My Stars of GitHub at the End of 2024

GitHub is a great place to find some good resources and solutions. Whenever I need it personally or professionally, if the solution is really useful, I make sure to add a star to it.

I review my stars from time to time, and it wasn’t any different on the 31st of December 2024.

By the end of 2024, I had accumulated the following, which are really worth looking at.

The list is curated, and I pick the ones that are worth knowing for the following year, 2025.

Network

ViRb3 / wgcf

🚤 Cross-platform, unofficial CLI for Cloudflare Warp

wgcf is a shell script to register and generate credentials for Cloudflare Warp for use in the WireGuard app instead of the official app.

I have written a bit about it in my post about Turbocharge your internet connection (WARP, IPv6, OpenWrt).

GyulyVGC / sniffnet

Comfortably monitor your Internet traffic 🕵️‍♂️

Whenever I need to analyse network traffic, I reach for Wireshark first. However, in some instances, especially on macOS, when analysing traffic generated by specific apps, I prefer Sniffnet, mostly due to its simpler interface compared to Wireshark.

WebDev

gohugoio / hugo

The world’s fastest framework for building websites.

Hugo is a framework that builds all of my websites. From private ones to professional business websites, this tool generates static websites that can handle increasing traffic without compromises. In the past, I struggled daily with WordPress and hosting resources, but since migrating to Hugo, all of that is behind me, and I have no intention of going back.

Of course, building sites with Hugo requires you to “think differently”. However, once you understand it, you will quickly realise that these websites are not as “static” as they sound.

giscus / giscus

A comment system powered by GitHub Discussions. :octocat: 💬 💎

GitHub provides a solution for Discussions for all its repositories. It’s a sort of community forum where people can discuss various topics. Giscus integrates Discussions into your website. This way, you have a great solution for a comments system that is easy, accessible, and offers a simple integration with static websites built with Hugo and other SSGs.

system-fonts / modern-font-stacks

System font stack CSS organized by typeface classification for every modern operating system

Fonts on websites create a unique look for them. People, when interacting with them, get a feel for the website within the first seconds of it loading. Sometimes, when building websites, you may struggle with choosing the right font that looks good across the devices users are using. System Stack fonts allows you to serve a website that looks as close as possible to the system on which it is being browsed. If it’s iOS, you’ll notice that the system-wide font matches the website font. This creates a great user experience without the need to serve any extra resources to make it look “okay”.

majodev / google-webfonts-helper

A Hassle-Free Way to Self-Host Google Fonts. Get eot, ttf, svg, woff and woff2 files + CSS snippets

While System Stack fonts have their benefits, there are some environments where we want to maintain the same visual experience for users, regardless of which device the website is opened on. Google Fonts are great tools for adding custom fonts to websites; however, they may negatively impact performance. Sometimes, loading fonts from Google’s servers can take much longer than serving them from the same server as the website. Google WebFonts Helper is a handy tool that allows you to download Google Fonts and serve them with your website (or app) from the same origin, making it faster and easier to manage and maintain.

tdewolff / minify

Go minifiers for web formats

This repository is a minifier written in the Go language. The main purpose of it is to re-process files (such as those used on websites and web apps) to remove unnecessary elements and make them smaller by replacing some variable names with simpler alternatives that use less space.

When I publish my website with Hugo, I automatically minify all necessary files through it to improve website performance.

Even though I do not use this repository in my day-to-day work, it is crucial for me when re-processing my Minimal Google Analytics 4 Snippet before it is published. Using the Online Demo, I prepare a finished, minified version of the snippet that is not re-processed again later, avoiding various compatibility issues that may arise.

instantpage / instant.page

Make your site’s pages instant in 1 minute and improve your conversion rate by 1%.

This repository is a source of a great script that, when added to a website or web application, can significantly improve user experience when navigating between subpages of a website.

When you land on a website and want to follow a link from it, you typically hover over the link before clicking. With instantpage, the destination page is already preloaded as soon as you hover over the link. When you click the link, you are greeted with a fully loaded page without the need to wait for resources to load. This may sound minor, but on large sites, where users navigate beyond a single page, it helps serve content as quickly as possible. I actively use this on my employer’s website.

ai-robots-txt / ai.robots.txt

A list of AI agents and robots to block.

This repository is a community-collected list of identifiers for web crawlers associated with AI companies that use website content to train AI. If we don’t want this to happen, we can incorporate some of the lines into our robots.txt file to limit their ability to use our content without explicit permission.

Even though following the rules in robots.txt is not mandatory, there are times when we may want to protect our own creativity, and this is where this repository helps in addressing that.

zachleat / snow-fall

A web component to add snow to your web site (or to an element on your web site).

This is a simple festive addition to websites and web applications, allowing falling snow to be added to them. When we are all in a festive, pre-Christmas mood, it’s nice to see that some websites share the same cheerful spirit as we do.

talkjs / country-flag-emoji-polyfill

Add country flag emojis to Chromium-based browsers on Windows

When creating websites, I like to use country flags where possible, instead of loading unnecessary resources for something already built into most operating systems. I say most because, while this works well on Apple and Android devices — just like emojis — on Windows, for years, flags have been displayed as text like “PL” (🇵🇱) or “GB” for the flag 🇬🇧. This simple script helps to resolve this issue.

Windows

microsoft / PowerToys

Windows system utilities to maximize productivity

PowerToys is a great and free Swiss Army knife from Microsoft. This app is a collection of mini-apps that enable various features in the system and help boost your productivity on a Windows machine. I actively use it in business for tasks such as batch renaming files, resizing images, preventing the device from going to sleep, or using a single keyboard and mouse across two separate Windows computers.

This tool is a must-have for those who don’t want to waste time on unnecessary tasks and want to ensure their device works with them, not against them, throughout a productive day.

massgravel / Microsoft-Activation-Scripts

Open-source Windows and Office activator featuring HWID, Ohook, KMS38, and Online KMS activation methods, along with advanced troubleshooting.

Sometimes, despite having purchased all the necessary licences, Microsoft’s activation servers can cause issues that are difficult to resolve. This script offers advanced troubleshooting solutions to help resolve such problems on users’ computers.

Of course, there may be other (less legitimate) uses for this script, but as I see it, Microsoft, on a platform they own (GitHub), doesn’t seem to mind. Therefore, there is nothing against recommending it, just as with alsyundawy / Microsoft-Office-For-MacOS.

rcmaehl / WhyNotWin11

Detection Script to help identify why your PC is not Windows 11 Release Ready. Now Supporting Update Checks!

This non-Microsoft tool is a great app to help you understand why your device cannot be updated to Windows 11 from Windows 10. As the end of life for Windows 10 is set for October 2025, this tool is a must for anyone who wants to know what changes (if possible) are needed to make their device ready for Windows 11.

files-community / Files

A modern file manager that helps users organize their files and folders.

Windows Explorer is the default way of browsing files in the Windows operating system. However, more advanced users often use other tools to boost their productivity. I personally remember when Total Commander was a must-have app for me. Files App is a modern equivalent of an advanced Windows Explorer, with a much more pleasant interface for (currently) younger advanced users who haven’t experienced Norton Commander in DOS. This was back in a time when AI was just fiction from the Terminator movie, and many of them probably hadn’t even been born yet.

AgentRev / WindowsAppsUnfukker

PowerShell script to fix WindowsApps-related permission errors and crashes.

Recently, I helped someone whose Windows 10 device was affected by an issue with file and folder permissions. Despite performing repairs and reinstalls, I still struggled to get the Microsoft Store running, along with all the built-in Windows apps like Photos.

It was a very annoying issue, and I spent far too much time trying to resolve it. This app helped me restore all permissions to their proper state, and everything started working correctly, including the ability to install and run newly installed apps from the Microsoft Store.

It was an incredibly frustrating issue, but this tool was fantastic in resolving it. I still feel the frustration I experienced when things weren’t working, and I completely understand why this app includes “unfukker” in its name. Totally understandable!

jonaskohl / CapsLockIndicator

A small utility that indicates the state of the Num lock, Caps lock and Scroll lock key.

When working on multiple screens and you don’t have time to look at the keyboard to check if CapsLock or NumLock is turned on, you might want some sort of visual prompt about their status. Sometimes, you may also have keyboards without an LED indicator for the CapsLock state, making it really hard to guess whether you are typing in capitals or not. This simple, yet customisable and free app adds the ability to provide visual notifications when certain system keys are pressed and includes a tray icon to quickly show what is active and what’s not.

torakiki / pdfsam

PDFsam, a desktop application to split, merge, mix, rotate PDF files and extract pages

I work with PDF files on a daily basis. Sometimes, I need to rearrange, split, remove, or extract pages from them. Without needing to invest in Adobe Acrobat, I can complete these tasks effortlessly using PDFsam. It’s a great tool for users who want to maximise their productivity without spending extra money on software that doesn’t offer good value for money.

Apple

Homebrew / brew

🍺 The missing package manager for macOS (or Linux)

If you’ve ever used Linux, like Debian or Debian-based distributions, with the terminal and installed apps using apk, you know how great this tool is.

In macOS, most apps are installed using specific installation packages downloaded from developers’ websites. Sometimes, you can find them in the App Store; however, the macOS App Store is far from perfect as plenty of software simply isn’t available there.

Apple’s system for computers isn’t as locked down as iOS and iPadOS, so you can install the apps you need rather than relying solely on what’s available in the App Stores.

If you want to extend the functionality of your operating system, you’ll often turn to the Terminal, where you can run more advanced apps. This is where Brew comes in handy. Once added to the system, it extends the library of available software, which can be installed with just a simple command.

It reminds me of apk, but in the macOS environment.

You’ll start your experience with brew.sh rather than this repository, but it certainly deserves a star on its own.

aonez / Keka

The macOS & iOS file archiver

Just as Windows had compressors and decompressors like WinZip and WinRar in the past — until basic compression and decompression features were built into the system itself — macOS also has its own decompressor and compressor.

However, these basic tools are limited in functionality. To extend this, I use 7zip in the Windows environment. Although 7zip is not officially available for macOS, Keka is the closest alternative, offering a nice interface with all the options needed to achieve what you require.

cryptomator / cryptomator

Cryptomator for Windows, macOS, and Linux: Secure client-side encryption for your cloud storage, ensuring privacy and control over your data.

Cryptomator is a great tool that allows you to store encrypted files in various cloud storage services without the risk of them being intercepted or scanned by third parties, or their content being leaked.

By creating a folder with a master password and key, all items inside are saved in encrypted form. When accessed directly, they appear as gibberish files, but when opened through Cryptomator, they reveal their content.

A great tool for storing highly sensitive data.

IngmarStein / Monolingual

Remove unnecessary language resources from macOS.

A handy tool to remove unnecessary languages and resources from macOS, helping to regain some precious disk space.

This tool may not be needed for the average user. However, if you’re running low on space, alongside other tools like OnyX, this is a good place to start.

mac-cleanup / mac-cleanup-py

👨‍💻 Python cleanup script for macOS

Mac-Cleanup is another cleaning utility installed via Brew and run through the terminal. It allows you to remove a lot of junk from your computer that simply takes up space unnecessarily.

marktext / marktext

📝A simple and elegant markdown editor, available for Linux, macOS and Windows.

I like Markdown for its simplicity and compatibility. With simple elements, you can write text in a Markdown-compatible format even using a notepad, but true Markdown editors reveal the full potential of Markdown.

I use Markdown for the content of my websites built with Hugo, as well as for writing drafts before processing them into their final format.

In my day-to-day editing, I use iA Writer. However, this is a paid solution, and if you want to save some money, Marktext is an editor worth starting with.

samschott / maestral

Open-source Dropbox client for macOS and Linux

If you’re using Dropbox, you’re probably using its client app to sync files with your computer. When I switched to an Apple Silicon MacBook, I struggled with the official client, which lacked native support and drained resources excessively. While this has improved over the years, I decided to switch to something much simpler, that works natively and doesn’t excessively consume system resources. Maestral is a lightweight Dropbox client designed to sync the files you need on your Mac.

DigiDNA / Silicon

Silicon is a simple app that scans your system applications to identify which ones are natively compatible with Apple chips and which ones are running through emulation for Intel apps. Apps that haven’t been optimised typically use more resources than necessary, as emulation requires extra computing power, which also impacts battery life. This app quickly lets you know which apps you should update or replace with properly compatible ones to maintain your device’s performance and battery life at the optimal level throughout your productive day.

utmapp / UTM

Virtual machines for iOS and macOS

UTM is a free emulation software that allows you to run various operating systems on macOS. I used it as an alternative to Parallels Desktop to run Windows 11 and recommend it to anyone who wants to explore the emulation route. Although I am not actively using UTM anymore, as I switched to VMware Fusion once it became free for home users, I still keep it installed and use it as my first choice whenever I need to emulate a Linux system within macOS.

superhighfives / pika

An open-source colour picker app for macOS

Pika is a simple colour picker that includes extra features such as a Contrast Ratio checker, WCAG Compliance meter, and a converter between different colour formats. A simple yet very handy tool, it is a must-have for anyone working with graphics and/or websites.

confirmedcode / Lockdown-iOS

Lockdown is my favourite app for iOS to block system-wide ads. I use it to block intrusive ads in games that are overloaded with them, often making you want to give up and uninstall the game rather than continue and watch them.

I wrote more about it in my post Firewall for iPhone, iPad and Mac - Lockdown Privacy.

d3ward / toolz

Easy-to-use interface and extensive collection of testing tools for optimizing performance and user experience.

This repository is a place to test how effective your AdBlocker is. Regardless of which one you are using, after a short test, you can see how good or bad it performs and decide if it’s time to choose something better.

exelban / stats

macOS system monitor in your menu bar

Stats is a handy tool for adding useful statistics to the macOS menu bar. I personally use it to display disk space, network activity, and battery status with more detailed information than what is provided by the system.

Android

TeamAmaze / AmazeFileManager

Material design file manager for Android

Even though I don’t use the Android system every day, when I need to, especially when working with files, Amaze File Manager is the file manager app I turn to first.

Linux

azlux / log2ram

ramlog like for systemd (Put log into a ram folder)

When creating custom solutions with Raspberry Pis, I occasionally encounter situations where the SD card or USB memory stick becomes corrupted. Without a proper backup, I could face hours of work to restore everything as it was. The problem with Raspberry Pi OS (previously called Raspbian) is that it writes extensively to local storage. With a Raspberry Pi and a larger RAM size, we can utilise device memory to store certain logs that don’t need to be preserved for a long period of time. This handy utility helps with that and prevents our storage from degrading.

AI

janhq / jan

Jan is an open source alternative to ChatGPT that runs 100% offline on your computer. Multiple engine support (llama.cpp, TensorRT-LLM)

If you are looking to run AI, like ChatGPT, locally on your computer and offline, Jan is a good place to start. Although I am not using it extensively yet—since Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT are leading the game—it’s nice to know that there is an alternative.

YouTube

yt-dlp / yt-dlp

A feature-rich command-line audio/video downloader

When I wanted to download a clip from YouTube, I struggled to find a decent solution. Most online downloaders are terrible—filled with ads, attempting to steal your data, and rarely offering the ability to download in the highest resolution without paying extra.

Yt-dlp comes to the rescue. It can be run locally in the terminal and does exactly what it’s intended to do.

Tyrrrz / YoutubeDownloader

Downloads videos and playlists from YouTube

YoutubeDownloader is another great solution for downloading clips from YouTube. While it can be run from the terminal, it presents you with a GUI (Graphical User Interface) afterwards, making it much easier for people to use.

And that’s all.

I hope you find something useful here as well. If you do, drop a star on the relevant repository and let its creators know that their work is highly appreciated.