Welcome Friend!

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Hello Friend and welcome to The Friendly Manual. You know, as in RTFM – ‘Read The Friendly Manual.’ (That’s right, the ‘F’ stands for ‘Friendly.’ Trust me on this, I would never lie to you about something so important.)

This project aims to showcase and promote Free/Libre and Open Source Software. It began life as a forum thread on South Africa’s number one IT website, mybroadband.co.za with community members contributing hundreds of their favourite Free or Open Source applications to a ‘Useful List of Free/Libre/Open Source Software Projects.’

The list has been hosted as a Github Gist but now we have upgraded to a website so we can make the list even more useful and publish richer content such as tutorials and blog articles.

Please check out our Friendly Free Software Directory for a list of Free software that we hope you will find interesting and useful. You can find the original forum thread HERE and the original list HERE.

Thanks for stopping by. Please check back soon for more Free and Open Source software related content.

Berusky I

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Berusky I

Website

Source Code

License: GNU Public License

Description:

Berusky is a free logic puzzle game inspired by Sokoban, featuring up to five cooperative bugs and new logic elements. It runs on Linux, Windows, and other platforms, with a large number of levels, level editor, and extensive community support.

Berusky II

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Berusky II

Website

Source Code

License: GPLv3

Description:

Berusky II (Bugs Escape 3D) is a 3D environment puzzle game with advanced logical blocks, featuring a linear story, comics series, multiple environments, and water surfaces. It has both open-source Linux version and commercial Windows version, with ongoing development visible on GitHub.

SaveState

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SaveState

Website

Source Code

License: GPL-3.0 license

Description:

A versatile game save backup manager for Windows and Linux, featuring Steam detection, Minecraft support, drag & drop, desktop shortcuts, and emulators. It simplifies backing up, restoring, and managing game save files with a user-friendly GUI.

StretchBreak

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Website

Source Code

License: GPL-3.0 license

Description:

Stretch Break is a cross-platform digital wellbeing tool that helps users take regular breaks from computer use. Designed for Linux and GNOME but adaptable, it features a GNOME Shell extension and aims to promote ergonomic health through timed break reminders.

TPDE

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TPDE

Website

Source Code

License: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception

Description:

TPDE is a fast framework for writing baseline compiler back-ends in C++, targeting ELF-based x86-64 and ARMv8.1 platforms. It enables low-latency compilation, suitable for JIT and unoptimized builds, and includes utilities for code generation and LLVM IR back-ends.

grafito

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grafito

Website

Source Code

License: MIT license

Description:

Grafito is a simple, self-contained web-based log viewer for journalctl, providing real-time log browsing, filtering, and a dynamic interface built with Crystal and HTMX.

ArduPilot

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Website

Source Code

License: GPLv3

Description:

ArduPilot is an open-source autopilot software suite supporting a wide range of vehicle types including drones, planes, and rovers. It offers comprehensive tools for vehicle control, mission planning, and automation, and is widely used in research, hobbyist projects, and commercial applications.