Asklemmy

Bitwarden

It's a FOSS password manager that you can self host, or use their cloud infrastructure. Their free plan is more than enough for basic users, and their paid personal plan is less than $1 a month and is packed with features.

Runs in your browser, Android, iOS, Chrome and Firefox extensions, and has native desktop apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Super easy to set up and use, no BS, works damn near perfectly. I've been using it for years and I love it, it's the only password manager I recommend to folks now days.

EMACS:- No I'm not kidding, Yes it has a learning curve but the real fun is AFTER you figure it out & find out that it can do more than just edit texts

• You can play music
• You can turn it into an Email client
• Browse the internet
• A fully-fledged IDE
• There's Tetris in it
• A File-Manager
• Even a Chat Client
• Remote-Server interaction
• Even have it function like Obsidian
• Have Vim-keybindings (For VIM-users)
• A Git interface
• Even use it as a Linux Distro

Notepad ++ is invaluable for writing code, I’ve used it for a long while now.

Also great is paint dot net which is a super advanced paint application that is borderline as good as photo shop, particularly when you add on all the community-created functionality.

Revo uninstaller is the first thing I put on a new machine before I delete all the bloatware that comes with a fresh install of windows. You would be surprised what is left over when you only use the built in ‘remove a program’ process.

Lastly, browser based but free and excellent, is sketch up, which is an architectural rendering application great for designing restaurants and retail spaces. A little bit of a learning curve but very smooth and functional once you get the hang of it.

Edit - VLC goes without saying right?

It's a niche thing, but if you play electric guitar and need a virtual amplifier and effects, you'll like Guitarix very much. Just thinking that is a community project blows me away every time

If you're looking for a temporary email service for anonymous online registration, tempmail.so is a decent choice. https://www.tempmail.so/

Wireguard, I find it both simpler and easier to use than OpenVPN.

dd. No other iso writing utility has worked as consistently, even if my usb devices would gain weird glitches after using it.

Believe it or not I am a person who goes out of their way to avoid using the terminal, so this is very much vouching for the software itself rather than the ux it's based on.

GNU parallel

No one mentioned SolveSpace, so... SolveSpace. Solvespace is a fully functional 3D parametric CAD solver in a free, cross-platform, open-source, portable, single self-contained executable 10 MB file.

I do a fair amount of hobby 3d printing and SolveSpace makes design and CAD stupid easy. The interface is perfectly laid out, the hotkeys are intuitive, and the capabilities make small-scale projects a breeze.

Now, the program has its limitations, but if I just want something quick and simple, there is nothing better.

Since you're saying "pieces of software" and not specifically apps I will mention Node.js, the programming framework for javascript apps that run outside of a browser. You can develop websites and services or standalone apps that just run locally. There's a whole universe of free packages people have created for it.

OnShape for designing 3d objects. I've been using it for 3 or 4 years, after outgrowing TinkerCad (which is also good and beginner-friendly, but limited). It's an online app, nothing to download or install. The free version is fast and full-featured. The only difference between it and the paid version is that in the free version your designs are all public. So if I were doing 3d design for business I probably would use software that resides on my computer. But as a hobbyist IDGAF.

cmus. Still looking for an android music player that just takes a folder as the playlist.

Np ++ is the GOAT. Stupidly fast to open, always restores everything you've ever typed no matter what, and the only program I've ever seen that actually lets you rename tabs where you haven't saved the file first.

WinDirStat, Notepad++, Greenshot and Filelocator pro lite (aka agent ransack) are my default programs to install on windows machines.

Pipewire

FLOSS games that are solid:

Shattered Pixel Dungeon

Luanti (aka Minetest)

sgt-puzzles

Just found qalculate and it's amazing

LocalSend - like AirDrop, but cross platform