Sharing is caring
If you like what you see, and how we work, it's all possible directly due to open-source software — and the freedoms to share and improve with it.
This website, and all the business management applications we use to work and collaborate with are all open-source.
Why share all this?
Well, why not?
Best of all, its all free
Free of cost to use, and free of restriction in sharing.
These apps, listed below, are simply funded by a combination of donations by their more fortunate and grateful users, and when larger companies commission their development experience for implementation and support services.
We'd love for you to copy us in making it your preferred choice for all your apps and technology choices, too.
Just check each of them out through the links below, and see how they can help you, too.
Why open-source?
This strategy and these choices are intentional and advantageous — because open-source code is essential for; the progress of society, security of public scrutiny, and accessibility to all to do the same in a truly free and efficient market.
You own your data and access to it
Who told you that you have to pay a subscription to use software and access your data?
Everything we can do with open-source software and open-data standards is all thanks to the wealth of security-conscious experts, committed to freedom from digital exploitation.
Typically, they earn a living from support, content, and customised implementation services — and their organisations earn significantly more attention for quality-control and feedback loops than any close-source alternative could hope to.
Freedom and social accessibility
Open-source developers and maintainers commitment is to to the ethics of shared innovation for the benefit of all of society.
Their promotion of all software technology being available to everyone — without cost, gatekeeping or social prejudice — is the fabric of the internet and sustainable progress.
These principles are as essential for equality of opportunity, and education of society, as access to libraries and books.
Imagine the possibilities for progress and affordability in society, when more schools and organisations are aware of and prefer these options — adding their collective learning and development energy by making open-source their first choice — and all understanding and encouragement to improve that it enables.
No vendor-lock problems
You might know more of the marketed software brand-names, apps and services — directly because they pay for that kind of attention and indoctrination in branding initiatives.
However, the majority of software everyone uses is mostly, and only possible due to, open-source software.
With its protections and promotion — and, thankfully, all the most advanced enterprise software now created is open-source, it works for and improves the quality of life in using it so much faster when users and creators are able to connect directly.
Community development, collaboration, and transparency is necessary for trust in systems, and essential for accessibility — so we can study, educate, and improve without artificial limitations.
It's the least we can do in return — to highlight it here, as a showcase of what it enables — and hope it inspires you to do the same.
What you own ends up owning you
Source-code — just like a library, school and health care — is, and should always be free.
The only cost in software should be the time to learn, implement and improve the use — which is now significantly faster and more accessible with AI-assisted training, research, and development.
The software we use is all from public open-source applications, as you'll see through the links below — and the data is strictly private, kept secure by design — following the principles of intentional simplicity, and ownership of responsibility.
If you can't explain it to your grandparents, and all that!
Public software for private data
It is because of this separation of code from data, that we can protect and minimise unnecessary access to all the essentially personal data that we need to work with to serve you — open-source software developers just don't need or want access to anyone else's private data.
Open-source software is shared publicly for scrutiny. Trust is verified by peer-review, by trial and testing of its capabilities, and — by the most valuable of commodities of all — feedback.
These are principles we hope we can all agree on, as do the largest organisations, governments, and innovations in the world, now — reliant on, and sharing their contributions back with, the community.
Sustainability by design
Passing on the joy for these freedoms, and confidence in their merits, is an important part of our contribution to sustainability and social integrity — with systems accessible to all — and without the increased personal, business, and environmental costs that closed-source licensing requires.
We really like efficiency!
This applies in all forms of governance, data-protection, and autonomy in society.
Our shared environments are reliant on trust. Therefore, we must be deliberate in protecting and promoting that trust — through transparency and audited accountability.
This is why and how you can copy what we do, too.
(Obviously don't copy personal data or original creations without permissions and credit, though — freedom is based on respected rights.)
It's with this inspiration, that we hope to bring the same principles for open collaboration to everything that is needed and enabled by good planning.
Apps for everyone
These are some of the great platforms we use and recommend — for their ethics, contributions to society, and class-leading capabilities.
They are all free to copy, use and improve through your feedback to their good creators and developers.
None of them require any payment, nor for you to put your data in the custody of any other 3rd-party organisation or jurisdiction, without your direct and intentional doing so, and retaining primary control to move at any time, for any reason.
And, it's so nice to use apps that aren't filled with ads, pseudo-news distractions, or using your data to target you with ads everywhere else. Ads aren't free when they consume valuable attention, and the majority of the bandwidth and electricity online — we've got a climate to prioritise.
WordPress
The foundations of this website, and the most popular website platform in the world. WordPress is on its way to a trillion-dollars of trade being procured with it, and billions in design, development and implementation services.
A testament to the successes of creativity and industry, enabled through freedoms in sharing.
OpenStreetView and LeafletJS
Privacy-respecting community mapping.
We love maps, and are so grateful for all the many cartographers that have shared their work for us to freely enjoy and navigate. Thank you!
Nextcloud
Self-hosted, private, encrypted file storage and collaboration.
And, with ethics-rated cloud and private AI integrations available now, before you-know-who.
Collabora Office
Self-hosted, private, and fast online office suite.
Now with cloud and private AI integrations.
Bitwarden
Cloud or self-hosted, encrypted unique credentials management.
LanguageTool
Cloud or self-hosted spelling & grammar checking in web sites, web apps, and office apps — including LibreOffice.
Cloudron
Managed and self-hosted open-source applications, including the above.
Anyone can self-host open-source web apps with this, and recover control for where data is stored and accessible.
This website, business, and security apps are all self-hosted with Cloudron.
LibreOffice
Fast, easy, and free locally installed open-source office suite.
No subscriptions or unnecessary unencrypted data-sharing, with “the cloud” (other people's computers) or targetted advertising companies, here.
All compatible with any standard office documents, fonts, and templates.
Firefox
Fast, secure, free, and self-determining for managing your attention — which is very important for your mental health, too.
Thunderbird
Fast, secure, free and no subscriptions needed for more functionality.
Open Project
Self-hosted or cloud, private, secure and proven project management. Particularly useful and established for construction, technology, education, and healthcare organisations.
n8n
Open-source automation, data processing, migration & synchronisation.
Penpot
Design your next app, without having to keep paying a subscription to access your work.
Kubuntu
Fast, simple, secure, and very easy on the eye. Not filled with advertising or news distractions presented as “helpful”.
Home Assistant
Open-source smart homes. Great for energy-efficiency monitoring, among many things.
Gov.uk
Oh yes! A website is also an app.
The entire UK government website is open-source, too — used by, improved, and benefitting many other governments around the world.
In fact, it's procurement policy is all open-source, first, thankfully.
We're hopeful that Jersey can do the same.
AI
There's a lot more to come from AI, too.
We're using and testing these things daily — and the most progress is all coming from open-source.
We'll add more link here as we become confident with each of them to share.
Copy us
Please, copy us, that's the free in freedom that we all work hard for!
The cost for this knowledge — if you didn't already know it — is merely a few minutes of your self-elected time to try something new.
No money, card details, obligations or subscriptions required.
Need hundreds or thousands of copies for your organisation?
Yup, still free!
Support costs are likely lower, too, as your support provider also didn't have to pay for the per-user licenses and that admin overhead, either.
We think you'll be pleasantly surprised — and hopefully it makes your future technology planning easier, too.
These choices are the shoulders of our open-source giants, that we're obligated to share — because openness is a fair advantage, and available to all.
In our experience they work, scale, and help us make more good things happen, quicker and better.
Let us know if they help you, too, or if you need some assistance to demonstrate their capabilities.
Personal data privacy and protection is a universal right
We still use close-source and paid software, too — but — none of that has been necessary for this organisation to be created and run.
So, we're living proof, if you've been told otherwise, and we've worked with some of the largest organisations there are, that are doing very well with the same.
You could call it good planning 🙂
It's up to those those closed-source businesses to promote their commercial-only wares, as they are also free to do — but for us all to hold them to a higher standard for accountability, data protection, and portability rights — by insisting on open-data portability and peer-reviewed compatibility with open standards.
We're in an age of awakening to the value and use of our data — that was previously beyond our imaginations.
The most important beneficiary for the value in data must always be the people that created it, because that's how you can safely and sustainably continue to create and share more.
Privacy is not secrecy
We hope that in sharing our research & development, and tried & tested experiences, that our friends, families, clients, partners, service providers, and public organisations can also enjoy the reciprocation that open-source public goods give to us all.
These apps are all great choices for everyone that opens their minds to use, support, and — those that can — contribute to more open-source public goods to build on.
It all adds up to a safer, more inclusive and capable society.
We all have a responsibility to our environment, social contributions, externalities, and good governance — reflected through our ability to make informed choices, and remain self-determined, for the endeavour and invention that these freedoms encourage.
Pay it forward and pass it on
Our efficiencies and insights are now yours, too.
Please try out any of the apps listed that may solve your needs.
Enjoy, share, and ask us anything about planning or technology — there's no losers from sharing and improving resources — we all win by planning and working together! 💚