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FOSS Alternatives

A curated, bilingual directory of genuinely free and open-source alternatives to proprietary software.

Deploy status Astro 7 Tailwind CSS 4 Code license: MIT Content license: CC BY-SA 4.0

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FOSS Alternatives helps people find transparent, privacy-respecting software they can inspect, modify, and often self-host. The catalogue contains more than 600 tools across 40 categories and is available in German and English. Entries must use a recognized free-software or open-source license; source-available licenses such as BSL and SSPL are excluded. ## Features - More than 600 curated FOSS tools with dedicated detail pages - 40 categories spanning everyday apps, infrastructure, creative tools, and development - German and English routes with a persistent language switcher - Static full-text search powered by Pagefind - Card and compact list views with filters and sorting - Proprietary-to-FOSS comparison and self-hosting guides - Dark and light themes without third-party tracking or cookies - Responsive, accessible, fully static output deployed to GitHub Pages - Weekly license-gated discovery of new projects through the GitHub API - RSS feed and sitemap generation ## Technology | Component | Purpose | | --- | --- | | [Astro 7](https://astro.build/) | Static site generation | | [Tailwind CSS 4](https://tailwindcss.com/) | Styling | | [TypeScript](https://www.typescriptlang.org/) | Typed application and catalogue data | | [Pagefind](https://pagefind.app/) | Static full-text search | | [GitHub Actions](https://github.com/features/actions) | Validation, discovery, and deployment | | [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/) | Hosting | ## Getting started Requirements: - Node.js 22.23.4 or newer (CI uses Node.js 24) - npm 10 or newer ```bash git clone https://github.com/BEKO2210/european-alternatives.eu-free-open-source.git cd european-alternatives.eu-free-open-source npm ci npm run dev ``` The development server prints the local URL. To create and inspect a production build: ```bash npm run check npm run lint npm run build npm run preview ``` ## Project structure ```text src/ ├── components/ Reusable Astro components ├── data/ Categories, tool records, and shared types ├── i18n/ German and English UI strings and route helpers ├── layouts/ Shared page layouts and metadata ├── pages/ File-based German and English routes ├── styles/ Global Tailwind and site styles └── utils/ Shared utilities public/ Static images, icons, and generated assets scripts/ Catalogue discovery and maintenance scripts .github/workflows/ CI, deployment, and scheduled maintenance ``` ## Contributing Contributions in English or German are welcome. You can: - [suggest a FOSS tool](https://github.com/BEKO2210/european-alternatives.eu-free-open-source/issues/new?template=tool-vorschlag.yml), - [report incorrect or outdated information](https://github.com/BEKO2210/european-alternatives.eu-free-open-source/issues/new?template=fehler-melden.yml), or - submit a pull request for catalogue, documentation, accessibility, or code improvements. Before opening a pull request, read [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md), keep the change focused, and verify it locally: ```bash npm ci npm run check npm run lint npm run build ``` New catalogue entries belong in the appropriate file under `src/data/tools/`. Use an existing record as a template, provide German and English copy, use a valid SPDX license identifier, and register the slug in `scripts/existing_slugs.json` to prevent automated duplicates. ## Automated discovery The weekly `Auto-Discover FOSS Tools` workflow searches public GitHub repositories, validates candidates against the project's license allowlist, rejects known source-available projects, categorizes accepted tools, and runs a production build before committing generated data. Maintainers can also run the workflow manually with configurable star and result limits. Automation accelerates discovery; it does not relax the project's FOSS-only policy. Corrections and false-positive reports are always welcome. ## Licensing - Application code is provided under the MIT License. - Catalogue text and other editorial content are provided under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). See the site's [license overview](https://beko2210.github.io/european-alternatives.eu-free-open-source/lizenzuebersicht/) for plain-language information about licenses used by catalogue entries. --- Built for digital freedom, privacy, and software choice.