Interesting open source projects, tools and libraries worth knowing about.
FoundationDB is the distributed database Apple built iCloud on. ACID across distributed machines, a layers architecture for any data model, and a simulation testing framework that finds bugs other databases never discover. Apache 2.0, 16,400+ stars, v7.3.77.
Zenoh is the protocol that unifies pub/sub, queries, and distributed storage from a microcontroller to the cloud — without bridges, adapters, or topology constraints. Apache 2.0, written in Rust, used in ROS2, automotive SDVs, and edge infrastructure. Here's what it is and when you need it.
Stalwart replaces Postfix + Dovecot + Rspamd + a dozen config files with one Rust binary. Bulwark gives it a modern JMAP webmail UI. Together they're the self-hosted email stack for 2026 — private, fast, and finally not painful to run.
Docmost is the genuinely open source Confluence and Notion alternative — real-time collaborative editing, spaces, permissions, built-in Drawio and Mermaid diagrams, and no OIDC provider required just to log in. Self-host free, no seat fees, your data on your server.
Mattermost is the self-hosted Slack alternative that your organization actually owns — channels, threads, file sharing, DevOps integrations, Playbooks for incident response, and now sovereign AI. MIT-licensed, runs as a single binary, unlimited users on the free tier.
We just open sourced MongoTUI — a terminal UI for MongoDB built with Python and Textual. Browse databases, manage users and roles, monitor performance, and handle indexes — all without leaving your terminal. Like Compass, but for SSH sessions.
Open WebUI is the self-hosted ChatGPT alternative with 139k+ stars — connects to Ollama for local models, any OpenAI-compatible API, Claude, and more. RAG built in, multi-user auth, Python functions, voice chat. One interface for every LLM you run.
Uptime Kuma is the self-hosted monitoring dashboard your team will actually use. Globalping gives it a global probe network so you know whether your service is down everywhere, not just from your server. Here's how both tools work and why they're better together.
Windmill turns scripts into APIs, webhooks, scheduled jobs, and auto-generated UIs — without the infrastructure overhead. AGPLv3 open source, 13x faster than Airflow, self-hostable on Docker or Kubernetes. The developer platform that replaces a shelf of internal tools.