In plain words
Rather than visiting twenty websites and clicking through twenty installers (dodging the adware traps), you tick your software and the tool writes the shopping list for your system's package manager. It fetches each program from its official source, installs it and will know how to update it. Everything happens in your browser: nothing is sent anywhere.
How it works
| System | Manager used | What the tool produces |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 10 and 11 | winget, built into Windows | A PowerShell script that installs each program by its official identifier |
| macOS | Homebrew (to install once) | A Brewfile, read by brew bundle |
| Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives | apt, and Flatpak for what the repositories lack | A shell script |
| Other Linux distributions | Flatpak (Flathub repository) | A shell script |
The identifiers were checked one by one in the official winget repository, in Homebrew, in the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS repositories (the names are identical on Debian in the vast majority of cases) and on Flathub. A greyed-out program has no official or maintained package for the chosen system: the tool says so instead of producing a command that would fail. Several Mac apps were removed from Homebrew in September 2026 because they did not pass macOS security checks: so they do not appear in the Brewfile.
Open source or proprietary
The catalogue favours open-source software, but also offers the proprietary software everyone uses (browsers, messengers, games, professional tools). Each entry shows its licence:
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Open source (GPL, MPL, MIT…) | Public source code, free to use and modify |
| Proprietary · free | Free of charge, but closed source |
| Proprietary · limited free version | A free version exists, with restricted features or use |
| Proprietary · paid | Licence or subscription required after the trial |
The "Open-source software only" box hides all the others. The "Hide those that do not install on this system" box trims the list for the chosen system.
Microsoft Store apps
On Windows, WhatsApp and ChatGPT are only published in the Microsoft Store. winget can install them from the Store: it then asks you to accept its terms the first time.
After installation
Update everything in one go, regularly:
winget upgrade --all
brew update && brew upgrade # macOS
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade # Debian, Ubuntu
flatpak update # Flatpak applications
Keep your list: save the script or Brewfile with your backups, or simply keep the link to this page, which remembers your selection. On your next PC, everything is back in a few minutes.
Going further
Package managers are covered in Windows advanced toolbox and Mac advanced toolbox. The annotated selection of the best open-source software is in Essential open-source software.