---
type: concept
title: FLOSS
tags: [open-source, software-licensing, urz-recommendations]
related: [universitatsrechenzentrum-urz]
created: 2026-07-01
updated: 2026-07-01
sources: ["output/rz_uni_greifswald_de_support_dokumentation_floss.md"]
---

# FLOSS

**FLOSS** (Free/Libre Open Source Software) refers to software that is distributed under licenses that allow users to run, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code.

At the Universität Greifswald, the [[universitatsrechenzentrum-urz]] provides a curated list of FLOSS recommendations to offer the university community free and open alternatives to proprietary, paid software solutions for common computing tasks.

### URZ Recommendation Categories
The URZ suggests FLOSS alternatives across several domains:
- **Operating Systems**: Ubuntu and Ubuntu MATE.
- **Security**: Password management via [[keepassxc]].
- **Office Productivity**: Suite options including [[libreoffice]] and [[onlyoffice]], and accounting via GnuCash.
- **Communication**: Email via [[mozilla-thunderbird]] and [[groupware]], and chat via [[pidgin]] and [[adium]].
- **Multimedia**: Tools for image editing ([[gimp]], [[inkscape]]), publishing ([[scribus]]), and video/audio production ([[shotcut]], [[avidemux]], [[audacity]]).

The URZ emphasizes that these recommendations are intended to support daily work but are not an exhaustive list of all possible open-source solutions.
