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Ask HN: Name popular apps that have better open-source alternatives?
24 points by node_monk 1207 days ago
I can start -

VLC > any media player | Bitwarden > Lastpass | Excalidraw > FigJam

10 comments

I like Metabase more than Looker. It's simpler, nicer to look at, easier to get to where you need to go.

CAVEAT: If you're an enterprise and need beefy things like SOC2 compliance, SAML controls. source control, have 3+ data engineers working together, and other things that you are just not interested in if you're say Series B or earlier, just use Looker and avoid the headaches.

OSM data is much better than Google Maps data for some things. OsmAnd is a really powerful map tool for when Google assumes too much about your use case.
Emacs >>> [power gap] >>> Everything Else

Seriously though, most of the software I use is open source. Here's a fun fact: there are some use-cases for which there is no proprietary, public-release software because the open-source software is so much better. For example, ebook management with Calibre.

lichess.org > chess.com or any other paid chess platform
This one is actually baffling to me. The only dimension where chess.com is better is that it has better players at the very top end... which is not a concern for anybody except ultra-high level GMs.
It's a bit unclear for me how they can provide all the development and maintain the servers running. Are the donations enough?
They're spending ~$34k/month according to the cost breakdown sheet from https://lichess.org/patron, which is about 6,800 $5/month patrons.

They must also have a lot of $10 or more/month patrons.

They must run ads too, right?
Totally! lichess nails it.
Any sane mail client of your choice > whatever the fuck Outlook does.
Do you have any examples of good open-source mail clients?
I like postbox and emclient. Neither are opensource though.
Gitpod > Codespaces | Plausible > Google Analytics | Cal > Calendly | Ghost > WordPress | Dub > Bitly
Appreciate the shoutout re: Dub.sh, Flo! :)
Plausible is way more limited than Google Analytics and has many shortcomings both in feature and UI.

I highly recommend it if you need a stat counter, but not if you need insights.

> Ghost > WordPress

Isn't WordPress open-source?

You're right but from a user perspective I'd still use Ghost over WordPress
Ghost > WordPress > Medium. QED :)
oops, you're right: Ghost > Medium
Inkscape > Illustrator I recently used it for a project and it was rock solid. Apart from that I could script/automate workflows with CLI!
organicmaps -> google maps Of course Google Maps has traffic prediction and restaurant ratings, there's no good open alternative yet. For standard foot, cycle, car navigation I fuond organicmaps enough. And it's open, free, offline, no tracking.
Have you tried Magic Earth as well? I could never get myself to use OSM or Organic but found Magic Earth a rather intriguing (if rarely mentioned) option
Nice! I've been using Maps.me but recently it got acquired and new owners had some problems with understanding why people use it
Wow, such a cool product! Thanks for sharing - will try it out.
3d Studio Max > Blender
Word < emacs
Not for a layman though
Fair enough, but the couple of hours it takes to learn to do Word level stuff in Emacs will be many times repaid by the time you don’t spend swearing at Word….
Pandoc + markdown > both of them