LDA): Dovecot
• E-Mail Indexing: Notmuch -> mairix
• E-Mail Mailing Lists: Mailman -> Sympa -> Dada Mail -> ezmlm -> mlmmj
• E-Mail Server (MTA): Mail-in-a-Box -> Sendmail -> Postfix -> Exim -> cmail -> qpsmtpd -> OpenSMTPD -> s/qmail
• E-Mail Spam Filter: Bogofilter -> SpamAssassin
• File Distribution: zsync
• Forum: lainchan -> vichan -> Akari-BBS -> sshchan -> 1436chan
• Gopher Server: Gophernicus
• Groupware: Collabtive -> Alfresco -> eXo Platform -> Citadel/UX
• Image Hosting: icsend -> Up1
• IRC Bot: Seabattle (bot game), Infobot, Eggdrop (IRC bot)
• IRC Bouncer (BNC): ZNC -> bip
• IRC Fileserver: iroffer
• IRC Server: UnrealIRCd -> InspIRCd -> ngIRCd
• MUD Server: PennMUSH
• Paint chat: Drawpile
• Pastebin: Stikked -> Paste -> PrivateBin
• Political: LittleSis, Loomio
• Port Tunnel: stunnel -> sslh
• Proxy Server: Tinyproxy
• Service Manager: xinetd -> inetd (GNU inetutils) -> knockd -> TCP Wrappers (tcpd, tcpdchk)
• Streaming: Syncplay -> Peerflix (+ Torrentflix) -> Icecast (+ DarkIce -> ezstream) -> trx: Realtime audio over IP -> SRS -> VLC -> FFmpeg
• Torrent Tracker: Gazelle -> hefur
• Tunneling: HTTPTunnel -> VTun -> ProxyChains
• Tunneling VM: PIA Tunnel -> Whonix
• Usenet Server: InterNetNews -> Leafnode
• VoIP: GNU SIP Witch -> GNU Gatekeeper -> Mumble -> Linphone (linphonec) -> PJSIP -> sscall
• VPN (Overlay): strongSwan -> Libreswan -> OpenVPN (+ PiVPN) -> WireGuard
• VPN (Pseudo-wire): Tunneldigger
• Web Caching: Decentraleyes on a web browser -> Squid
• Web Filtering: Ad blocker on a web browser -> Pi-hole -> Privoxy -> (Hostsblock | Hosts)
• Web Server: Apache -> Nginx -> lighttpd -> Hiawatha -> Monkey -> darkhttpd -> Bucky (Bucktooth HTTP exit)
• Web Server Certificate: Dehydrated -> acmetool
• Wiki: TWiki -> DokuWiki -> XWiki -> ikiwiki
• Wireless Access Point: hostapd
• XMPP Server: Tigase

Server Authentication

• Directory Service: OpenLDAP
• RADIUS: FreeRADIUS
• SSO: krb5 (Kerberos) + keyutils
• Suites: FreeIPA -> SSSD

System Utilities

• BIOS: efibootmgr -> SeaBIOS -> Coreboot -> Libreboot
• Boot Loader: GRUB 2 -> SYSLINUX -> U-Boot (u-boot-tools)
• Boot Loaders (load on running machine): Kexec (kexec-tools)
• Cache: Memcached -> dm-cache -> bcache
• Core Utilities: moreutils -> Mtools -> util-linux -> GNU Coreutils -> BusyBox
• Custom Initramfs: mkinitcpio -> dracut -> mkinitramfs
• Filesystem: CP/M (cpmtools), SquashFS (squashfs-tools), UnionFS (unionfs-fuse), udftools (UDF), F2FS (f2fs-tools), exFAT (exfat-utils, fuse-exfat), FAT (dosfstools), Btrfs (btrfs-progs), Reiser4
• IPC: DBus -> ubus -> RPCBind -> ipcs (util-linux)
• Kernel Modules: NDISwrapper -> kmod (lsmod, insmod, modprobe)
• Kernel Patches: GoboHide, Kernel_gcc_patch, Linux-ck, Liquorix, Linux-rt, GNU Linux-libre
• Kernels: GNU Mach, RTLinux, Muen, HiStar
• Load in RAM: readahead
• Logical Volume Management: LVM2
• Multiplexer Wrappers: ucspi-unix, socket_wrapper, nss_wrapper, uid_wrapper, resolv_wrapper, pam_wrapper
• Network Time Protocol: chrony -> OpenNTPD
• OS Frameworks: OpenStack -> Genode
• Partitioning: Gparted -> GNU Parted -> util-linux (cfdisk, fdisk, sfdisk, mkfs, mkswap, swapon, swapoff)
• Partitioning Fixes: ms-sys
• Settings Manager: Youker Assistant -> Elektra -> Augeas -> The Fuck -> Suicide Linux
• Virtual Filesystem: Autofs -> AVFS -> bindfs

Init

• Daemon: Upstart -> SysVinit -> Initng -> Finit -> sinit
• Service Manager: OpenRC (includes an optional own init) -> runit (includes an optional own init) -> daemontools-encore
• Startup Scripts Manager: chkconfig

Job Scheduler

• Event: inotify-tools -> entr -> waitfordevice (w4d)
• Queue: Slurm -> Task Spooler
• Time: fcron -> dcron

X Desktop

• Application Launcher: rofi -> xfce4-appfinder -> bemenu -> j4-dmenu-desktop -> grun -> xstarter -> dmenu -> 9menu
• Boot Screen: Plymouth -> BOOTLOADER LOG
• Clipboard: CopyQ -> clipmenu -> xclip -> XSel
• Compositing Window Manager: Compiz -> Compton
• Desktop Animated Character: xevilteddy
• Desktop Automation: Autokey -> Sikuli -> Easystroke -> xdotool
• Font Settings: xfontsel + mkfontdir -> fontconfig -> /etc/X11/xorg.conf
• Graphics Settings: RiceDB -> Wpgtk -> LxAppearance -> dconf -> Xset -> /etc/X11/xorg.conf
• Login Manager: SDDM -> lightDM -> CDM -> XDM -> nodm -> Console-tdm -> tbsm -> ly
• Nested Display: Xephyr
• Notification (Daemon): dunst -> slstatus
• Notification (Server): Libnotify
• Panel: Avant Window Navigator -> Tint2
• Screensaver: XScreenSaver -> XLockmore -> i3lock -> sxlock -> slock
• Status Bar (Client): bevelbar -> Lemonbar
• Status Bar (Server): i3status
• Wallpaper Changer (Animated): Xsnow, xmountains, Xplanet, ImageMagick (animate)
• Wallpaper Changer (Still): FEH -> xsetroot -> imagemagick (but using 10MB more RAM than the others)
• Wallpaper Changer (Terminal As Wallpaper): root-tail
• Wallpaper Changer (Video): VLC (nvlc) -> mpv -> MPlayer
• Window Manager: Twin -> Qtile -> IceWM -> lwm -> notion -> i3 -> spectrwm -> herbstluftwm -> mlvwm -> FVWM -> jwm -> Ratpoison -> bspwm -> twm -> jbwm -> wmfs -> dwm -> cwm -> FrankenWM -> berry -> 9wm -> xlambda -> 2bwm -> sowm
• Window Manipulation: QuickTile -> wmutils
• X Event Display: xprop
• Screenshots: ShutterPerl -> maimC++ -> import (ImageMagick)C -> scrotC -> fbcat (FBGrab)C

Wayland

• Application Launcher: wofiC -> kickoffRust -> yofiRust -> nwg-launchersC++ -> mauncherC -> bemenuC -> fuzzelC -> dmenu-waylandC
• Clipboard: wl-clipboardC -> wayclipC
• Desktop Automation: ydotool -> wtype
• Login Manager: SDDM -> lightDM -> tbsm -> ly
• Notification (Daemon): swayncVala -> dunstC -> makoC
• Panel: yambar -> sfwbar
• Status Bar: rootbar -> waybar
• Screensaver: swaylock -> swayidle
• Wallpaper Changer (Animated): wallutilsGo -> swwwRust -> oguriC
• Wallpaper Changer (Still): swaybgC -> wbgC
• Wallpaper Changer (Video): mpvpaper
• Window Manager: wayfire -> labwc -> japokwm -> cagebreak -> vivarium -> waybox -> weston -> sawy -> waymonad -> hikari -> dwl -> velox
• Screenshots: grimC -> wayshotRust -> shotmanRust