In this week’s Top 5, we highlight a homebrew Linux router, how to choose a PHP framework, open source alternatives to MATLAB, open source and professional photography, and our annual summer reading list.

Top 5 articles of the week

5. 2016 open source summer reading list

This year’s collection includes 11 books on open source history, culture, and personalities; leadership and business; analytics; learning and playing with Raspberry Pi; and writing.

4. Open source tools enable professional photography

SouthEast LinuxFest 2016 starts today, June 10th, in Charlotte, NC, and speaker JT Pennington writes ahead of his talk for us about the various high-quality open source photo editing tools out there for us to try.

3. 3 open source alternatives to MATLAB

If you don’t know what MATLAB is, for many students in mathematics, physical sciences, engineering, economics, and other academic fields with a heavy numeric component, MATLAB is their first introduction to programming or scientific computing. Learn about the open source alternatives in this article from Jason Baker.

2. How to choose a PHP framework

This article examines three of the most popular PHP frameworks: Symfony, Laravel, and Yii. Find out how they compare to help you decide which one might be the best fit for your needs.

1. Why I built my own homebrew Linux router

Setting up your own router from a generic server distro isn’t a project for everyone, but you’ll likely get a kick out of, and learn a little something, from Jim Salter’s explaination of why he started (and completed!) this project.