Free and open source software, or FOSS, is a piece of software that is completely free and has the source code readily available so it can be read by the user. These pieces of software often are not created by massive corporations, but by people who needed functionality, created it, and then made it available to others. There are lots of open source projects that are readily available and hold great functionality that can often replace paid or corporate options.
Libra Office is an office suite that contains programs to create word documents, slide shows, spreadsheets and pdfs similar to Microsoft Office. They all use Open Document Format and contain all the features found in any modern office suite. For everyday use cases it is very similar in design to something like a word, but unlike Word it is free from corporations trying to randomly put ai in to all applications. As a result, it is functional, clean and completely free.
VLC needs no introduction, but this list would be incomplete without it. It is a media player that can handle basically anything in the last 20 years. It is clean, reliable and has a diverse feature set. From simply playing DVDs to RMTP streaming, VLC is the go-to program that just works.
GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation Program is the first piece of software on this list with a steep learning curve. It is pitched as an alternative to programs like Photoshop, and is powerful, but also is confusing.
For instance, to someone who knows nothing about digital image processing, the placement of the remove background feature may seem random, but with understanding of the subsystems it makes perfect sense that it is under “color to alpha.” Therefore, this program can be a hit or miss depending on the knowledge of the user. However, it is free, so it does not hurt to try.
Okular is one of the many great pieces of software maintained by KDE, which is an organization that produces highly polished open source software. It is a simple document viewer with a clean UI, which makes it super easy to use while also having more functionality compared to something like Preview from Apple. It is basically a great middle ground of having a bit of editing capability while also being easy to use.
KDE also makes a video editor called Kdenlive. It is intuitive, easy to use, and honestly great. I was able to easily splice clips, insert effects and track objects, as well as merge and fade audio all within a few hours of opening the program, it was honestly a very clean and easy to work with system.
Blender is another must on any review list of free and open source software. It is an amazing program with so much power, but for a beginner it can be a bit daunting. I would class it similar to something like GIMP. It is powerful, and can do a lot of cool things from basic sculpting to advanced animation, but it only is intuitive if a user has a decent amount of underlying knowledge. Still, it is free and a powerful tool that can allow for all levels of skill.
All the software listed above are free options that can be downloaded in a few clicks. A warning though: most free and open source projects are shared under the GPL and often have no customer support. For big projects there are often Discords with people who will be glad to help with specialized problems.
Open source projects are cool, and can have great functionality. They allow a way for people to try new things without having to pay for crazy professional software, and often are just as capable as paid programs.