A while back, I looked at a trio of simple but effective password management applications for the Linux desktop. But, as more than a couple of readers reminded me, those aren't the only games in town. Not that I didn't realize that already ...

So, it's time to look at another pair of desktop tools to help you manage your passwords. Let's dive in, shall we?

That we need to protect ourselves online is a given. Not just our identities, but also the logins to the various sites and services that we use daily.

In just about all of the advice that you'll read out there, there's always a recommendation to enable [multi-factor authentication]() (also called two-factor authentication) in whatever you use online to an extra layer of security. Multi-factor authentication (MFA for short) might not be an unscalable wall, but it is an obstacle in the way of someone trying to scam, rob, or impersonate you.

While there are more than a few MFA apps for smartphones, those kinds of tools are sometimes ignored or overlooked on the desktop. But not this time!

Let's take a quick look at three MFA applications for the Linux desktop. They're simple, effective, and open source.

Note: If you're interested in learning how MFA works, read this explanation.

Ah, passwords ... I have more than a few of them. And I'm sure that you do, too. And the problem isn't just the sheer number of passwords that we seem to accumulate. It's also organizing and remembering those passwords.

To help us do both, a small cottage industry of password management software has grown into existence. Many of the popular tools in that category reside on the web, including at least one open source option.

But if you don't want to keep some or all of your most important passwords on someone else's computer, there are more than a few solid options for managing your passwords on your (Linux) desktop. Let's take a quick look at three of them.

(This post was first published at Opensource.com and appears here via a CC-BY-SA 4.0 license.)

We all want our passwords to be safe and secure. To do that, many people turn to password management applications like KeePassXC or Bitwarden.

If you spend a lot of time in a terminal window and are looking for a simpler solution, you'll want to check out one of the many password managers for the Linux command line. They're quick, easy to use, and secure.

Let's take a look at three of them.