I’ve been a professional user of open source for decades and prefer it always, but sometimes the lack of polish pushes me to other solutions (eg. why I no longer run a Linux desktop).
Open source tools I use regularly on my Mac:
- Audacity
- Bitwarden (and Vaultwarden on server)
- Brave (prefer Firefox but need Brave at work)
- Calibre (the UI is awful, but after iBooks screwed me in the iTunes migration, I’ll never trust it again)
- Cyberduck
- Docker (and on server)
- Firefox
- Handbrake
- Homebrew
- iTerm2 / Kitty / Tabby / WezTerm
- Jellyfin (and on server)
- MonitorControl (sync brightness between multiple screens)
- NetNewsWire
- NextCloud (and on server, don’t love it but haven’t found anything better)
- Rectangle
- Sweet Home 3D
- VLC / IINA
- Zotero
And on my iPhone:
- Amperfy / Substreamer / FinAmp (music player)
- Firefox
- NextCloud
- Swiftfin
- Zotero
I’d really like to add a messenger but haven’t found one I like enough yet. SImpleX, Matrix Element, and Snikket are the ones I’m watching.