What Is Open Source?
Open source projects are basically software that are developed in part or in whole by the public. If you want specialised software, check to see if it available first.
Although open source software isn’t exactly like free software, they’re still free to use.It is really amazing to see at the rapid development of the open source community, and the features and functionality within these open source projects. If they love what they’re doing, people simply work harder and better. Many of these open source software easily beats retail alternatives.
Here are some examples of great open source software. This is a list of Free software / open-source software packages: computer software available at Wikepedia.
- OpenOffice.org - Very similar functionality as the (expensive) Microsoft Office packages, contains file compatibility to the MS Office suite.
- Scribus - Powerful PDF creator/editor much like the very expensive Adobe Acrobat.
- osCommerce - A powerful e-commerce and full-feature online store management software. Low budget for your online business? This is worth checking out.
- Media Player Classic - One of my favorite video/audio media player.
- FFDshow - Great multi-platform video/audio decoding/encoding software that also supports DivX and Xvid formats.
- Mozilla Firefox - Quite possibly one of the best Web browser out there. If you ever worry about spyware and online security issues, get Firefox.
- WordPress - A great blog writing platform that million of us love and use.
- BitTorrent - The famous and popular P2P file sharing program.
- phpBB - Looking to start an online message board/forum? phpBB is a powerful open source, fully customizable bulletin board package.
The list can go on and on. I can’t even recall how many open source software I’m using right now. Here are some useful links to search for open source/free software in many different categories:
- Wikipedia’s Open Source Software List
- SourceForge.net - World’s large open source development website, hosting hundred of thousands of open source software