Yellowfıelds*

Introduction

In an age where we are increasingly giving away our autonomy and privacy, and where our private and professional lives are controlled by subscription models, the privacy-centric and open access world of free and open-source software (FOSS) is now more intriguing and attractive than ever before.

However, the FOSS landscape is not quite as it seems if you consider that many multi-national corporations support and finance the development of many open-source projects. There is certainly a dichotomy here that can seem difficult to grasp, but this should not disuade further investigation.

Having spent my career working with industry standard coporate offerings, such as the Adobe Creative Suite and the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, there is something attractive and alternative in plotting a new journey through the FOSS landscape. After all, there is very little that cannot be achieved with FOSS that is done so with so-called industry standard software.

Now in the twilght of of my career, alternative thinking and approaches appeal evermore. Soon, I expect to set up and operate on a ‘FOSS-basis’. This is not because I do not want to pay for software that helps me generate income  —  I will be making financial donations and time contributions to development  —  but because I susbscribe to this model. A somewhat ironic statement as it is the issue of subscription attached to all aspects of our personal and professional lives that I dislike so much. For so many applications now, you need to have an account and be online to use them. That’s unacceptable. A paradigm and cognitive shift is needed!

Just one proviso. I’m only considering software that you can download and install locally, on your own equipment, and that which doesn’t need an online connection to work. I’m excluding so-called ‘freemium’ software that is free to use until you need a certain feature(s). This is not the same as open-source. I’m also ignoring the huge array of online-only tools that are available. I’ll discuss these elsewhere at a later date.

Linux OS

These days, most open-source software is available on the most ubiquitous platforms; Windows and macOS. I have been a user of both platforms during my career, though have enjoyed macOS as my personal and professional choice for the last 25 years plus. However, to maintain the spirit of FOSS, perhaps we should be considering an alternative and approporiate OS  —  Linux? After all, it is the largest of all open-source projects.

Originally developed by Linus Torvalds in 1991, the UNIX-derived Linux distributions (aka distros) includes the kernel and supporting system libraries and software, many of which are developed by third parties.

In the past, you had to be a total geek to install and understand Linux. Today, it’s completely different. There are dozens of distros of Linux; Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, Debian, Mint, elementary, Arch, Asahi, Zorin, Kali… and many more, though many are based upon one of the core distros such as Ubuntu or Debian. Each provides a slightly different GUI and experience; some follow the Linux standard, some Windows-like, others Mac-like, but mostly all straight-forward to install and use these days.

Another reason to consider going down the Linux route is efficiency and speed, notwithstanding the claim to privacy. After all, consider that most web servers and online storage systems are Linux-based. It has a smaller footprint and overheads than Windows or macOS, and thus runs quickly and reliably.

FOSS Landscape

It’s fair to say some open-source software have rather idiosyncratic GUIs, and thus can difficult to get used to. You will sometimes find toolsm features or workflows that are unique and better than the norm you are used to. As such, there is often a slight mindset change required when using FOSS. That should be considered a good thing as we far too often create solutions based upon the technological abilities of our favoured software.

The FOSS landscape is diverse and wide. The following options are probably the best options (as of May 2026), but it is an ever-changing environment; some options can fall by the wayside, and new ones emerge. In all respects, there certainly is choice, and they are not second-class citizens.

FOSS evolved out of, and is part of, the open-design movement (not to be confused with Open Design, the open-source alternative to the Claude Design AI agent). The open-design movment involves the development of physical products, machines and systems through use of publicly shared design information. The goals and philosophy of the movement are identical to that of the open-source movement and is a form of co-creation, where the final product is designed by the users, rather than an external stakeholder such as a private company.

Software Options

This shift would not be possible if relevant and applicable software did not exist. Fortunately it does, in abundance. So what would replace the so-called industry standard software I currently use? As such, I’m referencing Adobe Creative Cloud Suite as the baseline and standard to measure alternatives to. The following alternatives are what I consider to be the best choice, but the FOSS landscape is wide and diverse, so it’s worth exploring and researching further as new software can emerge.

Illustrator › Inkscape

Inkscape is a very capable and equally professional application. Underestimated by many, it has features that Illustrator does not. It’s drawing tools are, simply, very good, and improving all the time. Inkscape has a large and supportive community of users, and lots of tutorials and learning resources. There are numerous developed extensions that offer specialised graphics processing. Moreover, the native format is SVG, so a format that can actually be edited with a plain and simple text editor!

Photoshop › GIMP

A somewhat more quirky GUI if you are used to Photoshop, but it still does most of what Photoshop can. I find some features more intuitive than Photoshop. Again, there is a large supportive community and resources available to help you get going.

Alternatively, you might also consider Krita. Although it appears to be marketed as a digital painting application, it is very similar to Photoshop in many ways and a very capable general purpose image editor, arguably better than GIMP. It’s going to feature more than once here, but Da Vinci Resolve also has an excellent general purpose image editor built in.

InDesign › Scribus

There is less choice in the area of desktop publishing, but fortunately Scribus is well established and reliable, though arguably not as well developed as the above. However, I feel, again, it can achieve more than 90% of whatever needs you have. The Scribus file format is XML-based and open. Even damaged documents can be repaired with a simple text editor, which is impossible with proprietary binary DTP file formats. Scribus’s PDF export (especially for print) is famously reliable, because PDF-related issues are always considered as a priority by the developers. Scribus was also the first page layout software that fully and reliably supported the now ubiquitous PDF/X-3 standard.

ArcGIS › QGIS

A bit of a no-brainer. QGIS has been around for a long while and is the first choice of many professionals regardless, notwithstanding its open-source nature. Powerful, extendable and with a huge supportive community. It’s available on all platforms. There’s simply no need to look elsewhere even though there are hundreds of open-source tools in this category, many exisitng as plugins to QGIS.

You may also consider GRASS or gvSIG as alternatives to QGIS, though gvSIG is only available on the Linux and Windows platforms, whereas GRASS is available for all platforms. It is also worth observing that many of the features of GRASS are also availbale in QGIS via a plugin.

After Effects › Blender

You could argue that this is also a no-brainer. Blender is enormously powerful and capable. Apart from its excellent 3D modelling and animation capabilities, there even exists a GIS plugin which can make it a very useful tool in mapping, along with its ability to render beautiful and natural hillshading. Don’t forget, Da Vinci Resolve also has an excellent built-in visual effects module (Fusion).

Premiere Pro › Da Vinci Resolve

Another tool that already has a large professional base of users, including Hollywood. Incredibly powerful at all stages of movie making without the need for separate tools. It even now has a photo editing section. Lookout Photoshop! It’s range of modules, covering audio processing and visual effects, lend itself to many workflows, not just video, per se.

Summary

Don’t assume these options are all there is. The FOSS landscape is wide and diverse, and ever changing. There are other options, and it’s worth continually exploring and researching as new software can and will emerge. You may even discover a hidden gem.

There is very little that cannot be achieved with FOSS. There are only a handful of Mac-only apps I would miss, assuming I moved to Linux as an OS. It’s also not a ‘do or die’ transition. If your OS is still current and supported, consider maintaining that, whether macOS or Windows. Cancel your current software subscriptions and replace with FOSS equivalents. Accept the learning curve. Be brave! Be alternative!