6 of the Best Free Linux Family History Software

Family history (or genealogy) software is computer software used to record, organise and publish genealogical data.

Genealogy, the study of one’s ancestry, continues to grow in popularity. Radio and TV programmes such as the BBC's Family History and Who Do You Think You Are? have encouraged a growing band people to trace their roots. There is a huge raft of sources available to trace ancestors including the General Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Census Returns, International Genealogical Index, National Burial Index, Parish Registers, Wills and Other Probate documents. These traditional sources are often available to peruse over the net, although there is typically some charge to access these records. Not all records are online (particularly those prior to 1837) so visiting local records offices, churches, graveyards or libraries can help in the quest. Huge online genealogical databases also help people discover their history.

Tracing your ancestry is painstaking work, can be extremely addictive and creates large amounts of data. Storing that information suggests using some form of database. However, standard relational databases lack the functionality that hobbyist genealogists typically need. This has led to the development of software which offers tailored functionality, to store data and relationships between parents, spouses and children, as well as handling additional events in an individual's life, photographs, free-form notes, and other multimedia, and source citations. Moreover genealogy software can produce a variety of graphical charts and text reports, such as ahnentafel reports, pedigree charts, and Register reports.

Most genealogy programs can import and export using the GEDCOM standard. GEDCOM is an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication. It is a specially organized text file for organizing genealogy data.

This article highlights the best genealogy software that runs under Linux. Although there is not a wide selection of Linux native clients, we have also identified the best web based and Java software, so there is still a good range to choose from.

Now, let's explore the 6 genealogy software at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, providing a screenshot of the software in action, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.

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Last Updated Monday, February 06 2012 @ 04:01 AM EST