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This list is work in progress. We have not audited the software listed on this page for security or privacy concerns beyond what developers of the software, and potentially other sites tell us about it. We have done some initial research into software licenses.

This page is a shared resource, and we encourage others to add to it, so some of the entries here may be added by members of the community. We check this resource periodically, and know that others check it too, but it's a wiki, so errors may be added before they're fixed. We encourage you to review licenses and information about the software you're interested in before using it, and to update this page with your findings.

As more people are going remote, there is an outbreak of proprietary software happening around the Internet. Many are suggesting to use proprietary, SaaSS, and/or privacy invading video conferencing software as an alternative to meeting in person. Proprietary vendors are hopping to the task by offering services that are temporarily free as in cost, and that would lock organizations into continuing to use those vendors. Let's work together to promote free software instead.

Join the RemoteCommunication mailing list https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/remotecommunication to coordinate!

Posts about this topic:

The FSF is hosting its own freedom-respecting videoconferencing service. FSF associate members can create a channel by logging into the server using your member credentials. Any person or group can then participate in the conversation. Nonmembers can be invited, but cannot start a channel. Read more.

1 Chat
2 Document Writing and document sharing
- 2.1 Publication
3 Learning Management Solutions (LMS)
4 Voting / Communal Decision Making
5 Music
6 Misc

Chat

Video

BigBlueButton (BBB)
- Video streaming, and audio connections tend to be quite stable. Integrates with Canvas, Moodle, and other Learning Management Solutions (LMS) systems (see below). LGPL-3.0
- https://bigbluebutton.org/
- https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton
- https://devel.trisquel.info/ruben/communication-install-scripts/blob/master/BigBlueButton.sh
- Greenlight
  - Frontend for BigBlueButton that adds more administration functions such as users, permissions, etc.
  - Install doc: https://docs.bigbluebutton.org/greenlight/gl-install.html
  - https://github.com/bigbluebutton/greenlight LGPL-3.0
  - Note: Requires a separate BigBlueButton instance.

Jitsi Meet
- Easy to use, and good for a couple of people to video or audio chat with each other. Not always reliable with more than two people. Sometimes it's necessary to reload the page to get audio working in both directions. Apache-2.0
- https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/
- https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Jitsi
- https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Jitsi-Meet
- https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Jitsi-Videobridge
- https://jitsi.member.fsf.org/ for FSF associate members

GNU Jami
- Audio, video, group, and text chat program that works across all major Operating Systems.
- https://jami.net/
- https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Jami
- https://git.jami.net/savoirfairelinux/ GPL-3.0
- Note: Tends to be stable if all parties use the same (ideally the latest) version of the client.

GStreamer/Icecast
- Broadcast streaming video. It is possible to share your camera or desktop screen with many people in a one-way relationship using command line scripts. This method combined with Mumble allows for a school teacher to give a presentation, and to be available for questions via audio.
- https://icecast.org/
- https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Icecast
- https://git.xiph.org/?p=icecast-server.git;a=summary GPL
- https://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/
- https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Gstreamer
- https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/gstreamer/ LGPL-2.0
- Note: The video feed would likely be about 5-10 seconds behind due to buffering of the video stream. See more options below.

OBS/nginx
- OBS Studio can be used in conjunction with the nginx web server to screencast or stream via RTMP. Viewers can tune into the RTMP stream on your web server using VLC, mpv, or any other compatible player.
- https://obsproject.com/
- https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Obs-studio
- https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio GPL-2.0
- https://nginx.org/
- https://trac.nginx.org/nginx/browser Cryptix General License/BSD 2-clause

NextCloud
- NextCloud supports audio/video conferencing, with further features listed below. AGPLv3

OpenTokRTC
- https://tokbox.com/developer/
- https://github.com/opentok/opentok-rtc
- Now a part of nexmo / Vonage video API. At least parts of the original TokBox code are free software, but it's not clear whether it's possible to use without any non-free software. As an anti-feature, Vonage offers enterprise editions that may run on your own server, or may require running non-free JavaScript.

Apache OpenMeetings
- https://openmeetings.apache.org/

Audio

Mumble
- Audio chat room server with clients for all major operating systems.
- https://www.mumble.info/
- French guide: https://www.chapril.org/Mumble.html
- Note: Mumble is pretty easy for end users, and there are free native clients for major platforms. On the server, it has a low memory footprint, but can use a lot of server bandwidth if many people are talking at once in a channel that has many people listening in. Clients would see an increase in downlink bandwidth at these times, which is okay, since most asymmetrical residential connections allow for a larger downlink. Event in direct face to face communication, it is generally only possible to understand what is being said when no more than a few people are speaking at once. BSD-like

Icecast
- Mentioned above already, but Icecast is commonly used to broadcast audio for live podcast recordings and radio stations.

Social Networking

Mastodon
- A microblogging that uses ActivityPub. AGPLv3orlater
- https://joinmastodon.org/
- https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon AGPL-3.0

GNU Social
- A microblogging network.
- https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Social
- https://www.gnu.org/software/social/
- https://git.gnu.io/gnu/gnu-social AGPLv3orlater

Pump.io
- Social server federated with ActivityPub.
- https://pumpio.readthedocs.io/
- https://github.com/pump-io/pump.io Apache-2.0

Pleroma

Text and possibly document sharing

Email and mailing lists
- Email is already commonly used by many people, and is a decentralized social network. One option is to email your coworkers, friends and family by listing multiple people in your email's To: or Cc: fields. Setting up mailing lists is a better long term strategy, especially if people are expected to join or leave groups, or they want to read the full history of, or stop following a long-running thread.
- GPG
  - Encryption can be added on top of email through GPG.
  - The FSF has a guide for configuring and testing GPG at https://emailselfdefense.fsf.org/en/
- Mailman
  - Manage discussion mailing lists.
  - https://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/
  - https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Mailman
  - https://gitlab.com/mailman GPL-3.0

IRC
- IRC
  - There are free software IRC clients for all major platforms. If you want to create a channel on Freenode (a popular IRC server), but your channel isn't about free software or broadly licensed creative works, you can still create topical channels that begin with '##'. Note that in this case if you need help from Freenode staff, your request won't be as high priority as requests for help with a free software project's channel. Alternatively, there should be other IRC servers that meet your needs.
- KiwiIRC
  - KiwiIRC is a self-hosted web interface for IRC with a simple design that can make its usage easy for newcomers to IRC. Apache-2.0
  - https://kiwiirc.com/
  - Freedom note: Don't add a captcha key in the site config, otherwise it will add a non-free captcha system when users try to log in.
- The Lounge
  - The Lounge is a self-hosted web interface for IRC with an elegant design that can make its usage easy for newcomers to IRC. MIT
  - https://thelounge.chat/
  - Note: On public instances of The Lounge, connections to IRC servers are dropped after closing your browser tabs or losing your connection to application's Web page. If you use a private instance, you will need an account created by an administrator to log in, and connections to the IRC server are kept active even after closing your browser tabs or losing your connection.

Jami
- Mentioned above, but it works great an an encrypted text application as well.

Session
- Decentralized encrypted messaging system.
- https://getsession.org/
- https://github.com/Loki-project GPL-3.0

Matrix
- It seems like Matrix does quite a lot, including federation, bridging between networks, and VoIP. Apache-2.0
- https://matrix.org/
- Note: The desktop Riot client uses Electron which is controversial in the free software community.

Discourse
- Forum based discussion.
- https://www.discourse.org/
- https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Discourse
- https://github.com/discourse/discourse GPL-2.0-or-later

Mattermost
- Anti-feature: the freedom respecting version of Mattermost has less features than the enterprise editions, which are likely non-free. Multiple licenses for different components (MIT, AGPLv3, Apache 2.0)
- https://mattermost.org/about/
- matterbridge can connect mattermost to just about anything else: https://github.com/42wim/matterbridge Apache-2.0

Rocket.Chat
- Anti-feature: the freedom respecting version of Rocket.Chat has less features than the enterprise editions, which are likely non-free. MIT
- https://rocket.chat/

Wire
- Note: On their client source code repo, they say "a. You agree not to change the way the Open Source App connects and interacts with our servers;...". It's not clear whether this is acceptable for software under a free license.

XMPP / Jabber
- XMPP has been around for a long time. There are free clients for major platforms, and a variety of free server codebases to choose from if you want to run your own server.
- https://xmpp.org/

Zulip
- It looks like Zulip's enterprise edition is a support contract for the free software, which is great. Apache 2.0
- https://zulipchat.com/

Sandstorm
- Sandstorm makes it easy to install and use free software applications on your Web server. It comes with many free applications, and it's probably best to confirm the licenses of the applications before you install them.
- Includes document writing and document sharing.
- https://sandstorm.io/
- https://github.com/sandstorm-io/sandstorm

Document Writing and document sharing

Etherpad
- This is a very useful tool for collaborative text editing. It is great for meetings, brainstorming, and interleaved writing and editing flows. Apache 2.0
  - https://etherpad.org/

Ethercalc
- Edit a spreadsheet at the same time as your peers. CPAL
  - https://ethercalc.net/

Drawpile
- Simultaneously sketch on the same canvas as your peers. GPL-3.0
  - https://drawpile.net/

CodiMD
- Collaborative Markdown editing with a live view of rendered text. AGPL-3.0
  - https://demo.codimd.org/

LibreOffice Online
- Collaborative document editing. MPL
  - https://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-online/

NextCloud
- NextCloud is a featureful Web service for document editing, file storage, audio/video chat, and more. AGPL-3.0
  - https://nextcloud.com/

CryptPad
- CryptPad is an encrypted realtime collaborative editor. AGPL-3.0
  - https://cryptpad.fr/

Sandstorm
- Can be used for installing Etherpad. See more details about Sandstorm above.

Wiki Software
- ikiwiki
  - Write wiki pages in Markdown, via a Git repo, or via the Web (which commits to Git). Great for internal wikis, ie for documenting procedures, policies, article drafts, etc. Extensible with plugins. GPL-2.0 +

- MediaWiki
  - Used in quite a lot of places. It supports many different extensions. It's a good choice for public wikis that anyone can edit, or for internal wikis. GPLv2+

Publication

MediaGoblin
- Publish images, audio, video, pdf, and 3D cad.
- https://mediagoblin.org/ AGPL-3.0-or-later
- Doc: https://mediagoblin.readthedocs.io/en/stable/
- Issue tracker: https://issues.mediagoblin.org/

PeerTube
- Video sharing. Federated with ActivityPub.
- http://joinpeertube.org/
- https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/PeerTube
- https://framagit.org/framasoft/peertube/PeerTube AGPL-3.0-or-later

PixelFed
- A way to share photos with others. Federated with ActivityPub.
- https://pixelfed.org/
- https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed AGPL-3.0

ObsuraCam
- Pixelize faces and remove metadata from photos before publishing.
- https://guardianproject.info/apps/obscuracam/
- https://github.com/guardianproject/ObscuraCam GPL-3.0

Scrambled Exif
- Remove metadata from photos before publishing.
- https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.jarsilio.android.scrambledeggsif/
- https://gitlab.com/juanitobananas/scrambled-exif/ GPL-3.0

Learning Management Solutions (LMS)

Canvas
- One of the more popular choices out there. Integrates with Big Blue Button (see above). AGPLv3
- https://github.com/instructure/canvas-lms/wiki
- https://www.instructure.com/
- https://github.com/instructure/canvas-lms

Moodle
- Integrates with Big Blue Button (see above). GPLv3+
- https://moodle.org/
- https://github.com/moodle/moodle

Voting / Communal Decision Making

Note: Does not scale to country wide project.

Helios Apache-2.0
- https://heliosvoting.org/
- https://github.com/benadida/helios-server

Star.vote
- Ranked choice voting system.
- https://star.vote/
- Top balloting approach according to Voter Satisfaction Efficiency research
- AGPL https://github.com/msmunter/star.vote/ just needs to make more clear on homepage

GNU FREE (deprecated in 2002)
- https://www.gnu.org/software/free/
- https://sourceforge.net/projects/free/files/FREE/

Music

NINJAM
Jamulus
- GPL
- https://sourceforge.net/projects/llcon/

Misc

Software Defined Radio (SDR)
- GNU Radio
  - gqrx

Kiwix - Offline webpages such as Wikipedia
- https://www.kiwix.org/en/
- https://github.com/kiwix/ GPLv3

This page was a featured resource in May 2020.

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