Family History and Genealogy Open Source Software

Looking for some free, open source software for genealogy and family history research? Check out the list of Genealogy Projects on Sourceforge.net.

Sourceforge.net is home to software developers from all over the world working on many projects for all types of needs. There are quite a few programs available for genealogists including the popular PhpGedView. Here is a list of the most downloaded genealogy software projects on Sourceforge.net.

• PhpGedView – displays GEDCOM files on web pages
• GenealogyJ – viewer and editor for genealogical data
• gramps – GNOME genealogy program for Linux and FreeBSD for family trees
• LifeLines – genealogy research program
• GenerationX – A Cocoa Genealogy Tool – Genealogy program for Mac
• phpmyfamily – Genealogy website builder and research program
• JGenea – visualize and manipulate genealogical data in MySQL databases
• GDBI – Gedcom DataBase Interface – GEDCOM interface utility for lifelines reports and editing in phpGedView, GenJ, and jLifelines
• Poplar Gedcom Viewer – view and edit genealogy information in MySQL databases and GEDCOM files

There are also about 50 software program packages in the Sourceforge.net History Category, some of which overlap with genealogy, which might be of interest. A few examples of history programs include MLA Auto-Generator which generates correctly formatted (MLA, APA, Chicago, CPE, Turabian) entries for works cited or bibliography pages, CDAY Calendar Almanac for “what happened on this day in history”, Timeline for creating graphic historic timelines in different formats (requires Ruby), and information on the Mormon Documentation Project to gather, document, index, archive, and make accessible LDS publications.

All programs are free. Be aware that some are still in alpha or beta testing stages. Some require additional programs or files such as Java. And many are operating system dependent, so choose wisely. Read the documentation and information carefully to determine if the program is fully developed and will work for your specific needs.

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