A social‑impact platform making it easy to rescue surplus food from local cafés, bakeries, restaurants and retailers. The app is now active in 21 countries, helping millions cut waste and enjoy great food for less.

Why it’s worth using:

💸 Good food at half price or less

🌍 Cuts food waste and helps the planet

🛍️ Supports local shops, cafés and restaurants

🎁 Surprise Bags keep things fun and varied

🚚 Now includes surplus Parcels delivered to your home

🤝 Over 180,000 businesses already participating

A simple idea with real impact — and one of the easiest ways to reduce waste in your daily routine.

A polished, privacy‑respecting alternative to cloud‑bound AI apps. Jan runs entirely on your machine, with a genuinely friendly UI and support for a wide range of open models.

Highlights
🔒 Local‑first: Your data stays on your device; no API calls unless you configure them.

💸 Zero API bills: Run models locally or plug in your own providers.

🌐 Real‑time web search: Perplexity‑style retrieval, but open‑source.

🧩 Model flexibility: Works with Jan‑V1‑4B, GGUF, MLX, Hugging Face models, and more.

🖥️ Native app: Clean, friendly interface—less “engineer‑tool”, more “usable daily app”.

⚡ Fast inference: Competitive token speeds across MLX and llama.cpp backends.

🔌 MCP support: Extensible via Model Context Protocol.

🧪 DeepResearch‑style workflows: Users are already running multi‑step reasoning locally.

Why it matters
If you want a local AI client that feels like a real product rather than a toolkit, Jan is one of the most polished options right now.

Mermaid is a JavaScript based diagramming and charting tool that renders Markdown-inspired text definitions to create and modify diagrams dynamically.

🧩 Flowcharts — quick, readable, and version‑controllable

🔄 Sequence diagrams — perfect for protocol or API walkthroughs

📅 Gantt charts — timelines without spreadsheet pain

🧬 Class diagrams — UML‑style modelling from text

🔁 State diagrams — ideal for logic, UI, or workflow states

🥧 Pie charts — simple data visualisation

🌳 C4 diagrams — architecture modelling with code

🧪 Live Editor — instant preview and sharing

🔐 Sandboxed rendering mode — safer diagram rendering for public sites

🧱 Integrations everywhere — GitHub, docs platforms, static site generators, etc.

🧰 Works in production scripts, CI, and automated doc pipelines

While Circulo was designed around the needs of journalists and human‑rights defenders, the underlying model (a small, trusted “safety circle” with rapid alerts and agreed‑upon protocols) is broadly useful anywhere people face risk, isolation, or need structured mutual‑aid.

It features

• A trusted network of six peers
• Pre-agreed safety protocols
• Rapid alerts when someone feels unsafe
• A focus on well-being and burnout prevention

Domestic Safety & Personal Security
People in difficult domestic situations can use a small, trusted circle to:
-Signal distress discreetly
-Share location only when needed
-Create protocols (“If I don’t check in by X, call me / contact someone”)
This mirrors the “buddy system” used in many safeguarding contexts.

Outdoor Activities & Solo Travel
For hikers, cyclists, runners, or solo travellers:
-Quick alerts if someone is lost or injured
-Location sharing that only activates when needed
-A small group who knows your route and check‑in schedule
This is similar to Garmin inReach “safety contacts,” but without hardware.

Community Mutual‑Aid Groups
Neighbourhood watch, community organisers, or volunteer groups can use it to:
-Coordinate check‑ins
-Respond to emergencies
-Support vulnerable members (elderly, disabled, isolated individuals)

High‑Risk Professions Beyond Journalism
Examples include:

-Social workers
-Field researchers
-NGO staff
-Crisis responders
-Legal observers
-Healthcare workers in unstable environments

Anyone who may face harassment, threats, or burnout benefits from structured peer support.

Mental Health & Burnout Prevention
Because the app emphasises wellness and community support, it can help:
-People managing anxiety or PTSD
-Students under high stress
-Workers in emotionally demanding roles

Small Team Safety in Remote Work
For technicians, surveyors, or engineers working alone in the field:
-“Lone worker” safety protocols
-Emergency alerts
-Location‑based check‑ins
This mirrors commercial lone‑worker systems, but community‑driven.

The app is free, supports different languages and is available for android and iOS.

Yacy is a free, open‑source search engine platform

Three deployment modes:
-P2P mode: decentralised, shared index, no central authority
-Independent search portal: define your own index and crawl targets
-Intranet search: index internal sites or shared file systems

• No search request storage; privacy‑focused design
• GDPR‑aligned: no personalised data collection, no phoning‑home
• Installation is minimal: download, extract, run the start script
• Community‑driven project with optional consulting support

A practical option for users who want control over search infrastructure without relying on centralised operators.

Note:
Be prepared to put time in learning, tweaking settings and testing. A system with a lot of ram helps, for example, the Independent Search Portal I deployed had 8GB ram allocated to Java on windows to run without issues. Under that there was EXPLOSIOOOOONS!

DynFi provides a free predictable, stable and reliable platform without the hair loss due to OPNsense’s quirks that are disruptive to day‑to‑day operation.

Features full next‑gen firewall feature set
– Stateful firewall
– Suricata IDS/IPS
– Squid proxy
– Anti‑virus
– IPsec & OpenVPN
– Real‑time visibility + dynamic filtering

• DynFi Manager
– Centralised management for DynFi, pfSense and OPNsense
– Alias management
– Auto‑provisioning
– SaaS or on‑prem deployment
– Low operational overhead

• Appliance range
– Hardware options from SMB to enterprise
– Free firewall download for custom builds

While there are commercial offerings by the company DynFi can be downloaded and self hosted for free.

Cross‑platform USB/SD card image flasher with a clean UI and smart safety features.

⚡ Fast, minimal interface

🗜️ Handles writing compressed images (ZIP, GZ, BZ2, XZ) directly unlike Refus

🛡️ Validates writes to avoid corrupted media

🚫 Hides system drives to prevent accidental nuking

🧩 Works on Windows, macOS (Intel/ARM), and Linux

👐 Open‑source and actively maintained

Ideal for prepping bootable ISOs, installers, and homelab recovery media.

Saltcorn is an MIT‑licensed platform for building full database‑driven web applications without writing code. Its point‑and‑click interface and drag‑and‑drop builder make it possible to create complete apps quickly and visually.

Key Features

• Drag‑and‑drop page builder

• Relational database management

• Web + mobile‑friendly apps

• PDF generation & email support

• Themes and plugin ecosystem

• Free, open‑source, MIT‑licensed

• Self‑hostable via Docker or NPM

• Trial hosting available on Saltcorn.com

Example Use Cases

• Wikis

• Issue trackers

• Dashboards

• Forums

• Project management tools

• Todo lists

• Software directories

A tiny but powerful tool to keep an eye on each CPU core’s temperature in real time. Super handy if you’re tuning, overclocking, or just like knowing what your system is really doing.

• Shows per‑core temps with high accuracy

• Works with Intel, AMD, and VIA

• Minimal footprint — won’t hog resources

• Plugin support + mobile monitoring

Great for stability testing or mining rigs

A clean, no‑nonsense way to run modern LLMs entirely on your own hardware.

• Run modern LLMs (gpt‑oss, Qwen3, Gemma3, DeepSeek, etc.) locally

• Fully private: no cloud, no telemetry

• Free for home and work use

• Cross‑platform: Windows, macOS, Linux

• OpenAI‑compatible API for drop‑in integration

• CLI (lms) + JS & Python SDKs

• Supports Apple MLX models

Great for self‑hosted workflows, offline coding assistants, and experimentation

LibreELEC is a “just enough OS” designed to run Kodi with maximum stability and minimum fuss. It strips away everything unnecessary, leaving a fast, appliance‑like media experience that works brilliantly on small devices and living‑room setups.

If you want a clean, reliable, open‑source media center that stays out of the way and simply plays your content, LibreELEC remains one of the best options out there.

If you’ve ever looked up at the night sky and wondered “What star is that?”, Stellarium answers it beautifully.

🪐 Realistic sky rendering
🔭 Telescope control support
🌙 Perfect for the curious, casual stargazers and serious astronomy nerds
💻 Runs on desktop, mobile, and even in the browser

It’s clean, powerful, and completely free

VirtualBox remains one of the most capable and flexible virtualization platforms out there — fully open‑source, cross‑platform, and backed by a massive community. Whether you're running a homelab, testing OS builds, or isolating workloads, it delivers a clean, reliable experience.

Why it stands out:

🚀 Full virtualization for x86_64, plus macOS/Arm (7.1) and Windows/Arm (7.2) support

🧩 Works across laptops, desktops, servers, and embedded systems

📚 Excellent documentation, tutorials, and training resources

🛠️ Active community with forums, test builds, and contribution opportunities

🆕 Frequent updates

If you need a dependable VM solution without vendor lock‑in, VirtualBox is still a rock‑solid choice.

Immich.app has become one of the most polished, privacy‑respecting photo solutions out there. If you’re tired of cloud lock‑in, slow syncing, or subscription creep, this project feels like a breath of fresh air.

✨ Why it stands out

🚀 Lightning‑fast uploads and browsing

🔒 100% self‑hosted with full data ownership

🤖 Smart search, face recognition, and maps

📱 Excellent mobile apps for seamless backup

🧩 Clean UI and active development

If you’re building a privacy‑first homelab or replacing Google Photos, Immich deserves a spot on your shortlist. It’s one of those tools that feels both powerful and thoughtfully designed.

A lightweight, no‑install disk diagnostics tool for HDDs, SSDs, RAID arrays, and even USB flash drives. Perfect for quick health checks, surface tests, and SMART monitoring without bloated suites or vendor lock‑in.

Why it’s useful:

• Runs as a portable app — ideal for toolkits

• Supports a wide range of storage devices

• Offers SMART analysis, surface tests, and drive benchmarks

• Great for spotting early signs of drive failure before data loss hits

• A solid addition to any homelab or repair workflow.

A powerful, fully open‑source deepfake framework built on TensorFlow and Keras.

Faceswap runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, with an active community, detailed guides, and a modular workflow for extraction, training, and conversion.

Ideal for researchers, VFX hobbyists, and anyone exploring machine‑learning‑based face manipulation in an ethical, transparent way.

A clear, practical walkthrough from Panjno on safely undervolting any modern Nvidia GPU. Great for reducing temps, noise, and power draw without sacrificing performance.

The video covers MSI Afterburner setup, curve editing, stability testing, and common pitfalls.

If you’re running a homelab, SFF build, or just want quieter gaming, this is a solid reference.

Open Library is a project by the Internet Archive aiming to create a web page for every book ever published. It offers millions of books you can read, borrow, or preview for free through Controlled Digital Lending.

What makes it stand out:

• Massive catalogue — 3M+ books available to read or borrow

• Full‑text search across millions of digitized works

• Reading log & lists to track what you’ve read and want to read

• Virtual Library Explorer with shelves arranged like a physical library

• Community‑driven — anyone can edit metadata, add books, or help improve the catalogue

• Multilingual interface with dozens of supported languages

• Part of the Internet Archive, alongside the Wayback Machine and Archive‑It

If you love books, open data, or digital preservation, this is one of the most valuable free resources on the web.

If Windows feels a bit too chatty, cluttered, or nosy, this script is a relief.

Win11Debloat is a lightweight PowerShell tool that removes pre‑installed apps, disables telemetry, and tidies up the overall experience. It works on both Windows 10 and 11.

It’s straightforward, configurable, and perfect for anyone who wants a cleaner, quieter system without wrestling with menus or registry edits. A small script with a big impact.

If you care about privacy, control, and clean engineering, OPNsense is one of those rare projects that instantly earns your respect.
No noise. No gimmicks. Just a beautifully built firewall that gives you full visibility into your network without locking you into anything.

Key Features
Stateful Firewall (IPv4 & IPv6)
Clean rule management, live traffic view, and full transparency over what’s happening on your network.

Multi‑WAN Support
Load balancing, failover, and flexible routing for resilient connectivity.

Built‑In VPN Options
Native support for WireGuard, IPsec (including route‑based), OpenVPN, and Tinc mesh networking.

Intrusion Detection & Prevention
Suricata with Emerging Threats rules, inline IPS, and optional ET Pro for deeper protection.

Hardware Failover (CARP)
High‑availability setups with synchronized states for zero‑downtime environments.

Unbound DNS & DNS Tools
Local resolver, DNSSEC, overrides, and tight integration with firewall rules.

Modern Reporting & Monitoring
NetFlow analytics, exportable graphs, and real‑time visibility into interfaces, ports, and applications.

Open Source, Actively Developed
Transparent codebase, strong community, and a development model that prioritizes trust and longevity.