🕰️ Last 30 Days — New Links

Rolling recent additions. Newest first; older entries fall off after ~30 days, so this list stays current.

⚡ Paid Software Open-Source Alternatives

Common replacements with feature comparisons. “Paid” indicates the original is typically commercial; “Free” indicates the alternative is free/open-source.

Category Paid / Proprietary Open-Source / Free Alternative Notes
Office Suite Microsoft Office LibreOffice Writer, Calc, Impress compatible with DOCX/XLSX/PPTX.
Word Processor Microsoft Word LibreOffice Writer Rich-text and desktop publishing; strong DOCX support.
Spreadsheet Microsoft Excel LibreOffice Calc Formula compatibility, pivot tables, macros.
Presentation Microsoft PowerPoint LibreOffice Impress Slide decks, transitions, presenter console.
Office Suite (Alt) Microsoft 365 / Office ONLYOFFICE DOCX/XLSX/PPTX fidelity focused; also self-hosted.
Image Editing Adobe Photoshop GIMP Raster retouching, compositing, batch processing.
Vector Graphics Adobe Illustrator Inkscape SVG-first vector design; print and web output.
Photo Management Adobe Lightroom darktable RAW development, non-destructive workflow.
3D Modeling / Animation Autodesk Maya / 3ds Max Blender Modeling, rigging, animation, render, video editor.
Video Editing Adobe Premiere Pro Shotcut Timeline-based NLE; MLT framework, wide format support.
Video Editing Adobe Premiere Pro OpenShot Beginner-friendly with drag-and-drop interface.
Video Editing DaVinci Resolve (Studio) DaVinci Resolve (Free) Free tier is very capable; Studio adds collaboration/AI features.
Video Conversion Various commercial converters HandBrake Transcodes to H.264/H.265/AV1; presets included.
Media Player Windows Media Player VLC Plays nearly any codec/container; streaming too.
Music Production Pro Tools / FL Studio Ardour Multitrack recording and mixing; open-source.
Audio Editing Adobe Audition Audacity Waveform editing, effects, noise reduction.
Password Manager 1Password / LastPass KeePass Local encrypted database; no cloud required.
Password Manager 1Password Bitwarden Open-source; cloud or self-hosted options.
IDE / Editor JetBrains IDEs VS Code Extensible editor; many languages via extensions.
Web Browser Google Chrome Firefox Open-source engine; strong privacy controls.
PDF Reader / Editor Adobe Acrobat Pro Okular View, annotate, fill forms; KDE but cross-platform.
PDF Toolkit Adobe Acrobat / proprietary PDF tools PDF Studio Editor alternative; free viewer available.
Email Client Microsoft Outlook Thunderbird Cross-platform mail, calendars, feeds.
Diagramming Microsoft Visio draw.io / diagrams.net Security-first diagramming; web, desktop, Confluence plugin.
Remote Desktop TeamViewer (commercial) RustDesk Self-hosted or cloud; open-source remote desktop.
File Storage / Sync Dropbox / Google Drive Nextcloud Self-hosted file sync, collaboration, apps.
DNS / Ad Blocking Various DNS services Pi-hole Network-wide ad/tracker blocking.

🛡️ Pentesting & Gadget Firmware

Firmware and hardware tools for security research. Use only on systems you own or have written permission to test.

ESP32 Marauder

WiFi/Bluetooth suite for ESP32 devices. Captures, enumerates, and transmits frames; strong community and companion apps.

Firmware ESP32 Security

Flipper Zero WiFi Marauder App

Companion app that controls the Marauder firmware from a Flipper Zero with a WiFi dev board attached.

Flipper Zero Firmware

RouterSploit

Exploitation framework for embedded devices/routers. Useful for authorized pentests of network gear.

Framework Embedded

Awesome Pentest

Curated list of penetration testing tools, books, CTF helpers, cloud attack utilities, and more.

Reference CC BY 4.0

Awesome Connected Things Security

IoT and embedded security references: firmware reversing, hardware hacking, wireless/RF, and research papers.

IoT Research

Launcher

Web-based flasher and curated firmware catalog for ESP32-based boards including M5Stack and LilyGO. Guides you from serial permissions to a flashed device in minutes.

ESP32 Flashing Catalog

Bruce

Open-source ESP32 firmware focused on offensive Wi-Fi security testing, Evil Portal, wardriving, deauthentication, and SubGHz/RF research. AGPL v3 firmware with CERN hardware designs.

ESP32 Offensive Security Open-Source

Ragnar

Tamagotchi-like autonomous network scanner and offensive-security tool for Raspberry Pi with an e-Paper HAT. Discovers hosts, open ports, services, and vulnerabilities. Also runs on Debian servers and WiFi Pineapple Pager. Educational/authorized testing only.

Raspberry Pi Offensive Security MIT

Pwnagotchi

Raspberry Pi-based Wi-Fi monitoring tool that passively sniffs and captures WPA handshakes and PMKIDs for educational/authorized research. Built on bettercap.

Raspberry Pi Wi-Fi Research Open-Source

Momentum

Feature-rich custom firmware for Flipper Zero with expanded Bluetooth tools, SubGHz protocols, NFC support, asset packs, and enhanced JavaScript scripting.

Flipper Zero Custom Firmware SubGHz

Flipper Maker

Web-based tool for generating custom Flipper Zero assets (icons, animations, splash screens) with a visual editor. Export directly to your SD card — no coding needed.

Flipper Zero Assets Web Tool

Rabbit-Labs Shop

Hardware vendor for Flipper Zero GPIO add-on boards and pentesting accessories, including WiFi, SubGHz, CAN, and ESP32-based expansion boards.

Flipper Zero GPIO Add-On Hardware

PiSugar

Battery and UPS hardware for Raspberry Pi boards, including Pi Zero, Zero 2W, and full-size models. Also offers a complete Pwnagotchi bundle with battery and e-ink case.

Raspberry Pi UPS Power

M5Stack

Modular ESP32-based IoT development platform and dev kits. Popular for rapid prototyping, wearable projects, and homebrew/pentesting gadget builds.

ESP32 IoT Dev Kit

🎯 Xbox 360 Homebrew & Exploits

Research/exploit references for understanding Xbox 360 homebrew and dashboard modification workflows.

ABadAvatar

Software-only hypervisor exploit for the Xbox 360 dashboard. Triggers from specific game saves and patches the system to run unsigned/homebrew code without hardware modification.

Xbox 360 Exploit Homebrew

GruntMods Bad Update USB Format Tool

Prepares a FAT32 USB drive for the Xbox 360 ABadAvatar exploit workflow and packages an exploit payload with post-exploit boot options.

Xbox 360 Tooling USB

X-Store

Native Xbox 360 homebrew downloader that fetches games directly to the console. Works on JTAG/RGH and homebrew-capable consoles from BadUpdate/ABadAvatar. No PC or Xbox Live required.

Xbox 360 Homebrew Downloader

🧠 AI & Automation

Tools, agents, and platforms used or recommended for reasoning, automation, and AI-assisted workflows.

Hermes Agent

Self-improving autonomous agent built by Nous Research. Persistent memory, skills, tool use, voice, and multi-channel gateway support. The agent you are talking to right now.

Agent Nous Research Automation

LobeHub

Agent marketplace and multi-agent orchestration platform. 332K+ skills and 68K+ MCP servers deployable as a coordinated AI team. Hermes can search and install skills from its public catalog.

Marketplace Skills Multi-Agent

MCP Servers (Reference)

Official reference implementations for the Model Context Protocol — the standard connecting AI agents to external tools. Filesystem, Git, Memory, Fetch, and more. 87K+ stars.

MCP Open Source Reference

Awesome Hermes Agent

Community-curated resource with skills, tools, integrations, and ecosystem updates for Hermes Agent workflows.

Reference Skills Community

Agent Skills Standard

Open standard for portable, shareable agent skills; compatible with Hermes, Claude Code, Cursor, and 30+ clients.

Standards Skills

MCP Documentation

Official Model Context Protocol docs explaining the "USB-C for AI" standard for tool and data connections.

MCP Documentation

Bundled Skills Catalog

Official reference for all skills shipped with Hermes Agent — 50+ skills across Autonomous AI Agents, Creative, DevOps, Email, GitHub, ML/Ops, Research, Smart Home, and more. Each skill links to dedicated setup and usage docs.

Skills Reference Official

Hermes Workspace

Native web workspace for Hermes Agent: chat, terminal, memory browser, skills manager, and MCP server dashboard. 5.8k+ stars, v2 zero-fork architecture with agent orchestration and fleet management.

GUI Dashboard Open Source

Hermes Ecosystem — Community Projects

Official community directory with 34+ curated projects across interfaces, skills, agent personas, MCP servers, and guides. Includes web UIs, desktop clients, skill packs, and learning resources.

Ecosystem Directory Official

Hermes Telegram Integration

Full-featured Telegram bot setup guide: BotFather creation, privacy mode, group chats, file attachments, webhook mode, and Docker volume mapping for terminal output.

Messaging Telegram Official Docs

Hermes Slack Integration

Socket Mode Slack bot setup (no public URL needed): manifest generation, OAuth scopes, event subscriptions, app-level tokens, and channel installation.

Messaging Slack Official Docs

Hermes Workspace (Web)

Landing page for the native web workspace — IDE-like experience with chat, terminal, memory inspector, skills manager, MCP dashboard, and multi-agent operations.

GUI Web App Open Source

Best Hermes Agent Skills — Composio

Curated list of 10 essential Hermes skills: Obra Superpowers (TDD, debugging, subagents), Composio Universal CLI (1000+ SaaS), Obsidian Skills, Defuddle, Humanizer, Claudeception, Playwright, Reflexion, SEO/GEO, and Taste-Skill. Field-tested for growth/marketing workflows.

Skills Community Curated

Optional Skills Catalog

Official reference for optional skills shipped with Hermes but not active by default. Categories: Autonomous AI Agents (Antigravity, Blackbox, Grok, Honcho, OpenHands), Blockchain (EVM, Hyperliquid, Solana), Creative (Blender MCP, pixel art, memes), DevOps (Docker, Pinggy, watchers), Email (AgentMail), Finance, ML/Ops, and more. Install via hermes skills install official/<category>/<skill>.

Skills Official Reference

Creating Skills Guide

Official developer guide for building Hermes skills. Covers Skill vs Tool decision matrix, SKILL.md frontmatter spec (tags, related_skills, requires_toolsets, config, blueprint for cron), platform-specific skills, conditional activation via requires/fallback, and environment variable declarations. Skills are the preferred way to extend Hermes without code changes.

Skills Development Official Docs

🎮 Emulation & ROM Resources

References for emulator software and archived game collections. Where possible, prioritize legal/preservation sources.

Internet Archive — Software Library

Large public-domain and shareware software archive. Many titles are legal to download and preserve.

Legal / Preservation

Internet Archive — Console Video Games

Curated console game sets. Check each item’s rights field; many are abandonware or open releases.

Legal / Preservation

Vimm's Lair

Established preservation-style ROM site for classic consoles. Used as a structural reference here.

Reference

ROM & ISO Sites — Emulation Wiki

Comparison table of sites including registration, rate limiting, rating, and notes.

Reference Comparison

RetroPie

Raspberry Pi retro-gaming distro and docs. Great for legal ROM placement and emulator configuration.

Distro Hardware

ROMsgames.net

Large ROM catalog for many handheld and console generations. Listed as a research reference.

Reference

Reminder: emulator software is generally legal to obtain and use; distributing copyrighted ROMs without permission is not. Use downloads only for titles you own or that are clearly in the public domain.

🐧 Linux Distributions

Recommended distros with official download links. Picked from multiple 2025/2026 best-of lists and current DistroWatch releases.

Raspberry Pi OS

Official RaspberryPi OS (formerly Raspbian). Perfect for SBC projects and retro-gaming boxes.

SBCHardware

DistroWatch

Comprehensive directory, ranking, and news for Linux/BSD distributions. Great for discovery.

ReferenceNews

Ubuntu

Widely supported, beginner-friendly desktop/server distro. LTS releases every two years; strong hardware compatibility.

BeginnerDesktopServer

Linux Mint

Ubuntu-based with Cinnamon/MATE/Xfce editions. Comfortable Windows-like UX; multimedia codecs included.

BeginnerDesktop

Pop!_OS

System76’s Ubuntu-based distro with tiling WM, gaming drivers, and easy disk encryption out of the box.

BeginnerGaming

Fedora Workstation

Cutting-edge free software stack; GNOME desktop sponsored by Red Hat. Good for power users and developers.

Power UserDev

Arch Linux

Rolling-release DIY distro. Great learning experience; you build what you want from a minimal base.

AdvancedRolling

EndeavourOS

Arch-based but with a calm, guided installer. Good balance between Arch flexibility and usability.

IntermediateArch

Debian

Stable, predictable rock-solid base. Huge package repo; foundations for many other distros.

StableServerDesktop

Zorin OS

Windows-like desktop experience for switchers. Layouts can mimic Windows/macOS. Clean installers.

BeginnerDesktop

Tails

Privacy-focused live distro. Routes traffic via Tor and leaves no trace on the host machine.

PrivacyLive

Kali Linux

Pen testing focused distro with hundreds of security tools. Use for authorized testing only.

PentestingSecurity

🎬 YouTube Channel Helpful Sites

DRM-Free & Free-to-Use Music & Sounds

Royalty-free audio sources for YouTube creators. Verify license terms per project.

Free Music Archive

Large curated library of free-to-use music, sorted by genre, license, and curator. Supports CC and public domain.

MusicCC Licenses

Incompetech

Kevin MacLeod's massive royalty-free catalog with CC BY licensing. Search by mood, tempo, and genre.

MusicCC BY

YouTube Audio Library

Free music and sound effects directly inside YouTube Studio. Attribution not required; no copyright strikes.

MusicSound Effects

Pixabay Music

Free music library with Pixabay License (commercial use allowed, no attribution required). Covers many moods.

MusicNo Attribution

Musopen

Classical music recordings and sheet music in the public domain. Great for ambient or background stems.

ClassicalPublic Domain

ccMixter

Community remix platform with a vast pool of royalty-free music and a cappella stems under Creative Commons.

MusicRemix

Purple Planet Music

Free royalty-free music library for personal and commercial use with clear licensing tiers. Easy browsing by mood.

MusicRoyalty-Free

Mixkit Free Music

Free music and sound effects from the Mixkit team. Attribution not required for most assets.

MusicSound Effects

Uppbeat

Free premium-sounding music for creators with a free tier. Standard license covers monetized YouTube.

MusicFree Tier

Bensound

Royalty-free music library spanning pop, corporate, acoustic, and more. Free option requires attribution.

MusicRoyalty-Free

General YouTube Channel Help

Tools and platforms that help with creation, research, thumbnails, editing, streaming, and growth.

YouTube Studio

Official dashboard for managing your channel, analyzing performance, replying to comments, and uploading videos.

ManagementAnalytics

Canva

Design platform for thumbnails, channel art, and video graphics. YouTube-specific templates included.

DesignThumbnails

CapCut

Free, powerful desktop and mobile video editor with auto captions, effects, and YouTube-optimized exports.

EditingMobile

DaVinci Resolve

Professional-grade free video editor with color correction, Fairlight audio, and Fusion VFX.

EditingPro

OBS Studio

Free open-source streaming and recording software. Great for live gaming, Q&A, and screen capture.

StreamingRecording

Adobe Podcast

Web-based AI audio enhancement that cleans up voice recordings. Excellent for voiceover and interview clips.

AudioAI

Headliner

Turn audio into social-ready video clips, waveform videos, and transcripts. Good for YouTube Shorts teasers.

AudioShorts

Google Trends

Explore search interest over time by topic. Useful for video title research and niche discovery.

ResearchSEO

AnswerThePublic

Visual keyword research showing what people are actually asking. Helps find video topics that match intent.

ResearchSEO

Social Blade

Public analytics for YouTube channels. Track growth, estimate earnings, and compare channel statistics.

AnalyticsResearch

⚠️ Important Notes

Legal & Safety

Emulators and firmware tools are generally legal to download and use for personal research. Copyrighted ROMs, BIOS files, and commercial software generally are not. Pentesting tools should only be used on systems you own or on systems for which you have explicit written authorization. This links page is for personal reference and educational use.