Contents
What to install instead of the software a Mac or a Windows machine ships with. DUH Preinstalled Suite decides what belongs on this list; this page is the list itself, with the exact command that installs each one.
Every Homebrew name below was checked against Homebrew's own package list on 2026-08-13. A name that is wrong is worse than a name that is missing — it is a command that fails a minute after you run it — so nothing goes on this page unchecked.
brew is the Mac package manager, installed once from brew.sh. On Linux the
same projects come from the distribution's own package manager.
[!tip] These are clickable in homeSuite The homeSuite app serves this list at /suite with an Install button beside each entry, which runs the command for you and shows Homebrew's progress. The homeSuite repo keeps its own runtime copy of the list; this page stays the source of truth for what is on it.
Web browsers
instead of Safari, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome — from web browsers
| Project | Instead of | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Mozilla Firefox | Safari, Chrome | brew install --cask firefox |
| Tor Browser | — | brew install --cask tor-browser |
| Brave | Chrome | brew install --cask brave-browser |
| LibreWolf | Firefox, with telemetry stripped | brew install --cask librewolf |
| Mullvad Browser | — | brew install --cask mullvad-browser |
| Chromium | Chrome | brew install --cask chromium |
| Waterfox | Firefox | brew install --cask waterfox |
| Pale Moon | Firefox | brew install --cask pale-moon |
| SeaMonkey | Safari + Mail together | brew install --cask seamonkey |
Office suite
instead of Microsoft Office, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, TextEdit, WordPad
| Project | Instead of | Install |
|---|---|---|
| LibreOffice | Microsoft Office | brew install --cask libreoffice |
| ONLYOFFICE | Word, Excel, PowerPoint — best file fidelity | brew install --cask onlyoffice |
| Apache OpenOffice | Microsoft Office | brew install --cask openoffice |
LibreOffice is the "libresuite" the DUH Preinstalled Suite page asks for. OpenOffice is its ancestor and much the quieter project; prefer LibreOffice unless there is a reason not to.
Mail
instead of Mail, Outlook — from email apps
| Project | Instead of | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Thunderbird | Mail, Calendar and Contacts at once | brew install --cask thunderbird |
| Proton Mail | brew install --cask proton-mail |
|
| Tuta (Tutanota) | no Homebrew package — https://tuta.com/ |
Proton Mail is the vault's chosen host. Tuta is the only service in the email apps table that encrypts metadata as well as message bodies.
Messaging and calls
instead of Messages, FaceTime, Discord, Zoom, Teams — from web call platforms
| Project | Instead of | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Signal | Messages | brew install --cask signal |
| Element | Discord, Slack — Matrix, self-hostable | brew install --cask element |
| Jitsi Meet | Zoom, Teams, Google Meet | brew install --cask jitsi-meet |
| Mumble | Discord voice | brew install --cask mumble |
Notes and knowledge
instead of Notes, Sticky Notes, Notion, Obsidian — from Open Source Software
| Project | Instead of | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Logseq | Obsidian | brew install --cask logseq |
| Joplin | Notes, Evernote | brew install --cask joplin |
| Zettlr | Obsidian, for academic work | brew install --cask zettlr |
| Notesnook | Notes | brew install --cask notesnook |
| SiYuan | Obsidian, Notion | brew install --cask siyuan |
| Standard Notes | Notes | brew install --cask standard-notes |
| AppFlowy | Notion | brew install --cask appflowy |
| AFFiNE | Notion + Miro | brew install --cask affine |
| Anytype | Notion | brew install --cask anytype |
Anytype is source-available rather than fully open source.
Code and writing tools
instead of Visual Studio Code, Script Editor, Automator — from markdown editors
| Project | Instead of | Install |
|---|---|---|
| VSCodium | Visual Studio Code | brew install --cask vscodium |
| Pandoc | Any format converter | brew install pandoc |
| Hugo | Squarespace, Wix | brew install hugo |
| Node.js | — (what Next.js needs) | brew install node |
| Jekyll | — | a Ruby gem: gem install jekyll bundler |
VSCodium is VS Code built from the same source with Microsoft's branding and telemetry removed. The DUH Preinstalled Suite page names VS Code; this is the open build of it.
Graphics and design
instead of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, Photos, Preview — from Open Source Graphics Software
| Project | Instead of | Install |
|---|---|---|
| GIMP | Photoshop | brew install --cask gimp |
| Inkscape | Illustrator | brew install --cask inkscape |
| Krita | Photoshop, Procreate | brew install --cask krita |
| darktable | Lightroom | brew install --cask darktable |
| RawTherapee | Lightroom | brew install --cask rawtherapee |
| digiKam | Photos | brew install --cask digikam |
| Scribus | InDesign | brew install --cask scribus |
| Blender | Cinema 4D, After Effects | brew install --cask blender |
Audio and music
instead of Music, GarageBand, Podcasts, Voice Memos
| Project | Instead of | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Audacity | GarageBand, for recording and editing | brew install --cask audacity |
| Ardour | Logic Pro | no Homebrew package — https://ardour.org/download |
| LMMS | FL Studio | brew install --cask lmms |
| MuseScore | Sibelius, Finale | brew install --cask musescore |
| Mixxx | Serato, Traktor | brew install --cask mixxx |
| Strawberry | Music | brew install --cask strawberry |
Ardour is the DAW the DUH Preinstalled Suite page names. Its source is free; the ready-built Mac binary is pay-what-you-want from the project, which is why there is no Homebrew package for it.
Video and media
instead of QuickTime Player, TV, Movies & TV, iMovie
| Project | Instead of | Install |
|---|---|---|
| VLC | QuickTime Player | brew install --cask vlc |
| Kdenlive | iMovie, Premiere | brew install --cask kdenlive |
| Shotcut | iMovie | brew install --cask shotcut |
| OBS Studio | QuickTime screen recording | brew install --cask obs |
| Jellyfin | TV, Plex | brew install --cask jellyfin |
| Kodi | TV | brew install --cask kodi |
Files, sync and storage
instead of iCloud Drive, OneDrive, AirDrop, Time Machine
| Project | Instead of | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Nextcloud | iCloud Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox | brew install --cask nextcloud |
| ownCloud | iCloud Drive | brew install --cask owncloud |
| Syncthing | Dropbox, with no server at all | brew install syncthing |
| LocalSend | AirDrop, across platforms | brew install --cask localsend |
| Cryptomator | — | brew install --cask cryptomator |
| VeraCrypt | FileVault | brew install --cask veracrypt |
Nextcloud is the "self hosting network storage" the DUH Preinstalled Suite page describes — one shared folder a team works out of, with no other integration needed.
Security and keys
instead of Keychain Access — from email security
| Project | Instead of | Install |
|---|---|---|
| KeePassXC | Keychain Access, 1Password | brew install --cask keepassxc |
| Bitwarden | 1Password, LastPass | brew install --cask bitwarden |
| GnuPG | — (the PGP everything else calls) | brew install gnupg |
Reading and reference
instead of Books, Preview, Dictionary
| Project | Instead of | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Calibre | Books | brew install --cask calibre |
| Zotero | — | brew install --cask zotero |
| Anki | — | brew install --cask anki |
Business systems
instead of QuickBooks, Salesforce, SAP — from Open Source ERP and CRM
These are servers, not desktop apps. They get hosted — the
DUH Preinstalled Suite page notes they run on small VMs — so there is no
brew install for any of them.
| Project | Stack | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Odoo | Python, PostgreSQL | https://www.odoo.com/page/download |
| ERPNext | Python, MariaDB | https://erpnext.com/ |
| Dolibarr | PHP, MySQL | https://www.dolibarr.org/ |
| Apache OFBiz | Java | https://ofbiz.apache.org/ |
| Moqui | Groovy, Java | https://www.moqui.org/ |
| Corteza | Go, Vue | https://cortezaproject.org/ |
| iDempiere | Java | https://www.idempiere.org/ |
Odoo is the vault's own pick; Dolibarr is the one it calls the community pick, and the simpler choice for a small business hosted for someone else.
Related
- DUH Preinstalled Suite — what a DUH machine ships with, and why
- preinstalled — the macOS and Windows lists these replace, item by item
- Open Source Software — the wiki and Notion alternatives in more detail
- Open Source ERP and CRM — the ERP comparison in full
- Open Source Graphics Software
- web browsers · email apps · web call platforms · markdown editors
- accounting software · CRM